In its complexity, human existence cannot be systematised and generalised into a compact concept. Existentialists are those who devoted themselves to Human individuality and phenomena fundamentally related, such as life, death, freedom, absurdity etc. However, considering the specifics of the philosophy of existentialism, it is not possible to only consider philosophers as the only bearers of this intellectual approach, but it is necessary to include certain individuals of world literature in this movement. The concept of human existence has transformed itself in various ways in their philosophy and works. Once it was dominated by the existence of God, to whom it was necessary to set one's mind on, at other times it was thrown into the bleakness and futility of a world without hope. However, the central topic was the same in each of them, the subject that is closest to us people, however, the subject that will always be the great unknown, regardless of the genial thoughts of Sören Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, Fjodor Michajlovič Dostojevsky and Albert Camus - the topic of mankind and its place in the world.

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Thesis advisor: Kevin Newmark / This dissertation constitutes a systematic literary study of the image of the mother in Camus’s works. The study is twofold: it represents 1) a reconstruction of the story of the image of the mother through the analysis of the image’s manifestations and meanings and 2) a reading of Camus’s oeuvre through the lens of this image. In this dissertation, the image of the mother is approached as a unique entity that 1) has its distinctive parameters, inner logic, language, manifestations, and levels of meaning, 2) manifests a tendency to remain central, and 3) leads an uninterrupted existence throughout the entire oeuvre. The narrative unfolding of the image of the mother repeats Camus's progression through his project and shows an intimate connection to the problematics of the self and the expression of emotion. Paralleling the twists and turns of Camusian creation, the existence of the image of the mother in the texts remains dual: embodied and hidden. Hence, the analysis of the sequence of the image’s perceptible forms – i.e., the mothers who appear in different works, in particular the mother of “Entre oui et non” (L’Envers et L’Endroit), Mme Meursault (L’Etranger), the mother of Jan (Le Malentendu), Mme Rieux (La Peste), and Catherine Cormery (Le Premier Homme) – is supplemented by an account of the image’s less perceptible forms – i.e., veiled presences, echoes, traces, and avatars. The narrative is not only cumulative, it has a specific direction. As the story of the image of the mother unfolds, moving from text to text, from one manifestation to another, the image of the mother is gradually unveiled as a living symbol, the Mother-Christ – a figure of conciliation of the living and the symbolic and a point of convergence of the vertical and the horizontal. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Romance Languages and Literatures.

Trata-se de um ensaio teórico que propõe a aproximação entre a psicologia e a Filosofia do Absurdo de Albert Camus. Como condição de possibilidade para essa aproximação, são problematizadas as noções de ética e política, além da materialização dessas duas na noção proposta aqui de dissidenz, isto é, a dissidência propriamente absurda. É apresentada a possibilidade de recolocar como especificidade dessa psicologia não mais suas técnicas, referenciais, conteúdos ou métodos, mas, em lugar disso, priorizar a própria dimensão ética como meio e fim dessa psicologia. Ao invés da pretensão de buscar fundamentos no estreito âmbito da ciência ou mesmo na amplidão da filosofia, sugere-se como possibilidade para essa atuação o ocupar-se com a condução de si diante da condição humana perspectivada desde o absurdo. Para tanto, são propostos fundamentos e pressupostos éticos, políticos, ontológicos e epistemológicos derivados da Filosofia do Absurdo. Essa psicologia – intitulada neste trabalho de Psicologia Absurda – tem seu estatuto deslocado, passando agora a se afirmar como uma práxis filosófica que enseja o cuidado de si e dos outros mediado não mais por regras ou inclinações a priori, mas tão somente pelo poder ser derivado do movimento poético do próprio viver, este potencializado pela absurdidade constitutiva do ethos absurdo desenvolvido aqui. / This is a theoretical essay that proposes the approximation between psychology and philosophy of the Absurd of Albert Camus. As a possible condition for this approach are problematize the notions of ethics and politics, beyond the materialization of these two on the notion proposed here dissidenz, ie properly absurd dissent. It presented the possibility of replacing as specificity of psychology no longer their techniques, references, content or methods, but instead prioritize the very ethical dimension as a means and end of that psychology. Instead of pretense of seeking foundations in the narrow realm of science or even philosophy of spaciousness, it is suggested as a possibility for that role the mind with the driving itself on the human condition envisaged from the absurd. To this end, they propose fundamentals and ethical assumptions, political, ontological and epistemological derivatives Absurd Philosophy. This psychology – titled this work Absurda Psychology – have their displaced status, and will now be stated as a philosophical practice which entails care of themselves and others mediated not by rules or priori inclinations, but only by the power be derived the poetic movement's own life, this powered by the constituent absurdity nonsense ethos developed here.

Uppsatsen jämför Kamel Daouds Fallet Meursault och Albert Camus Främlingen ur de tre perspektiven berättarteknik, postkolonialt tänkande och livsåskådning. Syftet med jämförelsen är att se vilka likheter och skillnader som finns mellan verken, och då i första hand hur Fallet Meursault förhåller sig till Främlingen. Uppsatsen utgår från en komparativ metod utefter de aspekter som anges i syftet. Resultatet visar att Daouds Fallet Meursault i hög grad anspelar på CamusFrämlingen och kan ur ett postkolonialt perspektiv beskrivas som en form av writing back samtidigt som Daoud livsåskådningsmässigt kommer att ligga mycket nära Camus.

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This thesis examines the treatment of the theme of suffering by three modern authors: Feodor Dostoevsky, Albert Camus, and Milan Kundera. The analysis proceeds through the identification and examination of three primary concepts which I will argue are at the heart of their work, and which provide the conceptual foundations for their depictions of suffering: the wretched, the absurd, and the banal. These concepts will be used as an avenue through which to explore and articulate their treatment of suffering. It will be argued further that the work of these three authors forms a conceptual series, in that each contributes in an important way to the evolution of a modern secular way of thinking about suffering by producing portraits of suffering informed by concepts appropriate to specific moments in the modern era. The sense of wretchedness which emerges from Dostoevsky’s work is inextricably linked with the late nineteenth-century crisis-of-faith. The concept of the absurd ties Camus to the early-twentieth-century existentialist tradition, while the sense of banality in Kundera’s novels locates him in an era which has witnessed both the horrors of World War Two and the decline in the humanist tradition. The factor that unites them and gives order to their differences, however, is a common concern with questions of meaning. The loss of meaning in the modern era, and in particular the loss of meaning in relation to suffering, is a thread which develops progressively throughout the series. It is, as will be argued at the outset, what binds these three disparate authors together and what gives their work and their treatment of suffering a particular modern character. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>In 1942, Algerian writer Albert Camus published a philosophical essay called The Myth of Sisyphus along with a fictional counterpart, The Stranger, wherein he presumed the human condition to be an absurd one. This, Camus claimed, was the result of the absence of a god, and consequently of any meaning beyond life itself. Without a god, without an entity greater than man, man has no higher purpose than himself and he himself is inevitably transient. As such, man, so long as he lives, is cursed with the inability to create or partake in anything lasting. The absurd is life without a tomorrow, a life of futility. As one of the main precursors of this view of life and of the human experience, Camus mentioned Herman Melville and Captain Ahab’s chase for the white whale - Moby Dick.</p><p>Now, as will be indicated in the following, the most common critical position holds that the white whale of Moby-Dick, Melville’s magnum opus, is to be interpreted as a symbol of God, and thus Ahab’s chase is tragic by virtue of its impossibility for success. As such, the tragedy is entailed by the futility vis-à-vis its impermanence. However, the ambiguity of Moby-Dick allows for the possibility of several alternative interpretations as to the role of the whale: for instance that of the devil, evil incarnate or merely a "dumb brute". As such, Ahab’s quest might as well be the pursuit of a creature which understands nothing of vengeance, thus rendering his objective equally, if not more fruitless, than the pursuit of a god.</p>

In 1942, Algerian writer Albert Camus published a philosophical essay called The Myth of Sisyphus along with a fictional counterpart, The Stranger, wherein he presumed the human condition to be an absurd one. This, Camus claimed, was the result of the absence of a god, and consequently of any meaning beyond life itself. Without a god, without an entity greater than man, man has no higher purpose than himself and he himself is inevitably transient. As such, man, so long as he lives, is cursed with the inability to create or partake in anything lasting. The absurd is life without a tomorrow, a life of futility. As one of the main precursors of this view of life and of the human experience, Camus mentioned Herman Melville and Captain Ahab’s chase for the white whale - Moby Dick. Now, as will be indicated in the following, the most common critical position holds that the white whale of Moby-Dick, Melville’s magnum opus, is to be interpreted as a symbol of God, and thus Ahab’s chase is tragic by virtue of its impossibility for success. As such, the tragedy is entailed by the futility vis-à-vis its impermanence. However, the ambiguity of Moby-Dick allows for the possibility of several alternative interpretations as to the role of the whale: for instance that of the devil, evil incarnate or merely a "dumb brute". As such, Ahab’s quest might as well be the pursuit of a creature which understands nothing of vengeance, thus rendering his objective equally, if not more fruitless, than the pursuit of a god.

Dans une perspective de l'histoire intellectuelle, notre étude traite, par une approche comparative, de l'engagement des écrivains Albert Camus (1913-1960) et George Orwell (1903-1950). Notre recherche vise à mettre l'accent sur la notion de responsabilité dans l'engagement des deux auteurs. Cette dimension, qui est perceptible dans tous les combats dont George Orwell et Albert Camus ont pris part dans la première moitié du 20e siècle, est perçue par nous comme une caractéristique qui ne fut pas partagée par beaucoup d'intellectuels en Europe à la même époque. En situant le parcours des deux auteurs dans le contexte historique de la période européenne s'étalant de l'entre-deux-guerre au début de la guerre froide, nous démontrerons que la pensée et le parcours engagé de Camus et d'Orwell comportent de nombreuses similitudes. Par l'analyse de leurs écrits, essais, articles de journaux et correspondances, qui s'avèrent des témoignages directs de la guerre civile espagnole, de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale ainsi que du début de la guerre froide, notre étude a pour objectif d'établir la concordance de leur engagement. Nous allons également vérifier que leur engagement était de nature socialiste et qu'il se distinguait de la majorité de ceux de leurs contemporains par son caractère antistaliniste. En procédant tout d'abord à l'analyse de leur influence ainsi que de leur expérience respective, nous allons examiner d'une façon théorique leur écrit ainsi que leur critique des idéologies radicales tels l'impérialisme, le fascisme, le nazisme et le stalinisme. Cette approche nous permettra de faire ressortir les valeurs pour lesquelles Camus et Orwell ont combattu tout au long de leur vie. Ces valeurs sont le combat pour la vérité, la lutte pour la sauvegarde de la liberté et la recherche d'une solution socialiste démocratique et non dogmatique. Bien que de nationalité et de culture différente (Camus étant Français et Orwell Britannique), le témoignage engagé et socialiste des deux auteurs est une courageuse démonstration de la survie d'une conscience indépendante et responsable au moment où l'Europe succombe à une « intoxication » idéologique sans précédent. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Deuxième Guerre mondiale, Engagement, Europe, Idéologie, Socialisme, Totalitarisme, 20e siècle.