The central concern of absurdist writers is the metaphysical distancing of word and object, thought and reality, essence and existence. In this book, Blocker argues that the literary problem of absurdity is basically a metaphysical problem of being, focusing on the metaphysical distinction of being as essence and being as existence. Each of the four central chapters of the book compares philosophical prose with the fiction writing of four major absurdist writers-Camus, Sartre, Ionesco, and Beckett. The book contrasts what Ionesco described as the "heavy" and "light" aspects of absurdity. This opposition is parallel to the contrast between the negative, pessimistic reading of Western writers-with their emphasis on "existence"-and the positive, optimistic view of Eastern, especially Buddhist authors, with their emphasis on "essence."
- ISBN10 0761860231
- ISBN13 9780761860235
- Publish Date 16 November 2012
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University Press of America
- Format Paperback
- Pages 212
- Language English