Home » Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

  1. “Washington Independent Review of Books.” The Meursault Investigation | Washington Independent Review of Books, www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/the-meursault-investigation.

 

This article discusses two works, that of Albert Camus’ “The Stranger,” and Kamel Daoud’s “The Meursault Investigation.” It accents the drastic differences yet close similarities in the socio-political-economic factors of the time and events taking place. Daoud’s point in writing his novel is to take the perspective of the Arab that was murdered by the main character of the book, Meursault. Since Algeria is in a state of colonization by the French, Daoud takes the point of view from the colonized instead of the colonizer. Not only are these two novels inter-related through their characters and settings, but they are especially interrelated through the theme of alienation and anonymity. The comparison stems in the simple fact that Meursault, who believes himself to be a hero, is completely left alone in his country (colonized under the French), and is a foreigner himself. In Daoud’s version, the Algerian (Arab) himself is experiencing odd times with French colonization, which eventually leads him into conflict with a French man himself. The biggest theme, however, is the theme of “otherness.” This theme frames the conflict and tension amongst two cultures and political events that cause a form of resentment against one another. “The Stranger” is told through a colonialist perspective, viewing Algerian natives as invisible until problems rise (as did with Meursault when he murdered the Arab). Likewise, In Daoud’s interpretation, the only information given is that Meursault is a Frenchman. The comparison of these two texts shows the political and social tension of the time between these two cultures. It also gives an analysis of why certain events took place in Camus’ “The Stranger.”

 

  1. Death and Absurdism in Camus’s The Stranger by Alan Gullette, alangullette.com/essays/lit/stranger.htm.

 

This article discusses the philosophy of Camus’ “absurd” and how being in the grasp of death changes people’s perspectives. He thoroughly analyzes how each event within the novel contributes to Meursault’s hopelessness of existence, particularly when he kills the Arab. Meursault’s philosophy of absurdism justifies the loss of life (the murder he committed) as it not having any significance on the universe, since it is so grand and meaningless. There is so much life and death that it wouldn’t make a difference if there was one less source of life (the Arab he kills). The reason why the universe’s grandness has no meaning is because nature is indifferent. In particular, the sun is a huge metaphor of this in the novel. This is ironic because although the sun is indifferent to what happens on Earth, it is the one thing that bothers Meursault, since nothing bothers him in the first place. Due to his beliefs, Meursault obviously does not believe in God and all things external. His religious conflict is what accents the ending of the book when he is facing execution. The priest attempts at persuading him to repent his sins before his death, but Meursault continually detests this notion and gets verbally violent. He then begins to perceive God and religion legitimately right before his death, when it is seemingly too late. Lastly, this article talks about how Meursault’s lack of regret plays into his philosophy as an absurdist. He is also not self-aware, seeing that he does not aim to advance in any shape or form. He is aware that death is inevitable and that his actions will likely have no meaning, but the way he acts has absolutely no influence on his self-awareness. His lack of emotion, regret, awareness, and so forth is what causes him to be the “other” character amongst society.

  1. Aronson, Ronald. “Albert Camus.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 10 Apr. 2017, plato.stanford.edu/entries/camus/.

Camus greatly denied ever being a philosopher and went especially against “systematic philosophy.” He also critiqued rationalism, questioned death, and didn’t argue his points of view. He greatly detached himself from existentialism, but posed one of the largest existentialist questions that concerned suicide. Hence, the beginnings of his absurdist philosophy. In Camus’ “The Rebel,” a lot of his political ideologies shown through. Along with many of his other short works, he was coined as a great moralist. This, however, got him into trouble with Jean-Paul Sartre during the Cold-War era. Camus and Sartre became the leading voices in the anti-Communist and pro-Communist fronts. Lastly, Camus critiqued religion and the Enlightenment era, including Marxism.

  1. “History in Focus.” A Review of the TV Programme ‘Congo: White King, Red Rubber and Black Death’ (BBC 4), www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Migration/articles/house.html.

This article discusses the colonization of the Arab-Berbers from Algeria to France (and vice versa). This is an important article to know since the socio-political factors of French Algeria played a huge role at the time. This occurred before the 1960s. This colonization and migration was influenced by Algerians in the French army in World War I. Algerians also worked in the French factories at the time. As a result, male labor was a fundamental of the colonial economy in the 1920s. Algeria was one of France’s major settler colonies, which means that the French aimed to replace the original Algerian population with their own. Migration to Algeria did not only come from France, but also Italy, Spain and Malta. Land expropriation of the native population, where the government took private property for public gain, took place. This process of course, destroyed the socio-economic and cultural traditions of the Algerian people. The migration was officially extended to that of France.

  1. Montoya, Yesenia. “Racism in The Stranger.” Prezi.com, 19 Feb. 2014, prezi.com/tjym_d3tojr1/racism-in-the-stranger/.

This presentation discusses the colonialism of Algeria by France, Raymond’s (Meursault’s friend) relationship to the Arabs and his racist tendencies towards them, and Meursault’s execution and the racist explanations of them.