THE MYTH OF MEANING: REFLECTIONS ON THE ABSURD IN WESTERN LITERATURE (NIHILISM, EXISTENTIALISM)

A relatively modern genre, the literature of the absurd includes those works of drama, poetry and prose which have in common the theme that the human condition is illogical and without purpose. Having such a world-view, the characters of absurd literature attempt to create programs for investing existence with a modicum of meaning, whether it be simple hedonism, comic detachment or some form of social commitment. The works of Kafka, Camus, Sartre and Hemingway exemplify this struggle.; For various reasons, the concerns of living in a world without satisfying existential foundations find frequent and pervasive expression in the twentieth century; however, it is also clear that these concerns are not unique to modern literature. In fact, the notion of the absurd has had a continuing, albeit erratic, development since at least the Greek Heroic Age. The Heroic Code of Homer's Iliad is an ancient paradigm created to generate order in an otherwise preposterous and untenable world. One also finds similar concerns expressed in On the Nature of the Universe, Hamlet and Candide, all recognized masterpieces of the Western literary tradition. Delineating the theme of the absurd in each of these four works demonstrates a long-established preoccupation with the concerns characterizing the literature of the absurd in our century.