The Stranger (Camus novel)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Stranger or The Outsider (L’Étranger) is a novel by Albert Camus published in 1942. Its theme and outlook are often cited as exemplars of existentialism, though Camus did not consider himself an existentialist; in fact, its content explores various philosophical schools of thought, including (most prominently and specifically) absurdism, as well as determinism, nihilism, naturalism, and stoicism.
The title character is Meursault, an Algerian ("a citizen of France domiciled in North Africa, a man of the Mediterranean, an homme du midi yet one who hardly partakes of the traditional Mediterranean culture") who seemingly irrationally kills an Arab man whom he recognises in French Algiers. The story is divided into two parts: Meursault's first-person narrative view before and after the murder, respectively.
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Selected film adaptations
- 1967 Lo Straniero by Luchino Visconti
- 2001Yazgı (Fate) Zeki Demirkubuz's
English translations from the French
The Librairie Gallimard first published the original French-language novel in 1942. British author Stuart Gilbert first translated L’Étranger to English in 1946; for more than thirty years his version was read as the standard English translation. In 1982, the British publisher Hamish Hamilton published a second translation, by Joseph Laredo, that Penguin Books bought in 1983 and reprinted in the Penguin Classics line in 2000. In 1988, a third translation, by the American Matthew Ward, was published, by Random House Inc., in the Vintage International line of Vintage Books. Because Camus was influenced by the American literary style, the 1988 translation was Americanised.
The three translations differ much in tone; Gilbert's translation is formal, notable in the initiating sentence of the first chapter. The French original is: "Aujourd'hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas. J'ai reçu un télégramme de l'asile: Mère décédée. Enterrement demain. Sentiments distingués. Cela ne veut rien dire. C'était peut-être hier". Maman is informal French for the informal English Mum/Mommy/Mom.
Gilbert's 1946 translation is: "Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure. The telegram from the Home says: Your mother passed away. Funeral tomorrow. Deep sympathy. Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday."
Laredo's 1982 translation is: "Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know. I had a telegram from the home: 'Mother passed away. Funeral tomorrow. Yours sincerely.' That doesn't mean anything. It may have been yesterday."
Ward's 1988 translation is: "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours. That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday."
Each carries certain connotations that could affect the reader's interpretation of the book. In the first two translations, Meursault is given a cold stature; the third translation shows curiosity rather than indifference towards Mother's death, which is close to the original French.
A critical difference of translation is in the connotation of the original French emotion in the story's key sentence: "I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe" in Gilbert's versus Laredo's "I laid my heart open to the gentle indifference of the universe" (original French: la tendre indifférence du monde = literally, "the tender indifference of the world"). The ending lines between the two aforementioned translations differ as well, from "on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should greet me with howls of execration," to " with cries of hatred", respectively, a significant scene that serves as a foil to the prior "indifference of the world". In French, the triad is "cris de haine", which Ward's transliteral interpretation is closest to in terms of phonics. Gilbert's interpretation takes the liberty of juxtaposing "execration" with "execution".
Translations of the title
In French, "étranger" can mean: "foreign", "overseas", "unknown", "extraneous", "outsider", "stranger", "alien", "unconnected", and "irrelevant". Perhaps the seemingly obvious French/English cognate: L’Étranger --> "estranged" most etymologically connotes Camus' essential ontological theme in this work.
Meursault is existentially estranged and does not understand the necessity of adhering to the stock gestures and emotions in everyday life. This estrangement is his downfall in the very end. As he is oblivious of the motifs he lives, he is unencumbered by any meaning exterior to his sensory experience, a character trait rendering him "foreign," "disconnected" and "alien" to his contemporaries.
In popular culture
The 1995 song Noch koroche dnya ("Night is Shorter than Day") by the Russian heavy metal band Aria is based on Meursault's encounter with the chaplain in the final scene of the novel. It is also narrated from Meursault's first-person perspective and includes (in Russian) the line, "The cries of hate will be my reward / Upon my death, I will not be alone."
The 1979 first single "Killing an Arab" by The Cure was recorded at the same time as their first LP in the UK, Three Imaginary Boys (1979) but not included on the album. However it was included on the band's first US album, Boys Don't Cry (1980). Composer Robert Smith has said that the song "was a short poetic attempt at condensing my impression of the key moments in L'Étranger (The Stranger) by Albert Camus" (Cure News number 11, October 1991).
Tuxedomoon - "Stranger"/"Love/No Hope", 7", 1979
The passage in which Meursault accepts his impending execution was read over the end of the song "Asa Phelps Is Dead" by The Lawrence Arms; read by guitarist Chris McCaughan, the excerpt parallels certain themes in the song's lyrics by bassist Brendan Kelly.
The lead singer, Rody Walker of the Canadian Metal band Protest The Hero has the quotation 'It is better to burn than to disappear.' as his first tattoo on his right arm. Note that the phrase "It is better to burn than to disappear" does not appear in the French original. In the Stuart Gilbert translation, this phrase appears between the following two sentences in the original: "Je me suis mis à crier à plein gosier et je l'ai insulté et je lui ai dit de ne pas prier. Je l'avais pris par le collet de sa soutane."
In the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Charlie's English teacher, Mr. Anderson gives him "The Stranger" as part of the extra reading they've been doing throughout the school year.
In the second season The Sopranos episode D-Girl, Anthony Soprano Jr tells his parents that life is absurd, that the hypothetical death of his friends would be "interesting," and that there is no god. Tony and Carmilla ask where this is coming from. Meadow Soprano appears at this moment and explains that Anthony was assigned The Stranger in English class, stating "This is education."
In the film Jacob's Ladder (film), Jacob Singer is seen with The Stranger on the subway. The book is again seen later in the film as Jacob rummages through a drawer.
In the 2006 movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby starring Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen, Cohen's character is reading a copy of L'Etranger while he is driving his NASCAR race car.
In the 2006 movie Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Andrew Lincoln's character, Jamie, pretends to know what the book is about.
In the video game Team Fortress 2, the Spy class (who is portrayed as French) has an unlockable pistol called "L'Etranger." As an additional nod to the novel, the gun is part of weapon/costume set called "The Saharan Spy." The in-game design is modeled on the Nagant M1895.
In Titus Andronicus' 2007 debut, 'The Airing of Grievances' a quote from The Stranger, followed by a track called 'Albert Camus' are included
Drama TV series Gossip Girl includes several references to Camus. In the fifth season, the character of Dan Humphrey is gifted a copy of The Stranger by Louis Grimaldi, Prince of Monaco, in exchange for keeping a secret. The title of the book intimates Humphrey's long-standing "outsider" status, but the book itself also foreshadows the moral ambiguity of Grimaldi. The elusive character of Gossip Girl also pays tribute to the writer, asserting "Camus said that life is the sum of our choices. Choose wisely and fortune smiles upon you. But choose poorly? You never know what price you'll have to pay."
Life of Pi (film) briefly shows the main character "Pi" reading the novel.
