Albert Camus, Le Mythe de Sisyphe [The Myth of Sisyphus]

Henry Dicks (Université Lyon 3)

Ed. by Hugo Azerad, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.07: French Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (University of Western Australia), Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Patrick ffrench (King's College London), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London), Siobhán McIlvanney (King's College London), Sinan Richards (King's College London), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1942

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Commentary / Criticism (literary)
Essays/ Lectures (any)
Myths and Legends

Resources

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First published in French in 1942,

Le Mythe de Sisyphe

is a philosophical essay at the heart of which is the theme of the absurd. Alongside the novel

L’Etranger

[

The Stranger

] (1942), and the plays

Caligula

[

Caligula

] (1939) and

Le Malentendu

[The Misunderstanding] (1944),

Le Mythe de Sisyphe

forms part of Camus’s “cycle of the absurd”, a series of works which all examine the consequences of absurdity in the lives of individuals.

Le Mythe de Sisyphe

also prefigures Camus’s second major philosophical essay,

L’Homme Révolté

[

The Rebel

] (1951), which, like the novel

La Peste

[

The Plague

] (1947), and the plays

L’État de Siège

[

The State of Siege

] (1948) and

Les Justes

[

The Just Assassins

] (1949), examines the metaphysical and social aspects of revolt and rebellion at the…

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2057 words

Citation: Dicks, Henry. "Le Mythe de Sisyphe". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 August 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11620, accessed 31 October 2024.]

Albert Camus, Le Mythe de Sisyphe [The Myth of Sisyphus]

Dates

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