Abstract
French existentialist literature was born in response to the horrors of World War II and the destruction of the Nazi. People began to contemplate the meaning of life (or the lack thereof) and the role of God amidst these tragedies. The two most prominent representatives of French existentialist literature were Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Both writers were once friends, but their differing approaches to existentialism drove them apart. Camus believed that people should value life in itself, rather than focus on the meaninglessness of a world without God, a philosophy that came to be known as Absurdism. Sartre believed that people should take agency for their own lives to achieve a state of higher consciousness called “pour-soi,” as opposed to existing in an inferior state of consciousness called “en-soi.” Sartre’s ideas of self-agency were sometimes problematic, however, in that they ascribed inferiority to certain groups, like women and homosexuals, and they advocated for violence as a means to an end.
Recommended Citation
Ellis, Braiden
(2024)
"La liberté face à l’absurde : comment exister dans le monde moderne,"
Undergraduate Research: Vol. 4:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58361/2766-3590.1071
Available at:
https://kb.gcsu.edu/undergraduateresearch/vol4/iss1/4