Tubali, S (2020) When the Silent Universe Speaks: Testing Camus’ absurd in the alien encounters of "Contact" and "Arrival". Aesthetic Investigations, 3 (2). pp. 327-346. ISSN 2352-2704
Abstract
Albert Camus' concept of absurdity - as articulated in his works The Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus, and The Rebel - outlines a metaphysics of inherent struggle between the human mind that strives for unity and clarity and an inhumanly silent universe. When an absurd mind realises its own inescapable frontiers of knowing, meaning, separation and mortality, Camus argues, it has the Sisyphean choice to embrace such a universe nevertheless, while forever retaining the spirit of revolt that defies it.
In this essay I analyse, side by side, two first-contact films - Robert Zemeckis' Contact (1997) and Denis Villeneuve's Arrival (2016) - to test the validity of Camus' metaphysics in a universe where human estrangement seems to be disrupted by cosmic visitors. The films' thought experiments support Camus' universal vision, indirectly suggesting that even aliens are prone to absurdity. On the other hand, both films offer an approach of intimate communion with the cosmos, in light of which Camus' description of the universe as a stranger seems to demonstrate a limited perspective.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Protected by copyright and published open access under a CC-BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | Albert Camus, Robert Zemeckis, Denis Villenuve, Contact Film, Arrival Film, Absurd, Carl Sagan, Film Philosophy, Thomas Nagel, The Myth of Sisyphus, First-contact Films |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 06 Dec 2019 15:37 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:04 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Dutch Association of Aesthetics |
Identification Number: | 10.5281/zenodo.4415698 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:154219 |