Albert Camus (1913-1960) describes morally corrupted society in his later fiction, The Fall (1956), yet, seeks to find authenticity to share the suffering of others to establish communal bonds and responsibility, specifically revealed in "The Growing Stone" (1957). Camus frequently denies his alignment with existentialism; yet, in his major novels, he frequent portrays a dark side of human existence: a sense of weariness with the habitual aspects of daily life and a keen awareness of the absurd lead Camusian heroes to complete nihilism and utter despair, which shows Camus's strong affinity with existentialist ideas. Further investigation of Dostoevsky's anti-hero, the underground man, and the demigod Kirilov reveals that Dostoevsky's vision of kingdom is not so optimistic in spite of dominant thematic concern of Christian resurrection and eternal life in Dostoevsky's major works. Only moral anarchy and spiritual sterility coexist in his kingdom. I, thus, investigate Dostoevksy's unique approach to existence without God, in which he eventually declares himself to be a forerunner of existentialism. Camus does, in fact, recognize Dostoevsky as an important predecessor. In particular, Camus examins Dostoevsky's depiction of alienated characters rebelling against the world as they understand it. Thus, in Chapter I, my focus lies in a discussion of the theory of the absurd, with Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus as a valuable supplement that opens the way for an existential approach to Camus's literary production. Having identified our condition of absurdity as a dilemma requiring a response, Camus (and our study) turns to Dostoevsky's reflections on modern antiheroes. In Chapter II, keeping my attention on The Myth of Sisyphus, I explore Dostoevsky's fictional character, Kirilov, of The Demons. Along the same lines, in Chapter III, I investigate Jean-Baptiste Clamence of The Fall (1956), with respect to the underground man in Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (1864). Dostoevsky's two pre-existential works, however, fail to provide protagonists who possess authentic selfhood. Their rebellions are ultimately failures. Thus, I analyze D'Arrast of "The Growing Stone," in Exile and Kingdom (1958), who ultimately glimpses a potential for human solidarity and freedom in the fundamental structure of the human personality and social existence. This marks Camus's fullest expression of a response to a fundamental human dilemma which Dostoevsky's fiction helped him to grasp more fully.

Albert Camus (1913-1960) describes morally corrupted society in his later fiction, The Fall (1956), yet, seeks to find authenticity to share the suffering of others to establish communal bonds and responsibility, specifically revealed in "The Growing Stone" (1957). Camus frequently denies his alignment with existentialism; yet, in his major novels, he frequent portrays a dark side of human existence: a sense of weariness with the habitual aspects of daily life and a keen awareness of the absurd lead Camusian heroes to complete nihilism and utter despair, which shows Camus's strong affinity with existentialist ideas. Further investigation of Dostoevsky's anti-hero, the underground man, and the demigod Kirilov reveals that Dostoevsky's vision of kingdom is not so optimistic in spite of dominant thematic concern of Christian resurrection and eternal life in Dostoevsky's major works. Only moral anarchy and spiritual sterility coexist in his kingdom. I, thus, investigate Dostoevksy's unique approach to existence without God, in which he eventually declares himself to be a forerunner of existentialism. Camus does, in fact, recognize Dostoevsky as an important predecessor. In particular, Camus examins Dostoevsky's depiction of alienated characters rebelling against the world as they understand it. Thus, in Chapter I, my focus lies in a discussion of the theory of the absurd, with Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus as a valuable supplement that opens the way for an existential approach to Camus's literary production. Having identified our condition of absurdity as a dilemma requiring a response, Camus (and our study) turns to Dostoevsky's reflections on modern antiheroes. In Chapter II, keeping my attention on The Myth of Sisyphus, I explore Dostoevsky's fictional character, Kirilov, of The Demons. Along the same lines, in Chapter III, I investigate Jean-Baptiste Clamence of The Fall (1956), with respect to the underground man in Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (1864). Dostoevsky's two pre-existential works, however, fail to provide protagonists who possess authentic selfhood. Their rebellions are ultimately failures. Thus, I analyze D'Arrast of "The Growing Stone," in Exile and Kingdom (1958), who ultimately glimpses a potential for human solidarity and freedom in the fundamental structure of the human personality and social existence. This marks Camus's fullest expression of a response to a fundamental human dilemma which Dostoevsky's fiction helped him to grasp more fully.

In my thesis, I propose a theory that posits a connection between our absurd existential situation and our comic tendencies. I work within a framework of existentialist assumptions, the most important of which being the assumption that, as Sartre writes, "man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself." Consequently, I focus on the process of how human beings use humor to form themselves by using it to form their conception of reality. What I propose in my thesis is not an explanation of humor as much as it is an existential interpretation of its source and function. I begin with an analysis of the absurd. After considering and rejecting the arguments against the claim that life is not absurd, I argue that the disunity that we encounter in the world creates a need within us for stability and that one of the main ways in which we find this stability is through the comic. I use Berger and Luckmann's analysis of reality construction in my argument that the connections that we form with others through comical experiences construct and maintain a system of knowledge that satisfies what Camus calls our "nostalgia for unity," a desire that remains unfulfilled when we attempt to encounter the absurdity of human experience alone. The conclusion of my research is that it is through our laughing with others that we reify our expectations of reality. Our laughter at the objects that contradict our normative understanding of reality confirms that others share the same cognitive and affective position that we hold in a given situation, thus confirming our expectations of reality to be valid, a confirmation that protects us against the terror of the absurd.

This thesis in creative writing comprises two sections. The first is an essay on the theatre of the absurd. The introduction sets the genre in its historical context and briefly describes its aesthetic qualities. Four plays by reputed "absurd" playwrights are studied in the body of the essay: La cantatrice chauve (The Bald Soprano) by Eugene Ionesco, Fin de partie (Endgame) by Samuel Beckett, Le balcon (The Balcony) by Jean Genet, and Les voisins (not translated) by Claude Meunier and Louis Saia. The conclusion examines the difference between dramatic and comic plays found within the theatre of the absurd. It also touches on the legacy of the theatre of the absurd. / The second section of the thesis is a play in one act entitled Resolutions. It respects the principal characteristics of the theatre of the absurd which are described and analysed in the first section.

No description available.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2005. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 99 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-99).

No description available.

none

Absurd literature originated and was developed in the middle of the 20 th century in the West. The brightest representatives of this type of literature are Albert Camus, Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Becket and others. In their works they raised the problem of meaninglessness of human existence, loneliness of an individual and man’s inability to communicate with other people. Are these absurd literature ideas topical issues in contemporary Lithuanian literature? The poetics of Absurd literature in Lithuanian literature practically has not been researched. One reason might have been that there has not been pure Lithuanian literature of the Absurd, except for perhaps Kostas Ostrauskas’s plays. The other reason is probably the fact that the manifestation of absurd literature is often accepted as an ironic, humorous and not very serious text component. This paper deals with a collection of poems and fiction called „Prisimynimai“ by Juozas Erlickas, National Prize Laureate. The main intention of the paper is to prove that an absurd attitude of mind is not alien to Lithuanian literature. The main characters of J. Erlickas’s works feel inactive, pessimistic, they do not see meaning in life, try to avoid contact with the surrounding world. This makes them very similar to the classical absurd literature characters, who are also constantly troubled by boredom and a sense of aimlessness. One of the main themes in Erlickas’s works is a theme of human alienation, which is expanded by the writer... [to full text]

Thesis (doctoral)--Freie Universität Berlin. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-188).