Analysis of the Concept of Freedom in Safadi's Works and Comparing Them with Sartre

Existentialism is a so-called philosophic and literal movement based on personal freedom, responsibility as well as relativism. In this philosophy in which individual is a building block of any positive changes, his fate and freedom are emphasized. Prevalence of this philosophy through literature, led Syrian writers to focus on existentialist thoughts and express such issues as freedom in decision making, choice, responsibility and commitment in literature. Mata Safadi was inclined to this philosophy more than other writers and was affected by Sartre and his existential thoughts especially his revolutionary positions about personal freedom. Thus, Safadi considers human as responsible for his fate and the only constructor of his values who should realize his freedom by relying on his nature. Along this he doesn’t deny relationship with others completely but admit it in a particular framework. He believes that collective commitment doesn’t remove human individuality but only cover his negative traits and existential contradictions. In the present paper it was tried to study the concept of freedom in Safadi’s viewpoint by comparative-analytical method and indicate that to what extent this Syrian writer is affected by Sartre thoughts in his writings in expressing freedom concept and how this effectiveness is manifested in his works.