Chapter 15 The Tension between Solitude and Solidarity

In: Brill's Companion to Camus
Author:
Sophie Bastien
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Translator:
Jackson Doughart
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To any diligent reader of Camus, the relationship between solitude and solidarity is not just a combination of two, seemingly contradictory themes. As Sophie Bastien calls it in her contribution to this volume (chapter 16), it is a tension or dialectic, important in grasping the originality of the Camusian oeuvre, addressed directly in Jonas, ou l’Artiste au travail. In engagement with critical studies on the significance of the two notions in Camus, Bastien traces a tendency in Camus’s work to frame this opposition in ways analogous to his treatment of the notions of the absurd and revolt. The evolution goes from analytic depictions treating the themes separately, towards more dynamic and integrative propositions, amounting for Bastien to a form of “circulation beyond their opposition.” Bastien in particular examines the interplay of solitude and solidarity in arguably Camus’ most successful play, Caligula. Neither the protagonist of the play nor his opponent, Cherea, are presented merely as poles of the opposition between solitude and solidarity, Bastien argues. There is an important aspect of solidarity in the Emperor’s urge to educate people about the absurdity of their condition; just as, symmetrically, Cherea is moved by solidarity with others suffering under the Emperor, but finds little support in organizing his resistance against Caligula. With the departure of Scipio, indeed, he seems almost isolated.

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