The Stranger Or the Boy from Belcourt

ANDREW GIAMBRONEWith several authoritative biographies already published (among them OlivierTodd’s Camus: A Life, Robert Zaretsky’s Camus: Elements of a Life, and Stephen EricBronner’s Camus: Portrait of A Moralist), 6 Camus has become something of a householdname — if not everywhere, then certainly within France, Algeria, and the American academy.More than his body of work, then, Camus, in the decades following his death, has achievedthe status of a symbol, a myth, and even a brand.Still, the author’s early years defy easy examination. Much has been written aboutCamus’s upbringing in Algeria and his subsequent nostalgia for his home country, but whatcomposed the magical mix of natural talent and environment that made Camus a prolificwriter, Nobel Prize winner, and intellectuel engagé? What personal, social, and educationalexperiences influenced Camus during the first twenty-five years of his life (1913-1938),producing the renowned humanist we know today? In brief, how did the poor and fatherlessJacques Cormery of The First Man — Camus’s portrayed self — become Albert Camus,“citizen of the world”? 7 8Answering such questions will help modern readers appreciate and understandCamus’s work in the context of his cultural milieu. A recurring theme of contemporaryscholarship has been how greatly Camus cared for the concerns of others both in his writingsand his personal engagements. I would like to trace the origins of those altruistic concerns aspart of Camus’s larger moral and social education by focusing on his home life, schooling,work, play, poverty, politics, and personality. To that end, I have mined Camus’sautobiographical works and school records for information about what he was reading,thinking, and experiencing while growing up. 9 The resulting portrait reveals a human beingwho excelled academically but struggled personally, in terms of his identity, health (bothphysical and mental), professional endeavors, and relationships with others.It was precisely this adversity, however, which pushed Camus to overcome hisimmediate circumstances and develop his voice as a writer and thinker. My hypothesis is thatCamus shifted from a personal philosophy of solitude to a communitarian ethic of solidarity6 Bronner, Stephen Eric. Camus: Portrait of a Moralist. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999.Print.; Todd, Olivier. Camus: Une Vie. Paris, Gallimard, 1996. Print.; Zaretsky, Robert. Albert Camus:Elements of A Life. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2010. Print.7 I borrow this phrase from an exhibition that was on display when I visited the Centre Camus in Aix-en-Provence, France for a research trip in December 2013. Called “Camus: Citoyen du monde,” the extendedexhibit followed Camus’s life from birth until death — offering an immersion in the author’s work throughmanuscripts, first editions, and photographs — to commemorate what would have been Camus’s onehundredthbirthday. The display was the perfect example of how Camus scholarship is being brought into the21 st century; organized along a trail dotted with textual and digital media, the “themed path” of the exhibitshowcased 150 quotes from Camus on projected screens, which evoked the landscapes of his home country,Algeria, his contributions to philosophy, and the lucid prose of his essays, novels, and journalism.8 Camus, Albert. The First Man. trans. by David Hapgood. New York: Knopf, 1968. Print.9 Original copies of these materials are available at the Centre Camus in Aix-en-Provence. Much of my analysisderives from a close reading of The First Man, given that it was the last text Camus wrote before he died in1960 and is undeniably his most autobiographical.125