1. The Stranger - Albert Camus
Texts and Context
The Stranger - Albert Camus

2. Learning Objective
To understand the role that context has in the creation of a text and the understanding of a text
To gain background information on Albert Camus and his novel “The Stranger”

3. Key Concept
Context – the circumstances that surround a given text and help to specify its meaning

4. Context
Contexts – it’s important to consider context as a plural because of the wide variety of forces that affect the text and the reader
Examples
Historical context
Political context
Life and times of the author
Culture and values of the reader

5. Questions for Exploring Context
What is the time and place of the text’s production?
What historical events may have influenced the ideas in the work?
What are the political or economic issues of the times?
What cultural issues may have influenced, challenged, or inspired the author?
What is the cultural and educational background of the author?
What views on writing or culture has the author expressed?
What are the values and aesthetic concerns of the culture of the author?

6. Engage with the text!
What questions about Albert Camus and “The Stranger” would you like answered so that you can better understand the text?
Write your questions down in a specific page in your notebook. Reserve this page just for questions about Camus and “The Stranger”.

7. Albert Camus : Background Information
Born on November 7, 1913 in French Colonial Algeria
Father was killed in WWI…lived in poverty.
Attended the University of Algiers but had to drop out because of TB.
The poverty and illness Camus experienced as a youth greatly influenced his writing.

8. WWII
During WWII, Camus went to Paris and became a leading writer for the anti- German resistance movement.
While in wartime Paris, Camus developed his philosophy of the absurd.
Camus’ philosophy: life has no rational or redeeming meaning.

9. Theory of the Absurd
The experience of World War II led many other intellectuals to similar conclusions.
Hitler’s Nazi regime and the unprecedented slaughter of innocents
Where was God? Why did God allow this to happen?
Existence seemed without purpose or meaning
Religious beliefs questioned
Faith in God’s existence replaced by acceptance of a meaningless world
No heaven, no hell, no higher power, no life after death, no eternal soul
Only the physical world, only existence

10. Existentialism No higher power, no soul
You are responsible for your own choices
Choices determine essence, not a higher power

11. The Stranger Camus’ first novel Published in 1942
Full Title- The Stranger or L’ etranger.
Translated from French
Time and place written: Early 1940’s, France
Setting (Time):Slightly before World War II
Place: Algeria

12. Contd. A brilliantly crafted story
An illustration of Camus’ absurdist world view
The novel tells a story of a young man named Meursault.
In this book Camus’ absurdist philosophy implies that moral orders have no rational or natural basis.

13. Camus
The Myth of Sisyphus his famous philosophical essay and The Stranger helped establish Camus’ reputation as an important and brilliant literary figure
He produced a lot of literary works including The Plague (1947) and in recognition of his contribution to French and World Literature, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1957.
Tragically, he died three years later in an automobile accident.

14. Camus
In Your Journal What is one thing you have learned about Camus that you think is important to understanding him as a person and author?