ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the evolution of intellectual engagement in the context of twentieth-century European history, focusing primarily on the period from 1919 to 1944. A historical and critical study of Romain Rolland's engagement should not only explore areas neglected by previous scholars but also clarify ways to make progressive intellectual commitment meaningful in society. An analysis of Romain Rolland's itinerary of commitment may help to decipher the basic ambiguities, continuities, and discontinuities that still constitute the engaged stance. In Romain Rolland's search for a viable form of intellectual politics consistent with his world vision and yet pertinent to his times, he experimented with five discernible languages of engagement: the language of the oceanic sensibility, the language of the free mind, the language of pacifism, the language of antifascism, and the language of fellow traveling. Finally, the chapter also presents an overview of this book.
