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oa Gloeiende zandstormen van haat
Over de functie van het absurdisme in de antipolitieke ideeënroman Ik heb altijd gelijk van W.F. Hermans
- Amsterdam University Press
- Source: Internationale Neerlandistiek, Volume 60, Issue 3, Dec 2022, p. 278 - 302
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- 01 Dec 2022
Abstract
The research that has been conducted into W.F. Hermans’ novel Ik heb altijd gelijk seems to be overly focused on the scandal caused by the anti-Catholic statements Lodewijk Stegman makes in the first chapter. This narrowed scope does not do the novel justice, because it contains more intriguing aspects. Lodewijk Stegman is completely void of ideology, and not only opposed to Catholicism but to communism as well. Hermans proclaims his novel to be ‘against everything’. In 1947, when Hermans is working on Ik heb altijd gelijk, he writes an article about the French philosopher Albert Camus, showing his admiration for the latter. This is peculiar, since Hermans is usually characterized as a nihilist; yet in 1947 he seems to be influenced by absurdist ideas. This article tries to explain how absurdist ideas function in Ik heb altijd gelijk and subsequently offers a suggestion on how we should interpret the term ‘scheppend nihilisme’