Stranger - Ihojin (English spelling) L'Étranger

A novella by French author Albert Camus. Written from around 1939, it was published in 1942. In the first part, Meursault, an ordinary businessman in Algiers, gets caught up in a dispute with a friend some time after the funeral of his mother, who died in a nursing home, and accidentally kills an Arab "because of the sun," without any intention to kill. Meursault is sentenced to death at the trial not for actual murder, but for his antisocial morals, as exemplified by his "not crying at his mother's funeral." However, in the second part, he overcomes the fear of death on his own, without relying on anything, and finally "opens his heart to the gentle indifference of the world." With its unique first-person narration, which is neither a monologue nor a diary, and its fresh "neutral style" that is completely devoid of emotion, this work not only marked the young author's breakthrough, but is also considered a masterpiece of 20th century French novels. In Japan, this work also became a hot topic in 1951, when a debate over "The Stranger" was held between Hirotsu Kazuo and Nakamura Mitsuo.

[Yoshinari Nishinaga]

"The Stranger" translated by Keisaku Kubota (Shincho Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの作家アルベール・カミュの中編小説。1939年ごろから執筆され、42年に出版。アルジェの平凡なサラリーマン、ムルソーが、養老院で死んだ母の葬式からしばらくして、友人の女性関係のいざこざに巻き込まれ、殺意がないのに「太陽のせいで」偶然アラブ人を殺してしまう第1部。ムルソーが実際の殺人罪よりも、「母親の葬式のときに泣かなかった」ことに代表される反社会的なモラルのために裁判で死刑判決を受けるが、何にも頼らず独力で死の恐怖を乗り越え、ついに「世界のやさしい無関心に心を開く」第2部。独白とも日記体ともつかぬ独特の一人称の語り、徹底して感情を排除した「中性の文体」の新鮮さもあって、若き作者の出世作となったばかりでなく、20世紀フランス小説の代表作とみなされている。わが国でも、51年（昭和26）、この作品をめぐって広津和郎(ひろつかずお)、中村光夫の間に『異邦人』論争が交わされるなど、話題になった。

［西永良成］

『窪田啓作訳『異邦人』（新潮文庫）』

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