The Absurdity of Human Life in Sampar Novel by Albert Camus

Abstract

Absurdity experienced by humans in various fields of life, including its representation in the field of literature. The representation of Absurdity in literary works, especially translation literature, is widely known and has even been used as teaching material for students. The absurd literature of the translation, especially Albert Camus' Sampar novel, the authors chose to study and reveal the absurdist approach. This novel has become a material for teaching literature in Indonesian universities, so the results of this study can be used as reference material for teaching. The problem in studying an absurd novel is whether the feeling of Absurdity is only felt by the individual or the community in which the event occurred. In the novel Sampar, a collective absurdity will be described, which has not been revealed in Albert Camus's novel studies. The qualitative research methods are used with content analysis seen from existentialism philosophy. The most prominent consequence felt by the Oran community was the closure of the city door so that the Oran people experienced a sudden separation from people they loved without preparation. Sampar itself is a representation of collective Absurdity. The existence of sampar itself is also bizarre, weird, and irrational. Albert Camus shows his thoughts about human existence more thoroughly than other novels, acknowledging solidarity, friendship, and togetherness. According to Albert Camus, the absurd existence of humans is experienced at both individual and collective levels. There is no room for rationality, values, and moral-religious beliefs. These values have been devastated by the plague of world war, the crime of humanity that brought people to fear and despair. In the Sampar novel, there are individual absurdities felt by the leaders and the collective Absurdity felt by the people of Oran as a sense of solidarity with fellow human beings. High student learning motivation will affect better learning achievement. An understanding of human history after World War II and its absurd conditions can attract students to study absurd literary works.