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Danny Oh
Luis Rosa
Writing 101
9 April 2014
Storytellers Intent Literature is Timeless
Words for words sake. Not quite the same as saying art for arts sake, is it? After all,
language was made for communication; therefore, it is likely that that which uses language,
literature, is trying to communicate something. According to Sartre, language in literature is used
not only to communicate, but also to argue and make a point about a present condition. When
viewing literature through this perspective, a piece of writing is only truly understood when an
opinion-an argument that relates to the authors condition- is found. This is especially interesting
to apply to Ricardo Piglias The Absent City. Sartres theory of literature gives us an accurate and
illuminating perspective of The Absent City; however, Piglias method of presenting his views on
language and Latin American conditions refutes the claim that all literature has purpose.
First, it is necessary to understand Sartres theory of literature. Sartre asserts that all
literature contains a view on society and the human condition. This follows from a view that
absolutely denies the possibility of an impartial view of mankind. Man is the being toward
whom no being can be impartial (Sartre 23). Additionally, even the mediocre writer imagines
the effect his writing would have if everyone were to read it (Sartre 23). And in imagining this,
the writer realizes that his words have the power to change. And because it is impossible for the
writer to separate himself from this knowledge, it follows that every writer writes with an
intention to change. Therefore, not only is it possible to engage with literature, but one has no
choice but to engage with it. Every mind is partial and reacts to things that are revealed to it.

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When literature presents its ideas to a reader, it is impossible for the reader to remain unchanged.
Indeed, analyzing The Absent City without finding what Piglia meant to reveal to the reader
results in the loss of valuable themes. This is not to say that one cannot analyze any text outside
of the authors purpose. While analyzing Piglias text in terms of his purpose is valuable,
literature need not have purpose, and consequently, need not be analyzed in terms or purpose.
In The Absent City, a machine produces stories that respond to actual occurrences within
the setting of the book, Argentina. Buenos Aires is under the rule of a dictatorship, and the stories
enlighten the citizens of Buenos Aires (in the book) to the totalitarian conditions they are in. By
revealing harsh truths about the government through the stories, the machine affects change
within the book. According to Sartre, language has the power to change simply because it has the
power to bring into consciousness, and additionally, one brings into consciousness with a
specific intention. By speaking, I reveal the situation by my very intention of changing it
(Sartre, 22). However, for the machine, bringing these stories into existence is not a voluntary
act- it speaks without intention. On the other hand, it still brings about change within the
book. Piglia, by creating these stories, brings ideas into consciousness in the real world, albeit
with a specific intention. This is a clever way of introducing ideas to readers. By enlisting such a
technique, it is as if he is laughing at Sartres ideas- he tells a story (with an intention to affect
change) through a medium that narrates without a specific intention to affect change.
It is important to note that the machine doesnt invalidate Sartres claim that all literature
has purpose. An opposing view- that the machine did in fact engage in purposeful disclosure
could also be true. Sartre claims that writers should limit their writing to the involuntary
expression of their souls (32). Expression is involuntary. Because using language requires
thinking, and thinking cannot be impartial, anything that uses words is necessarily (and possibly

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involuntarily) partial. Considering the machine as a writer, one can consider the machine as
involuntarily telling stories in order to express itself. It is unable to not tell these stories, not
because it is programmed into the machine, but because it feels obligated to tell them- obligated
to reveal truths. It is possible that within every writers subconscious is a view of the world that
seeps out- even in an act as innocent as storytelling.
In accordance with Sartres theory, Piglia does have purpose in writing The Absent City.
Piglia affects change by revealing (fictional) stories about the Argentinian dictatorship. There is
little chance that a story such as The Recording (Piglia, 31-36), revealing a horrifying truth
about the dictatorship, was arbitrary. Piglia, a Latin American writer, wrote this book in 1992,
soon after Argentinas New Democracy had started. By telling this story, Piglia gives readers a
perspective of history that they must respond to. Engaging with the book, as Sartre says is
necessary, is crucial to the understanding of the book. Ironically, at the same time, an argument
against analyzing literature through such a view is also found.
The relationship between language and purpose is an important aspect of The Absent
City. Sartre claims that Intuition is silence, and the end of language is to communicate (21), so
according to him, language is not for pure contemplation. However, in Piglias book, the idea
that language has the power to create alternate realities is presented. By controlling press, the
government is able to change the peoples perception of the world. The governments silence on
their atrocities is to refuse to speak, and therefore keep on speaking (Sartre 25). The
government is creating a different reality based on what they choose to disclose. Piglia shows
languages power- its power to define realities for others. However, in the story The Girl, a girl
makes a spontaneous decision to create a language that matched her experience of the world
(Piglia, 48). This language is clearly not made to communicate- rather, it is a language that has

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consciously chosen contemplation over communication. Through this language, the girl is able to
see things and refer to things in a unique way that creates her own reality. While the language has
no power to define reality for others, it defines reality for the girl. Of course, the girl is an
aberration; the fact that standard languages exist (in contrast to individual languages) supports
the idea that language was made to communicate. However, the important point is that language
doesnt need to communicate. One can choose to use language to contemplate.
Sartre also goes on to discuss how literary critics are cemetery watchman (28) effectively doing a pointless job- because the value of literature comes from the fact that the
writer was trying to communicate an idea that related to his present time (and not ours).
According to Sartres logic, we are engaging in a pointless endeavor by analyzing Piglia.
However, by viewing the book relative to the conditions of when it was written, it is possible to
realize the books claims on dictatorial regimes and the importance of history and remembering
the past. The ironic relationship between Sartres theory and Piglias book continues- while
Sartres theory helps find the themes of the book, the themes that are found often directly counter
Sartres theory. In this example, Sartre is arguing that analysis of the past is not valuable- that
which was made to communicate an idea relative to a past time is not relative in the present.
However, Piglia is saying just the opposite. By forcing readers to recall the tragedies in
Argentina, he is saying the past is important, and viewpoints from the past are relevant in the
present.
Analyzing literature from the past in the context of the author has value. For example,
Piglias argument to value the past is relevant in the present. However, I argue that literature need
not be viewed in the context of the author to have value; literature is timeless because it still has
value when the reader interprets it void of any context. A reader can give writing posited

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meaning, meaning that is not derived from the original context (Burger 69). If one is able to find
posited meaning within a piece of literature, who is to say that it did not have value? What the
reader interacts with is not the author, nor the authors ideas, but the literature itself. If the
literature creates a reaction in a reader, then it has had an effect. This power to have an effect
shows literatures value outside of the context of the author.
Viewing The Absent City using the perspective of Sartres theory of Literature deepens
understanding of the themes of the book. However, what is especially interesting is the analysis
of Sartres theory using Piglias book. While Sartres theory unmasks many of the themes of The
Absent City, in doing so, it ironically illuminates counterarguments against his theory. Literature
need not be analyzed in terms of purpose; words can, in fact, be for words sake.

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Works Cited
Brger, Peter. "The Avant-Gardiste Work of Art." Theory of the Avant-garde. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota, 1984. 55-82.
Piglia, Ricardo. The Absent City. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2000. Print.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. "What Is Writing?" What Is Literature? Trans. Bernard Frechtman. New York:
NYU, 1949. 7-35.