Les Temps Modernes

The first issue of Les Temps modernes (Modern Times) appeared in October 1945. It was known as the review of Jean-Paul Sartre. It was named for a film by Charlie Chaplin. Les Temps Modernes filled the void left by the disappearance of the most important pre-war literary magazine, La Nouvelle Revue Française (The New French Review), considered to be André Gide's magazine, which was shut down after the liberation of France because of its collaboration with the occupation.

Les Temps modernes was first published by Gallimard and is published by Gallimard today. In between, the magazine changed hands three times: Julliard (January 1949 to September 1965), Presses d'aujourd'hui (October 1964 to March 1985), Gallimard (April 1985 to the present).

The first editorial board consisted of Sartre (director), Raymond Aron, Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Leiris, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Albert Ollivier, and Jean Paulhan. All published many articles for the magazine. Among Sartre's contributions were "La nationalisation de la littérature" ("The Nationalisation of Literature"), "Matérialisme et révolution" ("Materialism and Revolution"), and "Qu'est-ce-que la littérature?" ("What is Literature?"). Simone de Beauvoir first published "Le Deuxième Sexe" ("The Second Sex") in Les Temps modernes.

In the preface to the first edition, Sartre stated the review's purpose: to publish littérature engagée. This philosophy of literature expresses a basic creed of existentialism--that an individual is responsible for making conscious decisions to commit socially useful acts. Thus, literature in the magazine would have a utilitarian component; it would not be just culturally valuable (art for art's sake). Other intellectuals, such as André Gide, André Breton, and Louis Aragon, disapproved of this orientation. Sartre's response: "Le monde peut fort bien se passer de la littérature. Mais il peut se passer de l'homme encore mieux." ("The world can easily get along without literature. But it can get along even more easily without man.")

The works of many new writers who later became famous appeared in Modern Times. They include Richard Wright, Jean Genet, Nathalie Sarraute, Boris Vian, and Samuel Beckett.

Political divisions between board members soon surfaced. Raymond Aron quit in 1945 to become an editor at Le Figaro because of Les Temps Moderne's support of Communism. At the time of the Korean War, Merleau-Ponty resigned. Originally more supportive of Communism than Sartre, he moved progressively to the right as Sartre moved to the left. At the time, Sartre still endorsed Communism in his writings but in private expressed his reservations.

Sartre disapproved of Camus for seeing both sides in the Algerians' rebellion against their French colonial masters (The Algerian War--1954–62). In his bitterness against Camus, Sartre selected Francis Jeanson, who did not like the works of Camus, to review the Camus novel L'Homme Révolté (The Rebel). When Camus responded to the review with hurt feelings, Sartre put the final blow to a friendship that had lasted for years. He said, "Vous êtes devenu la proie d'une morne démesure qui masque vos difficultés intérieures. . . . Tôt ou tard, quelqu'un vous l'eût dit, autant que ce soi moi." ("You have become the victim of an excessive sullenness that masks your internal problems. . . . Sooner or later, someone would have told you, so it might as well be me.")

Les Temps Modernes enjoyed its greatest influence in the sixties. At this time, it had over 20,000 subscribers. During the Algerian War, it strongly supported the National Liberation Front, the primary group in the ultimately successful battle against the French. It fiercely denounced the extensive use of torture by the French forces. For this, it was censured and its premises seized.

From its inception to the present day, the review has published 582 regular issues and many special issues. The special issues include Sartre's 1946 description of the United States, an attempt to discredit the myths that many of the French held about this country. In 1955, Claude Lanzmann described Sartre's Marxist philosophy in an issue called "La Gauche" ("The Left"). An issue on "La révolte hongroise" ("The Hungarian Revolution") (1956–57) denounced Soviet repression. In 1967, at the time of the Six-Day War, an issue, "Le conflit israélo-arabe" ("The Israeli-Arab conflict"), contained articles by both Israelis and Arabs.

Les Temps Modernes continues to publish articles consistent with the philosophy of Sartre, with the intent of informing its readers about the world as it is. And it continues to publish important authors who are not generally known. In 2001, a special edition was devoted to Serge Doubrovsky.

The current chief editor of Les Temps Modernes is Claude Lanzmann. The editorial board consists of Juliette Simont (Editorial Assistant to Claude Lanzmann), Adrien Barrot, Jean Bourgault, Joseph Cohen, Michel Deguy, Liliane Kandel, Jean Khalfa, Patrice Maniglier, Robert Redeker, Marc Sagnol, Gérard Wormser, Raphael Zagury-Orly. It is a bimonthly magazine. About 3,000 copies are printed.