Status Updates From Forget Camus: Confronting t...

‘Casarès—sold Camus' letters—in his notes—he explains that he does not want the women he desires to have a past—women exist to be observed—loved (by him alone); outside of this, they serve no purpose—unlike men—‘His face reveals what he is capable of doing. And what does that amount to compared with the magnificent uselessness of a woman’s face?’ Very early on, Camus theorised his misogyny as a form of liberation.’

‘Camus is a useful icon; he embodies an incantatory solution—he was in no sense an anti-colonialist but a subtle defender of humanist compromise—the romanticised image—promote—a France that is colonial yet devoted to justice—Because Sartre’s work—reminds France of its colonial past, it—became necessary to discredit him—For Sartre, ‘There is no room for neutral or indifferent actions—even silence plays its part—’’

‘—reaction to my book was anger—outrage—which was actually something of a relief—blasphemy: daring to criticise a sacred figure—Camus was among the few—to write against the atomic bombings—To forget Camus is not to dismiss him—but, on the contrary, to take him seriously. One has to know Camus well, & know his times, in order to forget the airbrushed figure presented to us, again & again, by the guardians of culture.’