“He was profoundly politically engaged” For a new reading of the Sartrean Mallarmé

This article explores Jean-Paul Sartre’s writing on Stéphane Mallarmé—namely the collection of articles in La Lucidité et sa face d’ombre—in an effort to illustrate Sartre’s sense of the “politically engaged” and revolutionary nature of Mallarmé’s work. Through the analysis of Mallarméan echoes in Sartre’s novels and critiques, we can conclude that the poet from the Rue de Rome represents, in the eyes of the philosopher, a true paragon of total political engagement.