While ample attention has been paid to the impact of the Second World War on Sartre’s turn to commitment, the earliest phase of the global conflict in which he was involved, the so-called Phoney War, is seldom mentioned in discussions of his postwar writings. Sartre’s experience of this period, which featured the dread of waiting for a conflict that would not set in, offers additional clues for interpreting the meaning of history in relation to the concept of commitment. This interpretation is intimately linked with a sustained reading of Sartre’s prime literary inspiration of the time, Franz Kafka. At various stages, including the mobilization, the journey to the front, life during the Phoney War, and the complexities of the postwar period, Sartre alludes to Kafka. It will become clear that The Trial acts as a historical metaphor, designating the impossibility to understand the historical meaning of one’s actions. As a source of influence on the concept of commitment, Sartre’s reading of Kafka unearths the paradoxical meaning of commitment, which is less the voicing of a political stance and more of an absurd pursuit carried out in ignorance.

中文翻译：

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萨特的“幻影幻影”：战后作品中的卡夫卡式潜台词

尽管人们充分关注了第二次世界大战对萨特转向承诺的影响，但他卷入的全球冲突的最早阶段，即所谓的虚假战争，在其战后著作的讨论中很少提及。萨特在这一时期的经历以害怕等待不会发生的冲突为特征，为解释与承诺概念相关的历史意义提供了额外的线索。这种解释与对萨特当时的主要文学灵感弗朗茨·卡夫卡的持续阅读密切相关。在动员、前线之旅、假战争期间的生活以及战后时期的复杂性等各个阶段，萨特都暗指卡夫卡。很明显，审判充当了一个历史隐喻，表示不可能理解一个人行为的历史意义。作为对承诺概念的影响源泉，萨特对卡夫卡的解读揭示了承诺的矛盾意义，与其说是政治立场的发声，不如说是在无知中进行的荒谬追求。