Myth Of Sisyphus Research Articles

A Social Constraints and Personal Freedom in The Myth of Sisyphus: Examining the Impact of External Forces on Existential Autonomy

This paper explores the intricate relationship between social constraints and personal freedom in Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus, focusing on the impact of external forces on existential autonomy. Camus’s philosophy, centered on the concept of the “absurd,” challenges traditional notions of freedom by highlighting the tension between human beings’ inherent desire for meaning and the indifferent, chaotic universe. The essay examines how social constraints—such as cultural norms, laws, economic conditions, and political ideologies—further complicate this quest for autonomy by imposing additional layers of limitation on individuals. Rather than viewing freedom as the absence of constraints, Camus redefines it as the capacity to confront these external forces with awareness and defiance, choosing one’s own path even within a constrained environment. Through a deeper analysis of Sisyphus as a symbol of human struggle against both cosmic and social limitations, this paper argues that true freedom is found not in escaping these constraints but in navigating and resisting them, asserting one’s values and identity in the face of both the absurd and societal expectations. The conclusion emphasizes the dynamic interplay between freedom and constraint, presenting a vision of autonomy as a continuous, courageous engagement with the world.

Absurdism: Aesthetic category in the story “Un grito” (1947) by Carlos Salazar Herrera

The purpose of this article is to analyze the features of Camusian absurdism present in the short story “Un grito” (“A Scream”) (1947), by the Costa Rican writer Carlos Salazar Herrera. Specifically, it will focus on the expression of the absurdism and what this category implies in the configuration of the textual interweaving of the story. As theoretical-methodological references, The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) by the Algerian-French writer Albert Camus, and the theory of intertextuality by Julia Kristeva (1978). In this analysis, it was proved that in the text under study there are elements of the absurdism that demonstrate the influence of Camusian thought in Salazar Herrera’s storytelling.

Camus y Sartre, ¿disputa o afinidad filosófica? Concepciones en torno a la idea de responsabilidad existencial

This essay is based on the question: how to represent the argumentative contrast of the concept of responsibility in the philosophical postulates from Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus?The main objective of this study is to link the way in which bothauthors address, agree, and differ on various philosophical pointsof view about this idea (individual and social human responsibility) throughout their works, and to compare this contrast tothe disputes they have during their life, looking for establishconnections and differences between both philosophical positions (Existentialism and Absurdism), as well as to approach to the foundations of their ideas. This study is based on Sartre byhimself (1955) and The Existentialism is a Humanism (1946),by Sartre, and The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) and The Revel Man (1951) by Camus.

The Yogavāsiṣṭha and the Philosophy of the Absurd: A Hindu Response to the Heart’s Cry

In this article, I call attention to the Yogavāsiṣṭha’s depiction of Rāma’s existential crisis and Vasiṣṭha’s various methods for resolving it. However, I illuminate this crisis and Rāma’s lengthy monologue by turning to an altogether different frame of reference: Albert Camus’s philosophy of the absurd as developed in his absurd-oriented works, from The Myth of Sisyphus to The Rebel. Arguing that Rāma’s existential crisis is strongly reminiscent of Camus’s awakening to life’s absurdity, and that his monologue may be considered among the most successful meditations on this predicament, I examine not only Rāma’s quandary but also what the Yogavāsiṣṭha deems the ultimate response to it. In this way, I throw into sharp relief two contrasting responses to the absurd condition in human life that effectively challenge one another. Considering some of the Indian classical works, such as the Yogavāsiṣṭha, in this light suggests that they too acknowledge the absurd as their starting point and, at least to a certain extent, develop doctrines that aid their practitioners in facing it. Nevertheless, the Yogavāsiṣṭha also enables us to develop our thinking about absurdity and expand the discussion of constructive responses to the reality of the absurd.

옌롄커(閻連科)의 『사서(四書)』 연구

Yan Lianke's novel 『四書』 is set in the context of the anti-right struggle, the Great Leap Forward movement, and the Great Famine. State violence is dealt with through intellectuals who were subject to labor reform in the Wishin District along the Yellow River. On the other hand, we considered the human dignity of not being dominated by animal instincts for survival in extreme situations where violence is rampant. In the novel, the general causal relationship is collapsed, and reality and unreal appear in a mixture. This collapse and mixture is a novel device. The search for a mixture of the unreal and reality of this novel can be said to be the starting point of this article. First, in 『天的孩子』, the novel device of religion was analyzed, focusing on the character 'The Child’. Second, in 『故道』, the mixture of unreal and reality was examined through the narrative of wheat grains that grew like corn grains after eating blood centered on the character 'writer’. Third, in 『新西绪弗神话』, the 'The Myth of Sisyphus’ was analyzed focusing on the character 'the scholar’. Through fables, the Chinese people who were placed in the bond of repetition from the past to the present were considered.

The Multilayered Meaning of Camus’ Absurdity as Seen in Caligula and the Stranger

Albert Camus’s literary works and philosophical ideas have had a profound impact on the world. After the two world wars, Europe, tormented by the catastrophe of war, was in a climate of resentful reflection, exploration of the future and skepticism about old values. When the old order is shaken and called into question, man’s everyday life becomes a concrete manifestation of absurdity. The world is absurd, is the subjective feeling of many characters in Camus’ books. The term “absurdity”, a key term in Camus’s life, evolved and developed throughout his work. In this paper, it examines two of Camus’s books, The Stranger and Caligula, to analyze the “Absurd Man” in Camus’s work, then introduces The Myth of Sisyphus to explore how Camus confronts the absurdity in his work, in other words, what he advocates as “revolt”. By exploring how Camus deepens and broadens revolt, the paper offers a better understanding of the uplifting power of words in Camus’ literature work.

Images of the Absurd: Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus and The Outsider and Peter Abrahams’s Mine Boy

In this article, I analyse Peter Abrahams’s Mine Boy. Apart from the fact that the novel has not received the critical attention it deserves despite its remarkable status as the first South African novel to address the plight of black South Africans, the negative criticisms that the novel has attracted are noteworthy. Moreover, the few who have attempted to analyse it have done so along the axis of either the rural-urban poetics or the liberal or Marxist ideals. How Albert Camus’s concept of the absurd figures in the novel has thereby been ignored. Drawing on this concept of the absurd as conceptualised and depicted in Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus and The Outsider, I argue that it is basically this concept that Abrahams employs in constituting his narrative. While not pushing the argument too far that Abrahams’s Mine Boy is an absurdist novel, I nevertheless demonstrate and conclude that it is simultaneously about the suffering and the heroism of black South African characters, which translates to them being the true image of the absurd.

Absurd (anti)Heroes’ Journey toward Happiness: A Psychoanalytic Comparison between Arthur Fleck and Meursault

In his philosophical writing, The Myth of Sisyphus (1979), Albert Camus ponders the futility of the search for unity and absolute in this seemingly indifferent universe, and surmises that true happiness comes from accepting the meaninglessness of human existence. This particular school of thought is known as absurdism, and the narratives that fall under this discipline are referred to as absurdist texts. Camus not only expounds on the scopes of absurdism but also puts them into practice through his fiction. One such seminal absurdist novel by Camus is The Outsider (1987). In the novel, the writer delineates how the protagonist, Meursault, finds contentment by accepting his fate. A similar state of happiness is attained by Arthur Fleck, the protagonist of the film Joker (2019), when he accepts and assumes his proper place in society. From the onset, Fleck and Meursault may appear quite different from each other. However, upon closer inspection, the subtle similarities in their characteristics are perceptible, which bind them to a common threat of absurdity. It is undeniable that both Fleck and Meursault have committed homicide. Nonetheless, there is a greater force behind their acts than free will, and that is their unconscious drive. This paper explores the workings of the unconscious and its manifestation in Fleck and Meursault’s actions while explicitly commenting on the relationships with their respective mothers. This comparative study also highlights how both of them discover true happiness once they finally learn to accept their fate and reality. Spectrum, Volume 17, June 2022: 101-113

부조리한 삶에 대한 반항

Yan Lianke is internationally recognized as one of the three great masters of modern Chinese literature, along with Yuhua and Moyen. In China, however, many of his books are banned. Yan Lianke wants to be able to write freely, to reflect reality, and to capture in his own way the memories of a past that has been selectively erased in Chinese history. This article considers absurdity and rebellion to focus on Yan Lianke’s work, and to explore this, we first look to Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus and The Stranger to understand the meaning of absurdity and rebellion. By examining the personal and historical circumstances of both Camus and Yan Lianke, we will further explore the meaning of absurdity and rebellion through their lives. The Four Books deals with the events that take place in the power-controlled space of the Yuxin District, and because it is described through Yan Lianke’s own expression, readers may feel that the content and expression are somewhat exaggerated. However, the situations depicted in The Four Books are not only the past history of actual China, but also a projection of the current China. There is a difference between Camus’ and Yan Lianke’s perception of rebellion. While Camus saw this rebellion at the level of individual lives, Yan Lianke goes a step further and not only criticizes the absurdity of China, but also hopes that each individual will wake up and rebel, and through this, China will become a better country.

부조리한 삶에 대한 반항

Yan Lianke is internationally recognized as one of the three great masters of modern Chinese literature, along with Yuhua and Moyen. In China, however, many of his books are banned. Yan Lianke wants to be able to write freely, to reflect reality, and to capture in his own way the memories of a past that has been selectively erased in Chinese history. This article considers absurdity and rebellion to focus on Yan Lianke’s work, and to explore this, we first look to Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus and The Stranger to understand the meaning of absurdity and rebellion. By examining the personal and historical circumstances of both Camus and Yan Lianke, we will further explore the meaning of absurdity and rebellion through their lives. The Four Books deals with the events that take place in the power-controlled space of the Yuxin District, and because it is described through Yan Lianke’s own expression, readers may feel that the content and expression are somewhat exaggerated. However, the situations depicted in The Four Books are not only the past history of actual China, but also a projection of the current China. There is a difference between Camus’ and Yan Lianke’s perception of rebellion. While Camus saw this rebellion at the level of individual lives, Yan Lianke goes a step further and not only criticizes the absurdity of China, but also hopes that each individual will wake up and rebel, and through this, China will become a better country.

Albert Camus’ eksistentsialismi jooni Priit Pärna filmides

Comparison of two works benefits the understanding of both of them. The comparison finds the overlap between the works along with the standpoints that distinguish them. The interpretation of these works is broadened and also more distinctly delimited. The article examines the films of Estonia’s most accomplished animation director Priit Pärn for signs of existentialist thought, based on Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus. Close textual analysis was used to answer the research question: which existentialist traits appear in Priit Pärn’s films, and how they resemble and differ from Albert Camus’s view of existentialism. The research found numerous parallels between Priit Pärn’s filmography and Camus’s existentialist thought. One of the leitmotifs of Pärn’s films is the prevalence of preposterous totalitarian systems, where the prevailing situation is nearly identical to one in which the absurd man would discover the absurd. Various characters from these worlds have lost their human shape in a way that causes discomforting alienation in the viewer, which is one of the absurd discoveries mentioned by Camus. Though many of Pärn’s characters are similar to the absurd man, only in one of the films are they able to free themselves from the rigid routine conclusively. However, none of the characters recognize the absurdity of the system around them: they either live under its hardship or those who free themselves resemble the absurd man only in their actions, not in their mentality, because they do not act upon a logical discussion. Distinctive to Pärn’s style, the unrestricted approach to reality aligns with Camus’s reluctance about the mindset that treats humans and everything else as if they had a definite place and purpose in the world. Priit Pärn’s films have many similarities with Albert Camus’ existentialism. Although juxtaposing them reveals that while Camus concentrates on a mentality on how to interpret and embrace the absurd, Pärn’s films focus on the absurd and the absurd systems themselves, along with describing the burdens they bring about. Additionally, often in Priit Pärn’s films, the oppressive plight of the characters remains persistent. In contrast, Camus ends his essay in faith that even in a world burdened with absurd one may be happy.

Absence of Objective Correlative in Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus

This research paper explores the concept of the absence of the objective correlative in Albert Camus's influential philosophical essay, "The Myth of Sisyphus." The objective correlative is a literary device used to evoke specific emotions in the reader through the presentation of external objects that correlate with the internal experiences of characters. However, in Camus's work, the absence of the objective correlative becomes evident, as the protagonist's experience of the absurd defies easy representation. This paper examines the implications of this absence, analyzing the impact on the reader's understanding of the human condition and the existential themes presented in the essay.

What’s in a name

In The point of view on my work as an author (1851) Søren Kierkegaard speaks of Governance, a voice informing his writing. In The concept of anxiety (1844) the pseudonymous Vigilius elucidates the categories of the temporary, the eternal and the moment and defines the demonic as anxiety about the good, a predominant motif in Herman Melville’s novel Billy Budd (1891). Pseudonyms play an important role in Paul Auster’s novel City of glass (1987), a narrative constructing fictions within fictions while striving towards truth and pitting play against work Albert Camus’ The myth of Sisyphus (1942) is relevant as the philosopher argues that reason approximates truth while faith betrays truth, a standpoint he reverses in the later work The rebel (1951).

The Mytheme of Way in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road

The way or road is one of the central mythemes in the world literature. It is used as a bone-structure in numerous mythic and literary narratives. In a sense, the myth of Sisyphus, the Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer’s Odyssey, Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parsifal and other medieval Grail romances, Dante’s Divina Commedia, Cervantes’s Don Quixote, Goethe’s Faust, James Joyce’s Ulysses, T. S. Eliot’s Journey of the Magi and The Waste Land and many other masterpieces of the world literature are embodiments of the mytheme of the way and the mythic motive of quest. The forms of its literary embodiment of the mytheme vary from one literary epoch to another depending on the author’s world outlook and method. As Temur Kobakhidze puts it, in the final analysis, two separate journeys, the historic and the spiritual one, can be presented in any work. The historic journey can take place in the profane time of everyday events, while the spiritual quest endures in the sacred space-time, serving as a binding principle for what can be described as the mythopoeic chronotope of the spiritual quest (Kobakhidze 2008: 94). The narrative structure of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel The Road is shaped by the mytheme of way or road. A father and his son “journey” alone through burned America. The land is covered with ash, it is cold enough to crack stones, the sky is dark. Cannibals, marauders and lawless bands stalk the road. Their destination is the coast, although they do not know what, if anything, awaits them there. The association with Sisyphus comes to mind immediately – all their efforts to escape the same dangers and overcome the same obstacles endlessly seems to be aimless and even if they reach their destination and survive, there is no sense in survival – it is the world in which no hope remains. In this sense, the narrative structure of the “road” is modelled on the myth of Sisyphus. At the same time, the apocalyptic vision of the total devastation is a literal/physical actualization of T. S. Eliot’s metaphoric image of the “waste land”. All characters, but one, are nameless – McCarthy depicts the all-human condition. While the book details the journey, it is not specified what cataclysm has destroyed the industrial civilization and almost all life. One might assume that the protagonists face the results of Anthropocene – a new geological epoch of significant human impact on geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change. Anthropocene is inevitably followed by the era of Posthumanism that is not anthropocentric and therefore not centered in Cartesian dualism. It seeks to undermine the traditional boundaries between the human and inhuman (the animal and the technological). However, it does not mean that what McCarthy offers is the totalization of the posthumanist epistemology. The novel is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness, love and empathy for others that keeps two people alive in the face of total post-apocalyptic devastation.

Absurdism in Kafka’s A Hunger Artist

Albert Camus’ philosophy of the Absurd has been used as one of the many interpretative dialogues for Franz Kafka’s literary works, particularly his short story, A Hunger Artist. This paper explored the various facets of absurdism described in The Myth of Sisyphus and connects it with the short story by arguing that A Hunger Artist has more to reveal than its narrative content. Examining the similarities and differences between Camus’ Sisyphus and the protagonist of A Hunger Artist, helps produce absurdist interpretations of the text. The question of finding meaning in an indifferent universe and the predicament of being wedged in an endless loop of a monotonous cycle of life is explored until the very end of the short story. The dilemma of the protagonist, the disillusionment with society fused with the complicated reality of the human condition are all elements present in A Hunger Artist that help identify existentialism through fiction. When seen through the absurdist perspective, the hunger artist stands as a figure, depicting the disunity between man and the universe, and the internal and external conflict between the rational and irrational in an unresponsive universe. Analysing this fiction through the philosophy of absurdism generates significant standpoints that bring forth the author’s individual reasoning as a consolation to the questioning, existentialist mind.

Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot: The Dual Motif

Following two world wars, the human essence was affected by pessimism and a loss of faith. As a result, new existentialist literature was produced, resulting in a new wave of absurdist fiction plays. The theatre of the absurd was first termed by Martin Esslin, whereas the term ‘absurd’ was first used by Albert Camus in his classic essay ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’. Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” a tragic comedy, (1952) is among the most mysterious dramas of the twentieth century that represents the philosophy of absurdism. By adopting the philosophy of theatre of the absurd in analyzing “Waiting for Godot,” this study focuses on Beckett’s employing the dual motif in the plot of the play and its implications, represented in chances that play a significant role rather than logic in the characters’ lives. As a result, the study concludes that Beckett’s use of such a technique underlines the equal opportunities in the world of the play, where chances have their effects on humans; Godot might or might not come, and the characters might leave or not: illustrating the unpredictability of the real world.

Existentialism as Portrayed in Stoner

The purpose of this study is to analyze a novel titled Stoner (1965) written by an American academic and author, John Williams. Stoner follows the life of William Stoner, a professor of English Literature. Stoner comes from an impoverished farming family with a unique existential ethics. He works his way to become a university instructor and learns the magnitude of passion in the success of life. This study uses Lucien Goldmann’s Genetic Structuralist theory. The goals of this research are: 1) to analyze the structure of the literary work; 2) to understand the historical background that influences the novel; and 3) to reveal the author’s world view. The study shows that John Williams captures an existential tradition belonging to American lower-class famers who lived around the late 19th century. Stoner also captures the transformation of the existential tradition following a social, economic, and political transition. Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus is used as a reference to explain the manifestation of the existential idea.

CULTURE ET RÉCONCILIATION POST-GUERRE : DE L’OPTIMISME À LA RÉSILIENCEPOST-WAR CULTURE AND RECONCILIATION: FROM OPTIMISM TO RESILIENCE

Culture and Post-War Reconciliation: from Optimism to Resilience. At the end of the civil war, Lebanon tried to rebuild itself but fairly quickly wars, assassinations, repeated political crises and an influx of refugees weakened it. From 2019, it is downright descent into hell with an aborted popular revolt and a whole series of financial, economic and health disasters culminating in the explosion of August 4, 2020, which transformed it into a true martyr nation. Once again, the Land of the Cedars falls back into the cycle of the absurd, even into the circularity of the myth of Sisyphus, going so far as to relive scenes of violence reminiscent of the civil war as if we were returning to the “Zero Hour”. These recent events show that the structural causes that led to the conflict among Lebanese have not yet been resolved. Today the majority of them are lost, living day to day without hope or perspective. Faced with this fatality, should we question the impact of artistic projects aiming at social reconciliation following a conflict? Can culture in general and theater in particular still be vectors for promoting peace? In which category of the process of social transformation can we place these artistic practices today? Do the practitioners of this approach always do sustainable reconciliation work or rather attempt at societal resilience? Does this resilience still have a therapeutic role that heals wounds and trauma? Or does it risk contributing to pushing the Lebanese into denial by adapting them to their new reality?

Sisyphus and the Present: Time in Modern and Digital Legalities

Albert Camus’ reflection in The Myth of Sisyphus presents the absurd, the intrusion of the meaningless and irrational universe into the order and future focus of modern life. Central to Camus’ reading of Sisyphus and his dammed eternal labour, was time. Camus clearly saw that modernity and modern life was predicated on tensions in time. Moderns perceived, and lived, in the timescale of past-present-future. A commitment to chronology that promised an allusion of meaning within a world of essential meaninglessness. Modern law, the law forged by the structural violence of positivism and sovereignty, shared this commitment to time. However, transitions to the digital are presenting different relationships of law and time. Emergent digital legality manifests a Sisyphean closed loop of repeat, return and enclosure, past and future become a blurred undistinguished present. The modern terror of mundane life that Camus tried to recast, seems intensified and totalised in the digital. However, rather than the possibility of the joy of the absurd, there is something else. Sisyphus, Camus imaged, had weathered to look like his rock, but he never merges with it. But in the unfolding of the digital and its legality, the secure subjectivity that Camus exalted is less then certain. This might not be bad.

On occasion we go after an innocent: A review of MariaBalaska (ed), Cora Diamond on Ethics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). xii + 267, price £89.99.

On occasion we go after an innocent: A review of MariaBalaska (ed), Cora Diamond on Ethics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). xii + 267, price £89.99.