"L'Etranger" as thesis novel

Shelley Lynn Thomas Purcell, Purdue University

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to address the conflict in art between aesthetic function and communicative function which is illustrated by the thesis novel, a form of didactic literature. This literary art form has been disdained in the twentieth century at almost every level of theory, linguistics, philosophy, and literary criticism, while at the same time it has flourished during the period between the two world wars. The growing body of research in this field suggests that, though scorned, the thesis novel is a viable and valuable subject in the twentieth century. Theories recently proposed by Susan Suleiman in Authoritarian Fictions suggest that the thesis novel might be considered a sub-genre, and she presents convincing examples of inter-war novels which support her paradigms. However, she disqualifies one important inter-war novel, Camus's L'Etranger, from the corpus of didactic literature. Literary critics, as well as Camus himself, indeed support the notion that L'Etranger is not a thesis novel. Contrary to critics' traditional view of L'Etranger as a type of anti-thesis novel, this study argues that the void Camus believed he was creating by negating transcendental value systems was essentially filled by another value system whose basic tenets can be found in Le Mythe de Sisyphe. I present evidence that L'Etranger contains at least one underlying thesis which is positively reinforced by the novel's structure, narrative technique, characters, and style. My analysis of the text demonstrates that L'Etranger provides a unique and convincing illustration of Suleiman's paradigm for the thesis novel, perhaps widening the margins of didactic literature set forth by contemporary critics.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Pellissier, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Literature|Romance literature

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