La Mort heureuse, la première tentative romanesque d’Albert Camus publiée à titre posthume en 1971, est fréquemment négligée dans les critiques de son œuvre à cause de l’acceptation générale de l’échec littéraire de ce roman. Cependant, il contient beaucoup d’éléments bien travaillés et présente clairement la philosophie de la vie du jeune écrivain durant ces années. Dans ce travail, nous avons essayé de tirer les particularités de cette philosophie du texte en examinant l’évolution de son personnage principal. Dans sa quête du bonheur et d’une vie remplie, nous avons découvert une vision étendue de la relation absolue entre le bonheur, le temps et la vie aussi qu’une litanie d’autres thèmes qui se répètent à travers toute la carrière de Camus. Cette thèse bouche alors un grand trou dans la critique camusienne en remettant en valeur ce roman et son message.

Thesis advisor: Jeffrey Bloechl / Per Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, existentialism is the profound truth that the world lacks inherent meaning and thus, we are radically free to choose, to live life as we please. While these assertions are both true and liberating and the theoretical level, these axioms leave individuals disoriented. They never answer the question: how does one live within an absurd world? Thus, these authors never give us a way of coping with the harsh repercussions of absurdity. To answer this question, this project turns to intersubjectivity and the work of Emmanuel Levinas. Levinas’s theory of the other demonstrates that we are not merely beings in a vacuum; the world is conditioned by the interpersonal. Relating to the Other allows us to see that we are not alone in our suffering, for the Other and the individual mutually witness one another. Such connections provide a means of coping with absurdity, allowing us both solidarity and insight into the truly absurd nature of the world. Thus, the application of Levinas’s intersubjectivity to existentialism serves to save Camus’s notion of absurdity from its more nihilistic tendencies, allowing us to accept and apprehend absurdity without falling into despair or ignorance. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Philosophy.

Albert Camus' posthumously published novel, Le Premier Homme, shows a new facet of this great twentieth-century writer's art. Intensely personal, the novel speaks of the coming of age of a "pied-noir" (French Algerian) boy and his search for roots as an adult. Simultaneously, Camus endeavors to tell the story of his ancestors, the French Algerians. The purpose of this thesis is to examine protagonist Jacques Cormery's search for roots by: 1) discussing the formative elements of his identity uncovered in the nostalgic voyage in time through an anecdotal construction of his childhood and the history of his ancestors, 2) linking recurring themes to selected works which will include: L'Envers et l'endroit, L'Etranger, La Peste, and L'Exil et le Royaume, emphasizing the prevalent intertextual allusions, and 3) drawing parallels between the text and Camus' biography, and his artistic and philosophical vision. First, I demonstrate how themes common to Le Premier Homme and Camus' previous work are interwoven. Throughout the body of his work one finds images of poverty as well as the themes of silence, "strangers/outsiders", the mother/son relationship and communion with nature. I identify and analyze the primary influences in the formation of Camus' "first" (or original) man. These include: the father (as forgotten and enigmatic), the surrogate fathers whom Jacques finds in the uncle and the teacher, and the grandmother. Additonally, I establish the autobiographical underpinnings of Camus' thinly veiled protagonist, Jacques Cormery, by comparing the story in the novel with Camus' biography. A discussion of style deals with influences and the writer's narrative technique. Examples of his use of ambiguity, paradox, and irony are cited in addition to some of the unique imagery. Finally, I demonstrate that this vivid resuscitation of Jacques Cormery's childhood world as autobiography reflects some of the sources of Albert Camus' vision. The novel underscores the lessons of poverty, Camus' admiration for the poor working class "pied-noirs" who live in the present, Sisyphean models, and the notion of ambiguity.

This essay examines The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), The Plague (1947), and The Rebel (1951). I have chosen these three works in an effort to triangulate Camus' intellectual development, his persistent interest in literature, and the historical background against which these take place. Sisyphus and The Rebel are Camus' two major philosophical essays. The former belongs to Camus' "First Cycle" of writing, in which he focused on the concept of "the Absurd"; the latter belongs to Camus' "Second Cycle", in which he focused on the theme of "revolt." Camus wrote The Myth of Sisyphus during the Nazi occupation of Paris, an event which he witnessed and experienced and which also served as the inspiration for his novel The Plague. Though the two books are connected by this event, thematically The Plague belongs to Camus' Second Cycle. For this reason, it serves as an illuminating work, demonstrating the importance of fiction to Camus' intellectual process and his particular way of thinking. From Sisyphus to The Rebel, Camus' argument for fiction comes down to the opportunity it offers to describe life rather than explain it. In his opinion, the best novelists exhibit the very philosophy that should generally govern human behavior. These novelists limit themselves to what they can be sure of – namely, their personal experiences; they patiently explore what it is like to live on this earth – how human beings deal with each other, manage their environments, and cope with the often tremendous complexities of life. Not co-incidentally, Camus' fiction took special interest in death of all kinds – from murder to sickness to suicide – in order to remind his readers that life is finite. According to Camus, writing fiction is a way to keep the reader conscious of the human condition, because good fiction plainly exhibits life as it is and death as our common fate. By reflecting on good literature, readers may form their own life ethic.

According to postcolonial theory, postcolonial literature tends to depict non-Westerners – the native Other – as a homogenous mass, portrayed as carrying all the dark human traits. The Other is often represented as, for instance, being exotic, violent, hostile and mysterious, and either stands in opposition to, or is portrayed as being completely different from the Westerner. With postcolonial theory as a background, this study is a close-reading analysis and comparison of Albert Camus’ The Stranger (1942), which takes place in a colonial Algeria, and J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace (1999), which is set in postcolonial South Africa. The novels have been analysed in terms of representation of the Other, as well as the power relations and hierarchy between Westerners and natives, in order to see if these aspects are portrayed differently due to the fact that one novel is written pre-independence and the other post-independence. The results show that the representation of the Other is in accordance with postcolonial theory, in both novels. The natives are exoticised, portrayed as violent and mysterious in a hostile manner, and the plot is viewed from the perspective of the Western, white male protagonist. However, the power relations differ; in The Stranger, the Westerners are definitely superior, whereas in Disgrace, some of the characters still consider themselves to be superior, but their power has declined – the natives strike back, leaving the white population with a choice: to comply to the new order, or to find themselves in a state of disgrace.

Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Bibliography: leaves 115-125.

The absurd is a widespread term to describe literature today and in this essay I am interested in what parts of a literary text that can be defined as absurd. With help from the French-Algerian writer Albert Camus definition of the absurd in The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) and the absurd parts in his novel The Stranger (1942) I will examine the absurd in two of the Swedish writer Jonas Karlsson’s short stories. It is a phenomenological study of the short stories "Fakturan" and "Högläsning 2" that can be found in Spelreglerna (2011). The phenomenological reading consists people’s experiences and what is happening in their consciousness before, during and after experiencing it. Camus description of the absurd is the foundation for my analysis of Karlsson. Karlsson’s short stories have interesting similarities with Camus description of the absurd, which is fascinating because of their different backgrounds. My aim with the essay is to analyze the absurd in Karlsson’s short stories, both through parallels to Camus and without.

FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Cearà / O trabalho consiste em fazer a reflexÃo Ãtico-polÃtica nas obras do escritor franco-argelino Albert Camus (1913-1960) a partir de seus textos jornalÃsticos, dramatÃrgicos e ensaios filosÃficos. Em primeiro lugar, hà a reflexÃo sobre Ãtica, engajamento e a responsabilidade do escritor e a recusa do silÃncio como forma de rompimento com a resignaÃÃo e a passividade, evocando a responsabilidade Ãtica dos intelectuais no enfrentamento das questÃes decisivas, utilizando os Discursos da SuÃcia (1957). Em seguida, o trabalho trata dos temas da recusa do assassinato legitimado como crÃtica aos totalitarismos diante do diagnÃstico de seu tempo, com a crÃtica tambÃm ao progresso cientÃfico-bÃlico, que colocou a CiÃncia a serviÃo da morte como nunca antes na HistÃria, como forma de enfrentamento do medo que se encarnou no sÃculo XX, utilizando os Editoriais jornalÃsticos do jornal Combat (Combate) intitulados Nem VÃtimas, Nem Verdugos (1948). Hà em seguida a reflexÃo Ãtico-polÃtica do engajamento a partir da peÃa de teatro Os Justos (1949), escrita no perÃodo do pÃs-guerra, abordando a questÃo do assassinato do ponto de vista do engajamento terrorista revolucionÃrio, utilizando tambÃm as reflexÃes presentes no ensaio O Homem Revoltado (1951).

This essay explores how the fictional portrayals of man-before-death in Albert Camus’ The Plague can convey insights related to studies in world views. Its thesis argues that the relationship between the author, the text and the reader provides a dialogue where the author can transmit his or her ideas to the reader whom is given a possibility of interpreting the text in accordance with his or her context. The thesis was conducted by organising a close-reading of three scenes from The Plague by an allegorical type of interpretation (Quadriga) in order to create a dialogue between the novel and contemporary studies of world views and the works of Albert Camus. Altogether, this thesis contributes to show how The Plague’s depictions of death can be used as a world-view document as well as demonstrating how its reader can use it to cope with scenarios in modern society.

Syftet med denna undersökning är dels att undersöka existentialistiska och absurdistiska drag i Albert Camus romaner Främlingen och Pesten, dels undersöka hur Camus väljer att beskriva och framställa huvudkaraktärerna i respektive roman, dels analysera existentialismen och absurdismen i anslutning till de båda verken och hur dessa kan användas som redskap för att belysa problematiken kring psykisk ohälsa bland unga. En textanalys tillämpades på två romaner av Albert Camus Främlingen och Pesten. Resultaten visar att romanerna innehåller tankemotiv/drag av existentialismen och absurdismen och att dessa ismer återspeglas i relation till karaktärerna i romanerna. I Pesten skapas i existentialistiska termer en subjektiv och kollektiv mening i meningslösheten, vilket saknas i Främlingen. I Pesten skildras ett positivt exempel på hur man kan hantera livets meningslöshet medan i Främlingen revolterar människan mot det absurda, vilket i sin tur blir en revolt mot samhället, världen och skildras således som något negativt. Därav visar resultatet sammantaget att Pesten i större utsträckning lutar åt existentialismen och att existentialismen i Främlingen hamnar i skuggan av absurdismen. Resultatet visar även att Camus romaner i anslutning till den teoretiska utgångspunkten och skolans breda uppdrag i form av hälsan kan användas didaktiskt som underlag för samtal om psykisk ohälsa.