FAITH, REVOLT AND ALBERT CAMUS’ THE JUST ASSASSINS
FAITH, REVOLT AND ALBERT CAMUS’ THE JUST ASSASSINS

Summary/Abstract: In Albert Camus’ play The Just Assassins, religion and spirituality are ofparamount importance, as can be seen especially in the interaction between the protagonist Kaliayevand the devoutly religious Grand Duchess, who expresses her steadfast view, for example, in thefollowing words: “There is no love far from God” (289). However, is this religious conception of ‘love’exactly what is at the heart of Camus’ play The Just Assassins? Indeed there is a different notion ofspirituality, associated with revolt, which is more central to Camus’ writings and notably his majortheoretical text The Rebel. What sort of spirituality is put forward and how might it be differentiatedfrom religious convictions and the coming of the kingdom of God? In what sense is there a spiritualityin The Just Assassins, particularly in the relentless revolt by Kaliayev and the members of thefraternity? Furthermore, is there not a fundamental position of ‘faith’ implied not simply in religion butalso in the conception of knowledge itself? Jacques Derrida has discussed this question in “Faith andKnowledge,” in Acts of Religion, among other texts, where he describes a notion of ‘faith’, whichprecedes the opposition between religion and reason. In what way might there be, in Camus’ The Rebeland play The Just Assassins, a ‘faith’, which is distinguished from religious beliefs and which isnecessarily linked to justice and the limits of revolt.

• Details
• Contents