Event

Wednesday 15 September, 19:00

Debate THE LEGACY OF ALBERT CAMUS

Albert Camus is one of the world’s most widely-read European writers today. Venerated, and controversial too, for a generation that experienced with particular intensity the issues arising from the question of intellectuals and political commitment, he has survived the ideological debate and his books are still being published and read. Violence, absurdity in human life and the moral indifference of the modern individual are some of the universal questions – compelling to this very day – to be found in his work. On the fiftieth anniversary of his death, this panel discussion offers a chance to reflect on the legacy of Camus’ work, departing from the canon and incorporating from the periphery the standpoints of Catalan and Algerian writers who have read him in cultural and political contexts that are radically different from the one he lived in.

 

PROGRAMME:

7 p.m. DEBATE:

Rebroadcast of the acceptance speech of Albert Camus on receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957

Panel discussion:

Maïssa Bey, writer, author of L’ombre d’un homme qui marche au soleil: Réflexions sur Albert Camus (The Shadow of a Man Who Walked in the Sun: Reflections on Albert Camus, Chèvre-Feuille Étoilée, 2004)

Joan Daniel Bezsonoff, writer, author of Un país de butxaca (A Pocketsize Country, Empúries, 2010) and Una educació francesa (A French Education, L’Avenç, 2009)

Christiane Chaulet-Achour, professor of Comparative and Francophone Literature at the Université de Cergy-Pontoise, and author of Albert Camus et l’Algérie (Albert Camus and Algeria, Barzakh, 2004)

Moderated by: Emili Manzano, journalist, director of the television programme “L’hora del lector” (Reader’s Tour – Canal 33)

9.30 p.m. SCREENING: Amour de vivre (Love of Living) by Luis Ortas (Spain, 2010) 52 min. Original version with Catalan subtitles. This documentary gives an account of Albert Camus’ life with particular emphasis on his roots in Menorca and his links with Spanish culture.

Albert Camus, amour de vivre from Pablo Segnini on Vimeo.