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

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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…

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 19 March 2024.]

11620 Le Mythe de Sisyphe 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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