Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy, 2016

This article examines Kamel Daoud’s treatment of solidarity and the absurd in Meursault, contre-enquête and posits that the question of how to live in solidarity with others is central to the novel, although the word ‘solidarity’ never appears in it. After recalling Camus’s discussion of the absurd in Le Mythe de Sisyphe and of solidarity in L’Homme révolté, the article examines the manner in which Haroun, Daoud’s narrator and the brother of the Arab Meursault killed in L’Étranger, reveals his own failures of solidarity. He justly criticizes Meursault for privileging his confrontation with the absurd over the death of the Arab he did not even name, but Haroun too has killed. Haroun has, however, a greater understanding of solidarity than his fellows: he at least recognizes that murder is significant. He thus joins Meursault as an unworthy prophet who proclaims the absurd while surrounded by people who flee from it—and proclaiming the absurd can be a gesture of solidarity when one speaks for others, as Haroun speaks for his brother Moussa. Daoud’s novel reminds us that there are no final answers telling us how to live in solidarity with others and that we must do so all the same.

The general reception of Kamel Daoud’s intriguing novel The Meursault Investiagion has understandably focused on the relation between the story of murdered Arab’s brother, Harun and the main character of Camus’s The Stanger, Meursault, the murderer, who links both literary narratives. It is however evident, to any informed reader of Camus’s oeuvre, that Daoud’s novel is not simply a reference to the French writer’s first published novel. In my belief it is the form of The Fall; the understanding of it’s specific and very unique function and composition that may be the most intriguing element, eloquently used by Daoud. In the further part of article I examine the intertextual significance of the themes of guilt and confession of guilt, used by Camus in The Fall, and related to by Daoud in his novel

Albert Camus sought to envision his works to express negation, affirmation, and love in a progressive manner. Negation found its expression in The Myth of Sisyphus, The Stranger and Caligula; while affirmation was conveyed in The Rebel, The Plague, and The State of Siege. Love, however, was left unexpressed due to Camus' untimely death. When Camus died on January 4, 1960, a draft of an autobiographical work entitled Le Premiere Homme (The First Man), was found inside his suitcase. This work was supposed to be part of the third phase of Camus' works which would purportedly discuss love. The main aim of this research project therefore is to expose Camus' notion of love and prove its significance to his philosophy of affirmation. It will make use of the triads included in Camus' projected works – finished and unfinished – in extracting the meaning of love and in proving that love has a vital role in his philosophy. The work desires to address the main problem in three ways: firstly, to discuss Camus' philosophy of affirmation; secondly, to elucidate his notion of love by extracting its meaning from The First Man; and thirdly, to bridge the two by attempting to articulate the role that the notion of love plays in the development of his philosophy of affirmation via the articulation of the close connection of Camus' political intentions and activities to his philosophical thoughts.

Though Albert Camus was more accredited in literature than in philosophy, his novel The Outsider has made the subject 'absurdity of existence' known to the people through the life of his protagonist, Meursault. This paper is a critical study of the concept of the absurd in The Outsider, which is mainly based on Camus's philosophy of the absurd in The Myth of Sisyphus. In both works Camus pursues the problem of the absurd as the most fundamental question that could arise in a human's mind in his/her confrontation to life. These two texts support each other because, in The Myth of Sisyphus, he attempts to define the concept of the absurd philosophically, whereas, in The Outsider, the concept is delineated through the characterization and viewpoint of Meursault, the protagonist. Meursault, a self absorbed man who irrationally kills an Arab narrates the story in two parts, is the representation of an absurd man who finally attains some essential recognitions in his life before his condemnation to death by the court. Meursault's confrontation with the realities of the world, bravery and courage, without illusory hope but with awareness, could be the universal message which Camus gifted to his readers. The Outsider resonates Camus's claim "Happiness and the Absurd are two sons of the same earth" and "One must imagine Sisyphus happy" as this paper investigates the happiness in Meursault to delineate how absurdity and happiness are linked in Meursault's life and how he transforms into a hero like Sisyphus. Specifically, the process of recognition of the absurdity of life, triviality of death, and happiness are being examined in the characterization of the protagonist of The Outsider. The findings illustrate that Meursault's achievement of happiness is neither transcendent nor sensual; it is, in reality, an affirmation of the dignity and value of life.

Many writers had already elaborated upon matters of truth and honesty, when Albert Camus characterized Meursault, the protagonist of his best selling novel The Outsider, as an honest man who 'refuses to lie…for the sake of truth'. At that time, Camus had an international fame in the world of literature, and he explained the novel and his absurd hero, Meursault, in a preface to an English language edition of L'Etranger. Yet, some commentators and critics found Camus's explanation strange and reacted against his commentaries. Chief among them is Conor Cruise O'Brien who believes that Meursault of the actual novel is not the same that Camus characterized in the explanation of the novel. O'Brien points out that Meursualt of the story lies, and he is indifferent to truth. This paper is a critical examination of O'Brien's and other critics' commentaries which stand for and against Camus's own commentaries on his absurd character, Meursault, to lead us to the heart of the matter of Camus's understanding of terms such as honesty and truth. In doing so, despite the fact that Camus is the creator of Meursault, his commentary on Meursault is analysed next to other critics' commentaries, and not as a dominant one.

Albert Camus's colonialist sympathies and prejudices disguise under his absurdist philosophy of life expressed in The Outsider. Zeroing in on philosophical or psychoanalytical aspects of this novel obscures the political implications of the novel. Multi-racial tension and absurd claim of cultural assimilation in colonized Algeria play a vital role in the novel and are not less important issues than the Meursault's strangeness and his war against the set values of society. The relationship between the pied-noir and the Arabs reveals a Eurocentric attitude.

2011

Many writers had already elaborated upon matters of truth and honesty, when Albert Camus characterized Meursault, the protagonist of his best selling novel The Outsider, as an honest man who 'refuses to lie…for the sake of truth'. At that time, Camus had an international fame in the world of literature, and he explained the novel and his absurd hero, Meursault, in a preface to an English language edition of L'Etranger. Yet, some commentators and critics found Camus's explanation strange and reacted against his commentaries. Chief among them is Conor Cruise O'Brien who believes that Meursault of the actual novel is not the same that Camus characterized in the explanation of the novel. O'Brien points out that Meursualt of the story lies, and he is indifferent to truth. This paper is a critical examination of O'Brien's and other critics' commentaries which stand for and against Camus's own commentaries on his absurd character, Meursault, to lead us to the heart of the matter of Camus's understanding of terms such as honesty and truth. In doing so, despite the fact that Camus is the creator of Meursault, his commentary on Meursault is analysed next to other critics' commentaries, and not as a dominant one.

Many writers had already elaborated upon matters of truth and honesty, when Albert Camus characterized Meursault, the protagonist of his best selling novel The Outsider, as an honest man who 'refuses to lie…for the sake of truth'. At that time, Camus had an international fame in the world of literature, and he explained the novel and his absurd hero, Meursault, in a preface to an English language edition of L'Etranger. Yet, some commentators and critics found Camus's explanation strange and reacted against his commentaries. Chief among them is Conor Cruise O'Brien who believes that Meursault of the actual novel is not the same that Camus characterized in the explanation of the novel. O'Brien points out that Meursualt of the story lies, and he is indifferent to truth. This paper is a critical examination of O'Brien's and other critics' commentaries which stand for and against Camus's own commentaries on his absurd character, Meursault, to lead us to the heart of the matter of Camus's understanding of terms such as honesty and truth. In doing so, despite the fact that Camus is the creator of Meursault, his commentary on Meursault is analysed next to other critics' commentaries, and not as a dominant one.

La Vie des Idées, 2017

Camus, en qui Sartre voyait « l'admirable conjonction d'un homme, d'une action et d'une oeuvre », incarne la figure très française de l'« intellectuel engagé », ou de ce qu'on nomme outre-­-Atlantique un « intellectuel public ». Quelque soixante-­-dix ans après la parution de l'Étranger, son oeuvre continue encore de susciter la fascination chez les lecteurs américains.