Contagion, Collectives and Boundaries: Simmel's Society in Camus's Plague 公开

Abstract

Plague, an infectious disease, is a phenomenon that inflicts biological damage and creates social strife. While symptoms of disease often manifest physically, its social consequences demand an analytical methodology. George Simmel’s (1858-1918) sociological framework analyzed society at the level of the individual, bringing to light the ability of social individuals to interpret objects in accordance to themselves and others. Applied to plague, Simmel’s methodology is apt to analyze the social consequences of plague. Narration from the social individual is the primary means through which plague is constructed as a social entity. Textual analyses of Albert Camus’s literary narrative The Plague demonstrate that plague is an element of, and should be considered as part of, society. When abstracted from the social realm that social individuals construct, plague is metaphorized as a belligerent collective that encroaches upon the boundaries of its victims.

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………1 

Chapter One: Becoming Plague……………………………………………………………...9 

Chapter 2: Witnessing Plague………………………………………………………..........19 

Chapter 3: The Plague Collective……………………………………………....……….....36 

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….……………49 

Works Cited………………………………………………………………………….…………..54 

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	English
Degree	B.S.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Philosophy Sociology, Theory and Methods Literature, General
关键词	relativism literature and medicine Albert Camus infectious disease narrative theory plague literature and society Georg Simmel
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Laura Otis, Emory University
Committee Members	Minsu Kim, Emory University Elizabeth Goodstein, Emory University

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