Between Literature and Philosophy: Existentialism of the Mediterranean Circle Cover Image

Između književnosti i filozofije: egzistencijalizam mediteranskog kruga
Between Literature and Philosophy: Existentialism of the Mediterranean Circle

Albert Camus and Antun Šoljan

Author(s): Anita Lunić
Subject(s): Aesthetics, Social Philosophy, Croatian Literature, Existentialism, Theory of Literature
Published by: Hrvatsko Filozofsko Društvo
Keywords: existentialism; nihilism; Southern thought; Albert Camus; Antun Šoljan;

Summary/Abstract: Albert Camus’ Mediterranean thought and existential novels of Antun Šoljan show similarities at several levels, including theme and concept design, structure, and level of personal involvement. On this trace, we pose the question of their relation to other existentialist thinkers, the possibilities of Mediterranean existentialism, and the possibility of speaking about the presence of philosophy in contemporary Croatian existentialist literature. The primary method is textual analysis, and we problematize the following: relation to uncertainty of the existence (absurdity), attitude towards nihilism and the philosophy of history (History opposed to Nature as the question parallel to the problem of the negative nihilism), and critique of the current ideologies followed by visionary, new political solutions (in Camus’ works the idea of federation and world government, and in Šoljan’s writings the idea of cantonisation of Europe inspired by the Swiss model).

  • Issue Year: 35/2015
  • Issue No: 01/137
  • Page Range: 67-87
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Croatian