* * * Jean-Paul Sartre on Soviet literature

This year, the famous French anti-fascist writer Jean-Paul Sartre visited the Soviet Union for the second time. A full seven years separate the date of his previous visit in 1955 from the current one. After his return, Sartre shared his impressions of the cultural life of Soviet society in several interviews. Of particular interest is his interview with the Warsaw weekly "Politika". It is dedicated to the beneficial changes that have occurred in Soviet culture and, more specifically, in literature after the 20th Congress of the CPSU. The Soviet press reprinted this interview (see the journal, Voprosy literatury, vol. 10, 1962), noting that it contains controversial moments. But the conclusion about the socialist perspective on contemporary art that Sartre reached is indisputable. Sartre's thoughts are indicative of the attractive impact that the successes of Soviet culture after the 20th and 22nd Congresses of the CPSU have on broad circles of progressive Western intelligentsia. Since we believe that it is also of interest to our reader, we publish the most essential parts of the interview. - Above all - says Sartre - what is striking in comparison with 1955 is the extraordinary diversity, breadth and versatility of intellectual interests, the spirit of healthy discussion, the free expression of different points of view, without which the cultural life of society is unthinkable.