L’absence Et Le DÉtail Dans L’oeuvre Romanesque De Camus

Author:	Grégoire, Vincent
Year:	2003
Pages:	280
ISBN:	0-7734-6583-9 978-0-7734-6583-1
Price:	$199.95

This meticulous study proposes a reading of Camus’s novels and short stories through the themes of ‘absence’ and ‘insignificance.’ It argues that ‘absent characters’ (for example, the obliteration of the brother in The First Man, the erasure of Maman in L’Etranger, or the silencing of female characters in most works), ‘insignificant topics’ and ‘details’ (the use of cinema, dogs, trains, or fighting scenes) actually play a fundamental role. No single study has yet focused on the role of such apparently unimportant motifs in Camus’s fiction. The study demonstrates that these motifs are central to many of Camus’s novels and short stories because they deal with such key themes as exile, injustice, redemption, unsettled virility, and above all, humanism.

Reviews

“Vincent Grégoire has found new things to say and discuss, including comparisons seldom noticed between Camus’s work and seventeenth- and eighteenth-century writing…. Grégoire’s analysis of what Camus deliberately omitted in most of his work is of interest, and adds to our understanding of the personality of the author; Camus focuses on a few characters who are usually close to himself….This book will make us realize how self-centered Camus’s perspective could be; the Camus Vincent Grégoire reveals is a consummate artist, but not a saint.” – Adele King, Professor Emerita, Ball State University

Table of Contents:
Foreword; Introduction
Partie I: Le rôle central des absents et des "seconds rôles"
I- La place des absents: Le rôle central des absents (Maman, le grand-duc et l'interlocuteur) dans L'Etranger, Les Justes et La Chute; L'"oubli" du frère dans Le Premier homme
II- Les "seconds rôles" au premier plan: L'"effacement" féminin: oblitération ou présence en filigrane?; L'enfant ou lorsque la religion lui offre un rôle à jouer.
Partie II: Le détail reflet du tout:
I - Pour une promotion de l'humanisme: Le rôle et l'importance du cinema; Trains et tramways comme miroirs de la condition humaine; Camus et l'affaire Guyader, ou l'histoire d'un malentendu.
II - L'étude d'autres thèmes chers à Camus: l'exil, la virilité et la symbolique animale: Paris: ville attirante, ville mortifiante; Combats, bagarres et disputes violentes ou la virilité mise à l'épreuve; Lorsque le chien "rachète" l'homme.
Conclusion
Bibliographie; Index