Tell hose whom I love: reconciling Roland Barthes and Albert Camus

Abstract

The reference to the name of Barthes along with Camus is normally done by the early writings of the literary critic who had the target Camus’ first narrative (The Stranger), as well as the controversy in the fifties surrounding the publication of The Plague. Overcame this much more Marxist phase in Barthes and the cycle of works on the Revolt in Camus, in their later years, both converge on the theme of love. This confluence allows somehow a reconciliation after the clash of ideas that distanced them. Although with different paths and living in different times (Camus died in 1960), the last phase of their careers proves to be very similar. The purpose of this article is "read" this convergence from Barthes' reflections on the course "La préparation du roman I et II" along with Camus’ unfinished manuscript of the novel The First Man. This approach shows us that both had the impression of entering into a Vita Nova, which also meant the discovery of a new practice of writing: the novel, whose large models would be War and Peace by Tolstoy and In Search of Lost Time by Proust. Mainly, both wanted to tell those whom they loved through scripture. Although with similar starting points, each would reach a different result on the other (as glimpse some manuscripts), but in the end, it is love that allows the reconciliation of them and it is from this issue we would like to bring them back together.