User:Professortitan/The Guest (short story)/Bibliography

'''Hughes, Edward J., editor. The Cambridge Companion to Camus. Cambridge University Press, 2007.'''

This is a collection of essays by various authors detailing the works of Albert Camus and how they were shaped by his world views. It is broken into three sections. The first is a look into his biography and influences. The second section is a look into the common themes found throughout his work. This includes subjects such as social justice, women, theater, and philosophy. The third takes this even further by closely examining some of his more well-known works and applying a more literary study of them.

It is a good source for Wikipedia because it is an independent source written by some of the most knowledgeable and world-renown Camus academics and is published by an academic press (Cambridge). Since it is a collection of different essays written by different scholars, it is also a diverse view of the subject itself.

While the third section of the book (literary study) isn’t particularly useful, the first two sections provide a lot of insight into Camus’ life and the various influences that inspired him to write “The Guest” in the first place.

'''Ohana, David. Albert Camus and the Critique of Violence. Sussex Academic Press, 2016.'''

This book studies how Camus’ life was shaped by violence and uses that to explore Camus’ roles as a philosopher, thinker, author, journalist, and as a person, while using Christian imagery to do so.

This is a good source because it is written by a professor of European history, not a professor of literature, and was published under an academic press (Sussex). It is independent and fair.

There is a particularly interesting section of this book that connects “The Guest” with colonialism, which Camus’ was keenly aware of and disturbed by. This is something that is not acknowledged at all in the article already, despite being a major part of the work. It also connects it to a retelling of the story of Isaac.


 * Seems like it's worth having a full section about connections with colonialism, given that this source and the one below address the link. May be worth doing a separate Google Scholar search for Camus + colonialism (https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C4&q=camus+colonialism&btnG=) to help flesh out this section further, even if just for citation strings (e.g. "some scholars suggest that"[1][2][3] "while others suggest that"[4][5][6]). Great that this source addresses Camus from a non-literary perspective, too&mdash; a nice point.Elizabeth.f.chamberlain (talk) 02:24, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

'''Thody, Phillip. Modern Novelists Albert Camus. Macmillan Press, 1989.'''

While somewhat dated, which isn’t a disqualification, considering that Camus died so long ago and at such an early age, this is a well-known biography of Albert Camus that looks at his work during his short life. It is broken up into five chapters, each covering three unique subjects. There is a large chapter dedicated to the collection of short stories that contains “The Guest.”

Philip Thody was an expert on Albert Camus and edited and translated many of his works during his career as a scholar and Professor of French Literature at Leeds University. He known well enough for his contributions to Camus academia that he has earned himself his own Wikipedia page detailing his efforts. The work itself is also published by Macmillan Press, which is a well-known publishing house.

There are two particularly interesting sections that I would like to use in my article. The first is a traditional understanding of “The Guest,” again reflecting Colonialism and how torn Camus himself was about it. The second, however, is very interesting in that it discusses the double meaning of the title itself, especially the original French "L'Hôte." The article mentions the double-meaning but doesn’t explain how it is significant beyond the superficial. Thody does a wonderful job explaining it and how Camus intended it.


 * Yes! That second section seems especially promising/necessary. Glad you've found it. Elizabeth.f.chamberlain (talk) 02:24, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

'''Zaretsky, Robert. Albert Camus Elements of a Life. Cornell University Press, 2013.'''

This is a biography of Albert Camus that goes through his short life and spends a great deal of time focusing on the French-Algerian war, which makes up the background of the “The Guest.”

Robert Zaretsky is a well-known literary biographer and is a Professor of Humanities at the Honors College, University of Houston. He has written many books about Albert Camus is noted as an expert on the history of France. It’s published by Cornell University Press, which also makes it a reputable publisher from that stand point as well.

There is a lot of detail involving the French-Algerian war and Camus’ opinion of it, which is lacking in the “The Guest” article, despite it being openly set during it and was directly the motivation for his writing it in the first place. There needs to be a section devoted to this aspect.


 * Agreed, that seems like a massive oversight. Your new proposed sections sound very much on target. Elizabeth.f.chamberlain (talk) 02:24, 17 March 2020 (UTC)