Revue Hybrides (Dec 2023)
Les mentalités face à l’épidémie dans La peste (1947) d’Albert Camus et Le hussard sur le toit (1951) de Jean Giono
Abstract
The history of humanity is littered with upsetting events among which we find epidemics. The latter generate social, economic, political, cultural disorder, modify mentalities and reveal the cultural patterns in force in the societies they affect. This reflection aims to read the mentalities that emerged in front of the viral disaster in the novels La Peste by Albert Camus and Le Hussard sur le toit by Jean Giono. In the light of archaeological criticism, the analysis shed light on the mental predispositions that justify the ways of interpreting and address the epidemic. At the end of the analysis, two opposing theses emerge from the meaning given to illness. The first spiritualized it by passing it off as a celestial damnation, while the second considers it as an emanation of infectious agents living in the nature. In a bid to ward off the disease, characters opt for prayer, occult prophylaxis, isolation, when they do not apply rigorous hygiene practices.
