DWill,
I'm reading the new translation by Carol Cosman. It would be interesting to compare the two. I've wondered which translation others are reading.

So anyone, which are you reading?

Saffron

I'd like to defend my interpretation of Janine's non-adulterous adultery. Her adultery is spiritual, not mundane. In Catholic iconography spiritual ecstasy in women is represented as orgasm. (See the statue of the Ecstasy of St Teresa by Bernini at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecstasy_of_St_Theresa ) Or as Camus expresses it:
"Then, with unbearable gentleness, the water of night began to fill Janine, drowned the cold, rose gradually from the hidden core of her being and overflowed in wave after wave, rising up even to her mouth full of moans. The next moment, the whole sky stretched out over her, fallen on her back on the cold earth."

Apparently Camus combined the adulterous woman at the well of John 4 with the woman taken in adultery of John 8. There is a long review of The Adulterous Woman by David B. Parsell at

http://www.geocities.com/paul_rim/adulterous.htm

Professor Parsell points out two allusions to John 8, the threatened stoning ("the bus on which Janine and Marcel are riding is frequently pelted by wind-driven sand") and Jesus' writing in the sand ("An even deeper inscription of the parable occurs when Janine perceives undecipherable writing in the sand. . . ." In The Adulterous Woman, atop the fort Janine sees in the remote distance camels resembling writing: "All around them a flock of motionless dromedaries, tiny at that distance, formed against the gray ground the black signs of a strange handwriting, the meaning of which had to be deciphered.")

Parsell unfortunately overlooks the relevance of the woman at the well, so his interpretation is primarily secular. Algeria is an arid place, a symbol of modern western society. Janine finds the well of the water of life within herself.

Tom

Thanks so much for selecting this wonderful story, so easily accessible on the internet as Christ has kindly mentioned.

My view is that the adultery is between France and Algeria. Janine represents the vital spirit of French life, stifled by the constraining bonds of economic life. She sees the Algerians - "poverty-stricken but free lords of a strange kingdom" - as a symbol of the connection to reality that France has foresworn in its imperial self identity. As a child of empire, Janine looks wistfully at the free outsiders (pun) who are excluded from power but retain their soul. She wishes in her heart to adulterate the proud Caldoche image - rather like the mayor in Chocolat - by combining it with a cultural outlook with real connection to the earth. There are echos here of Goethe's Faust, with the big modern European myth that one had to sell one's soul to the devil. Janine looks with contempt on her wooden husband, with all creativity drained from him by the exigencies of membership in the dominant order.

Since I wasn't aware of the Biblical reference in this story, I found an alternate meaning to the title while I was reading it. Adulterous means not being faithful. So, an alternate take on the story could be that when Janine realizes that she didn't really love her husband, she realizes that she hasn't been faithful, in thought, both to herself and her husband, for all of the 20+ years she's lived with him.

PS: Kudos to those who chose this book! The story has several interpretations which I really doubt I would've realized had I read it alone by myself. These are the kind of books that are better for and lead to discussions.

Saffron wrote:I'm reading the new translation by Carol Cosman. It would be interesting to compare the two. I've wondered which translation others are reading.

So anyone, which are you reading?

The translation in mine is by Justin O'Brien. From the replies I've seen here, I'm guessing that's the (older and) more popular translation.

Yodha:

PS: Kudos to those who chose this book! Up The story has several interpretations which I really doubt I would've realized had I read it alone by myself. These are the kind of books that are better for and lead to discussions.

I totally agree. I am so glad to be reading this with a group.

As I feel ready to start writing there are already so many posts to answer!

So, about translations:
I'm reading O'Brien's translation, and so far I haven't made the decision to buy the book in French as well.

For the story titles: La Femme Adultere/ The Adulterous Woman
and Le Renegat/ The Renegade.

I see no problem here. The words are the same from the same Latin roots (or at least this is what it loooks like). In both cases the words were used in the Bible in both languages-- to me those are "transparent" words that cause no problems in translation.

One thing that has attracted my attention though is the translation of "L'Etranger". Here one has to make a choice bewteen: the stranger, the foreigner (wouldn't be right in the context) and the outsider. The French word is ambiguous, and one has to read to decide which meaning. The translation makes a choice: "stranger" remains a little vague because it sounds like the French. "Outsider" sounds like a better translation but it does the work for you.

"The Adulterous Woman".
I agree that this is a misleading title, and that the presence of the soldier in the bus is meant to lead us to expect a relationship which does not take place.

Someone asked whether irony was typical of French literature.
I have read more English than French literature. It's good to have questions I have never thought of before, it will make me think, but any answers I give must be understood as just suggestions.

The great era if irony in literature was the eighteenth century, with the likes of Voltaire (Candide) and Alexander Pope (The Rape of the Locke, A Modest Proposal). Whether there is a significant use of irony in French literature after the eighteenth century I don't know.

Janine's epiphany: I agree with yodha who used the word "unfaithful".
During this trip she becomes aware of the gap there is bewtween herself and Marcel, and her thoughts can be seen as disloyal, as being unfaithful. Then the passage that was quoted, in the end, although it can be understood in philosophical and existential terms, can be seen as the continuation of the theme of unfaithfulness, since her experience is of a physical nature, ie sexual pleasure: "Then, with unbearable lightness, the water of night began to fill Janine (...) her mouth full of moans..."

Tom wrote:

Janine finds the well of the water of life within herself.

Yes, I agree.

Robert wrote:

My view is that the adultery is between France and Algeria. Janine represents the vital spirit of French life, stifled by the constraining bonds of economic life. She sees the Algerians - "poverty-stricken but free lords of a strange kingdom" - as a symbol of the connection to reality that France has foresworn in its imperial self identity. As a child of empire, Janine looks wistfully at the free outsiders (pun) who are excluded from power but retain their soul. She wishes in her heart to adulterate the proud Caldoche image - rather like the mayor in Chocolat - by combining it with a cultural outlook with real connection to the earth. There are echos here of Goethe's Faust, with the big modern European myth that one had to sell one's soul to the devil. Janine looks with contempt on her wooden husband, with all creativity drained from him by the exigencies of membership in the dominant order.

Thank you for mentioning the tension bewtween Algeria and France. So far I didn't have an angle so I didn't know where to start, but now I know what I'll be looking for.
What I have read so far about Camus and Algeria may not lead to the direction you are suggesting, but --this may sound strange-- I still think your interpretation is valid, because it is plausible to me, because one should be allowed to interpret a text without referring to the author's political beliefs, and because there is an ambiguity about Camus.
He always said that he wanted more justice for Algerians of Arab descent (for example the right to vote) and also that he wanted Algeria to remain French. So he supported the colonial system, but sometimes what he writes seems to suggest the opposite view.
The colonization of Algeria and its decolonization have been traumatic both both the colonized and the colonizers-- I have written a little about the situation after Camus's death, in the 1960's, in my journal.

It is difficult to find substantiated analyses of Camus's thoughts on French Algeria, but here is one document, a short text and a video interview of Yves Ansel, who is a lecturer at the University of Nantes (document in French).

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2lqn9 ... e_creation


Ansel explains that interpretations of Camus's works have usually only centered on philosophy-- existentialism, the absurd--, which he says prevented readers from using Camus's Algerian experience as a key to analysis.

It is difficult to find substantiated analyses of Camus's thoughts on French Algeria, but here is one document, a short text and a video interview of Yves Ansel, who is a lecturer at the University of Nantes (document in French).

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2lqn9 ... e_creation


Ansel explains that interpretations of Camus's works have usually only centered on philosophy-- existentialism, the absurd--, which he says prevented readers from using Camus's Algerian experience as a key to analysis.

The short text:

Interviewe par Kahina Carina, Yves Ansel, de l'Universite de Nantes, analyse la representation des Algeriens musulmans dans la l'oeuvre romanesque d'Albert Camus. Il explique notamment comment la these de l'absurde minimise le crime commis par Meursault dans L'etranger. En effet, le crime est premedite, et les musulmans sont percus dans le roman comme une menace et sont meme interdits de parole. La situation est similaire dans La peste, roman dans lequel le Docteur Rieux, confronte a une epidemie de peste a Oran, ne decrit, ne soigne ni n'adresse la parole a aucun algerien musulman. Dans L'exil et le royaume, les nouvelles Une femme adultere et L'hote decrivent une nouvelle fois les musulmans comme une menace. Cette analyse vise a etudier les relations complexes entretenues par le prix Nobel de litterature envers son pays d'origine, l'Algerie. En effet, il n'a jamais ete favorable a l'independance de ce pays, et son oeuvre romanesque est incapable d'exprimer la condition humaine des Algeriens musulmans. Cette interview est un extrait du documentaire Le regard de l'Autre - L'imaginaire colonial de la France en Algerie - (1830-1962), un film de Mathieu Tuffreau (en cours de tournage).

I dont 'know French, but let me guess:

Interviewed by Kahina Carina, Yves Ansel of the University of Nantes analyses the representation of Moslem Algerians in the novels of Albert Camus. He explains specifically how the thesis of the absurd minimizes the crime commited by Meusault in The Stranger. In effect, the crime is premeditated, and the Moslems are perceived in the novel as a menace and are even not permitted to speak. The situation is similar in The Plague, a novel in which Doctor Rieux, confronted by an epidemic of plague in Oran, neither describes nor cares for nor speaks to any Algerian Moslem. In the Exile and the Kingdom, the short stories The Adulterous Woman and The Guest again describe Moslems as a menace. This analysis aims to study the complex connections supported by the Nobel prize for literature toward his country of origin, Algeria. In effect, he was never favorable to the independence of this country and his work is incapable of expressing the human condition of Algerian Moslems. This interview is an extract from the documentary Regarding the Author -- The Colonial Imagination of the French in Algeria (1830 - 1962), a film by Mathieu Tuffreau (now being shown).

Ansel's judgment appears to me to be distorted by political correctness and insensitivity to nuance.

Tom

Tom wrote:

Ansel's judgment appears to me to be distorted by political correctness and insensitivity to nuance.

You may be right. I know very little about Camus, I thought Ansel might be helpful as a starting point.

Here is a reference to articles Camus wrote about Algeria in 1945.

He writes with sensitivity about injustice and the plight of Arab people in Algeria.
I couldn't find an English translation, so if someone can find one please give the reference -- thanks.
(Incidentally Tom, I wish I could translate as well as you do from languages I don't know. ).

http://www.ldh-toulon.net/spip.php?article2336

Here is one reference in English which, apart from wikipedia, seems to be well-documented.

http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/camus.shtml

Here is an extract:

Algerian Unrest

The Algerian situation began to deteriorate more rapidly on 1 November 1954, when members of the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) attacked various state assets in Algeria, including military barracks, police offices, and other symbols of French "occupation." Unlike many from the intellectual left in France, Camus did not side with the rebels. Unlike these left-leaning thinkers, Camus was in the unique situation of being from a colony. He considered self native Algerian. Said Camus, "It's easy to be anti-colonialist in the bistros of Marseille or Paris."

Camus started writing for l'Express daily newspaper in 1955. His "beat" included coverage of the Algerian war. His articles about Algeria were later collected into Actuelles: Chronique Algerienne.

Who has capsized all projects of reform for thirty years, if not a parliament elected by the French? Who has closed its ears to the cries of Arab misery... if not the great majority of the French press? And who, if not France, with its disgusting good conscience, has waited until Algeria bleeds to finally realize that she exists?

In February 1956, mass demonstrations by pied-noirs forced France to respond to the unrest in Algeria. Reluctantly, 400,000 French soldiers were stationed in Algeria. The FLN attacks on non-Muslims worsened with the arrival of troops. Unfortunately, yet predictably, the French responsed with torture, mass killings, and a campaign against Muslim fundamentalists.

A despondent Camus concluded there was no stopping the violence, at least not between rebels and the French troops. Camus begged publicly for a "civil" truce in Algeria, asking both sides to "spare the civilian population" from violence. Taking his crusade to the people of Algiers, Camus and others organized a 22 January 1956 public debate. Outside the hall, Muslims and the Front Francais de l'Algerie faced off, but without any major incidents. Unbeknownst to him, Camus guarded by members of FLN. After the debate, one Algerian writer called Camus, "Le Colonisateur de Bonne Volonte" -- The Well-Meaning Colonialist.

The last essay written by Camus, "Algerie 1958," supported a "Federation of Peoples" in Algeria. Under Camus' plan, Muslims and pied-noirs would share power in government and Algeria would become an autonomous commonwealth. He had also become convinced that communists were behind much of the unrest. Camus blamed the Soviet Union, Egypt, and Arab states for encouraging Muslim radicals.