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In Search Of Roots: A Study Of Camus' Autobiographical Le Premier Homme, Judy Ann Davis

Dissertations and Theses

Albert Camus' posthumously published novel, Le Premier Homme, shows a new facet of this great twentieth-century writer's art. Intensely personal, the novel speaks of the coming of age of a "pied-noir" (French Algerian) boy and his search for roots as an adult. Simultaneously, Camus endeavors to tell the story of his ancestors, the French Algerians. The purpose of this thesis is to examine protagonist Jacques Cormery's search for roots by: 1) discussing the formative elements of his identity uncovered in the nostalgic voyage in time through an anecdotal construction of his childhood and the history of his ancestors, 2) linking …