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Albert Camus

アルベール・カミュ

Aruberu Kamyu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1913-11-07 （Mondovi (near Dréan), French Algeria）
Died
1960-01-04 （Villeblevin, Yonne, Burgundy, France） age 46
Nationality
France
Languages
French

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher, Essayist, Journalist, Critic
Active Years
1935-1960
Influenced By
Simone Weil, Jean Grenier, Søren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Influenced
Jean-Paul Sartre (mutual influence and famous dispute), Many 20th-century writers and thinkers

Education

University of Algiers
Faculty of Arts
Degree: 学士（文学）
Period: 1932-1936
Year of Graduation: 1936
Country: French Algeria
Thesis: "Métaphysique chrétienne et Néoplatonisme"

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature
1957
Organization: Swedish Academy
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Stranger (L'Étranger)

1942 Novel

Set in Algiers, the novel follows Meursault, whose indifferent reaction to life and death exemplifies Camus's notion of the absurd, questioning justice and social values.

AbsurdityIsolationDeathSocial norms
Translations
  • The Stranger (Japanese translation)

The Myth of Sisyphus (Le Mythe de Sisyphe)

1942 Essay / Philosophy

An essay exploring the philosophy of the absurd, addressing suicide and arguing that rebellion against absurdity is the proper human response.

AbsurdityRevoltCritique of suicide
Translations
  • The Myth of Sisyphus (Japanese translation)

The Plague (La Peste)

1947 Novel

An allegorical novel about an epidemic that isolates a city, focusing on ethics, solidarity and resistance in the face of catastrophe.

SolidarityEthicsAbsurdityResistance to calamity
Translations
  • The Plague (Japanese translation)

Bibliography

  • L'Envers et l'Endroit (1937)
  • L'Étranger (1942)
  • Le Mythe de Sisyphe (1942)
  • Caligula (play, 1944)
  • La Peste (1947)
  • La Chute (1956)
  • L'Exil et le Royaume (1957)
  • The Rebel (L'Homme révolté) (1951/1952)
  • The First Man (Le Premier Homme) (posthumous, 1994)

Adaptations

  • The Plague (multiple stage and screen adaptations)
  • The Stranger (film and stage adaptations)

Translations by Author

  • La Dévotion à la Croix (translations/adaptations of Spanish classics)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Concise and lucid proseAllegorical and philosophical narrationCalm observation with ethical insight
Recurring Motifs
AbsurdityRevoltDeathSolidarity

Health

  • Tuberculosis
    1930年代初期から生涯にかけて断続的に罹患
    Experienced haemoptysis and intermittent long-term illness; his health remained fragile and affected his life and work.

Legacy

One of the major 20th-century writers and thinkers. Widely recognized for his philosophy of the absurd and ethical humanism; awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. A symbolic figure of postwar humanism in Europe.

Museums

  • Fonds Albert Camus (Albert Camus Collection) Aix-en-Provence (Cité du livre and related archives)

Academic Societies

  • Albert Camus societies and research groups (various countries)

Archives

  • Fonds Albert Camus - Cité du livre (Aix-en-Provence)

In Popular Culture

  • His works and ideas are frequently referenced in film, theatre and education

Quotes

  • In the midst of winter I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
    Source: Commonly attributed to Albert Camus

Trivia

  • Received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957 (aged 43, one of the younger postwar laureates)
  • Died in a car accident in 1960
  • Suffered from tuberculosis from early adulthood