Abstract
Following Mikhail Bakhtin’s Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics, this chapter examines the function of dialogue in the novels of Camus, presenting him as an heir to Dostoevsky’s dialogic approach to philosophical problems. I introduce my own concept of ‘dialogic ethics’, referring to a method of moral problem solving which I identify as being present in the novels of both authors. I suggest that by engaging imaginatively with the characters of novels as moral agents, dialogue gives us the opportunity to recalibrate our responses to the beliefs of others, opening ourselves up before evaluative points of view that we would otherwise have good reason to resist. I therefore argue that dialogue in Camus’ novels (and Dostoevsky’s) presents an alternative yet effective approach to abstract moral reasoning.
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Notes
- 1.
Translation in Todd (1998, 142–143).
- 2.
- 3.
Benoît Dufau also applies Bakhtin’s concept of dialogue to the work of Camus, but he only applies it to La Chute , and while he offers an interesting study of the illusion of dialogue in the novella, he fails to address the philosophical implications of Camus’ use of dialogue ( Dufau 2013, 101–116).
- 4.
Translation Bakhtin (1984, 204).
- 5.
In French, ‘C’est que deux raisons: l’une éthique, l’autre esthétique.’
- 6.
Letter from Camus to André Malraux, 15th November 1941.
- 7.
Same letter to Malraux, 15th November 1941.
- 8.
In French, ‘L’art ne peut pas être un monologue’.
- 9.
In French, ‘les vrais artistes ne méprisent rien; ils s’obligent à comprendre au lieu de juger’.
- 10.
In French, ‘S’il jugeait absolument, il partagerait sans nuances la réalité entre le bien et le mal’.
- 11.
His emphasis.
- 12.
In French, ‘Je me révolte, donc nous sommes’.
- 13.
Olivier Todd suggested that Camus was ‘present, barely disguised’ in both of these characters (Todd 1996, 330).
- 14.
In French, ‘le monde a besoin de vrai dialogue … entre des gens qui restent ce qu’ils sont et qui parlent vrai.
- 15.
An example of fruitful dialogue in L’Etranger in fact occurs between Meursault and the priest who visits his cell. While the priest fails to give an inch in his own contributions to the dialogue, for Meusault, the very fact of encountering his contrasting perspective is enough to help crystallise his own (Camus 2006a, I: 208–213).
- 16.
His emphasis.
- 17.
In French, ‘Le soliloque avec un interlocuteur muet n’a pas été inventé par Camus. Celui-ci l’a d’abord trouvé dans Ecrit dans un souterrain … Il y a cependant une différence: Clamence s’adresse à un seul interlocuteur, le ‘parleur’ du Souterrain s’adresse à une foule vague, au public. On ne trouve donc pas là l’interlocuteur muet et défini qui fait l’originalité de La Chute’.
- 18.
In French, ‘Camus aura pris soin de transformer le discours monologué de son grand devancier en un texte théâtralisé, et de soumettre les humeurs dostoïevskien aux exigences d’une narration contrôlée, jusqu’en ses artifice. Nous sommes bien loin du soliloque avec un interlocuteur muet.’
- 19.
In French, ‘Si le héros du Malentendu avait dit: ‘Voila. C’est moi et je suis votre fils’, le dialogue était possible et non plus en porte à faux comme dans la pièce. Il n’y avait plus de tragédie puisque le sommet de toutes les tragédies est dans la surdité des héros … Ce qui équilibre l’absurde c’est la communauté des hommes en lutte contre lui. Et si nous choisissons de servir cette communauté, nous choisissons de servir le dialogue jusqu’à l’absurde contre toute politique du mensonge ou du silence’.
- 20.
In French, ‘il nous fait comprendre que l’intrigue et les personnage dégagent une philosophie qui n’avait que faire, dès lors, d’un discours surimposé de l’auteur’.
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Whistler, G. (2020). Dialogic Ethics. In: Camus' Literary Ethics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37756-4_5
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