Exiles, Outcasts, Strangers : Icons of Marginalization in Post World War II Narrative

This is an exploration of the broad paradigm of alienation in post-war literature through close readings of nine novels. The project explores how nine different 'outsider' authors treat the theme of alienation in one of their major works. All the novels under review were written in a limited time span (1942 to 1987, approximately 50 years), and all are structured around a hero or heroine who remains culturally, ethically or aesthetically distant from his/her narrative counterparts. Works under review include: Albert Camus' "L'Etranger"; Richard Wright's "The Outsider"; Andre Langevin's "Poussiere sur la ville"; Ernesto Sabato's "El tunel"; V.S. Naipaul's "Guerrillas"; Elie Wiesel's "Le Cinquieme fils"; Norbert Zongo's "Le Parachutage"; Gisele Pineau's "L'Exil selon Julia"; and, Jean Genet's "Querelle de Brest".