Existentialism and Its Literary Legacies

Undergraduate / Graduate

More than a school of philosophical thought, existentialism was an intellectual movement that dominated French culture in the years following World War II. This course focuses on the literary legacy of existentialism, considering postwar debates over littérature engagée, the intersections of existentialism and the nouveau roman, and the importance of feminist existentialism for women writers. Why did existentialist thinkers turn to forms of literary expression, writing plays and novels? How did they shape the reception of other writers, and how did later writers revisit existentialist concerns? Readings may include texts by Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Gabriel Marcel, Simone de Beauvoir, Nathalie Sarraute, Monique Wittig, Georges Perec, and Annie Ernaux.