Rewriting of 'The Stranger' and 'The Mandarins' ('The Meursault Investigation' and 'The Samourai'): Moral and Aesthetic Concerns Cover Image

Réécriture de L’Étranger et des Mandarins (Meursault, contre-enquête et Samouraïs) : enjeux moraux et esthétiques
Rewriting of 'The Stranger' and 'The Mandarins' ('The Meursault Investigation' and 'The Samourai'): Moral and Aesthetic Concerns

Author(s): Magdalena Wojciechowska-Czajka
Subject(s): French Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: empathy; imitation; rewriting; existentialism; identification;

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the author is to analyse two texts written by Daoud and Kristeva: Meursault, contre-enquête (2013) and Les Samouraïs (1983). These novels may be seen as rewritings of two earlier texts: L’Étranger (1942) by Albert Camus and Les Mandarins (1954) by Simone de Beauvoir. Hence, it is possible to establish a relationship between the French 20th-century existentialism, represented by Sartre, Beauvoir and Camus and the works of more contemporary writers. One of the tools that allows to establish a such parallel is the use, by the contemporary novelists, of means of expression that encourage the readers to adopt an empathetic attitude towards the fictional characters and to better assess their feelings. The questions that interest us the most are those of identification, imitation and reproduction, components that are at the core of the empathetic processes. The study includes methods such as rewriting analysis and descriptive comparative analysis.

  • Issue Year: 2025
  • Issue No: 41
  • Page Range: 110-127
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: French
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