Looking for the Meaning of Life in the Absurd-Boris Vian's Empire Builders

Philosophy and Culture 35 (3):91-105 (2008)
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Abstract

General packet Lane Adams. Wei Yong is classified as an existentialist, In order to write only one theater of the absurd: "the founder of the Empire." Like his predecessors Younie Scott's "bald female singer," just like theater of the absurd theater name start with a ridiculous start: play neither was in the "create" What, Why not "Empire." Character is very simple: father, mother, female children, female domestic workers, plus a type of person "monster"; these characters disappear one by one, or death, the final stage of floor space to Exalted. Plot is simple: move a family scene, three-act family moved three times, to In order to Court House, unable to move upward. Space squeeze in the end, there is no possibility of an extension of time and life also had ended. Of this paper is to explore how to present such an existential drama of the central idea: humans have the freedom of action, and action through its self-definition. This paper first regardless above premiere media reports, appraise both views in order to understand the era of perception; then regardless above absurd existence, namely human classification behavior of the absurd, the language of the absurd, like people inhuman existence; final analysis package Lane Adams. Wei Yong existential: to find the absurd in the true meaning of life. Boris Vian is usually categorized as an existentialist, who wrote only one absurd play, Empire Builders. Just like Eugène Ionesco's The Bald Soprano, Empire Builders begins with an absurd title, since nobody is building any empire in the play. The characters of the play are very simple: the father, the mother, the daughter, the maid and the bandaged creature. One by one, these characters either disappear or die, and finally the stage is empty. The plot is also very simple: the family is moving in every one of the acts, three times in total in the three acts, until they finally reach the attic and have nowhere else to go. As there is no longer any possibility to expand the space, time and life are forced to be gone. This paper is meant to explore how such play expresses the key idea of ​​existentialism: human beings have the freedom of action and define themselves through their actions. This paper first presents the media reports and both the positive and negatives reviews after the premiere, which would help us understand how people in Boris Vian's saw the play. Then we talk about the absurdity of being in terms of the absurdity of human beings' actions, the absurdity of language and the absurdity of the human / inhuman creature.Finally, we analyze Boris Vian's existentialism: looking for the true meaning of life in the absurd

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