The Cambridge Companion to Camus (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

Cambridge University Press, 4/26/2007
EAN 9780521840484, ISBN10: 0521840481

Hardcover, 252 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English

Albert Camus is one of the iconic figures of twentieth-century French literature, one of France's most widely read modern literary authors and one of the youngest winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature. As the author of L'Etranger and the architect of the notion of 'the Absurd' in the 1940s, he shot to prominence in France and beyond. His work nevertheless attracted hostility as well as acclaim and he was increasingly drawn into bitter political controversies, especially the issue of France's place and role in the country of his birth, Algeria. Most recently, postcolonial studies have identified in his writings a set of preoccupations ripe for revisitation. Situating Camus in his cultural and historical context, this 2007 Companion explores his best-selling novels, his ambiguous engagement with philosophy, his theatre, his increasingly high-profile work as a journalist and his reflection on ethical and political questions that continue to concern readers today.

Chronology
Introduction Edward J. Hughes
Part I. Biography and Influences
1. Camus
a life lived in critical times Ieme van der Poel
2. Situating Camus
the formative influences Toby Garfitt
3. Autobiographical soundings in L'Envers et l'Endroit Edward J. Hughes
Part II. Themes, Preoccupations and Genres
4. Rethinking the absurd
Le Mythe de Sisyphe David Carroll
5. Camus and the theatre Christine Margerrison
6. Camus the journalist Jeanyves Guerin
7. Camus and social justice Martin Crowley
8. Violence and ethics in Camus Colin Davis
9. Camus and Sartre
the great quarrel Charles Forsdick
10. Portraits of women, visions of Algeria Danielle Marx-Scouras
Part III. Texts and Contexts
11. From Noces to L'Etranger Peter Dunwoodie
12. Layers of meaning in La Peste Margaret E. Gray
13. Withheld identity in La Chute David Ellison
14. Le Premier Homme and the literature of loss Debra Kelly
Postface Edward J. Hughes
Guide to further reading
Index.