CAMUS, ALBERT

Camus, Albert: translation

(1913–1960)

Algerian-born French novelist and thinker, and winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize for literature. His work explores the themes associated with existentialism, in particular the experience of ‘absurdity’ or metaphysical nihilism, and the moral reaction that the experience demands. Camus's novels includeL’Étranger(1942, trs. asThe Stranger, 1946, and also asThe Outsider) andLa Peste(1947, trs. asThe Plague, 1948). Two major essays explaining the philosophical and metaphysical basis of his themes areLe Mythe de Sisyphe(1942, trs. asThe Myth of Sisyphus, 1955) andL’Homme revolté(1951, trs. asThe Rebel, 1953).