RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 de Jong, ÆdeYR 2022 T1 Gloeiende zandstormen van haat JF Internationale Neerlandistiek, VO 60 IS 3 SP 278 OP 302 DO https://doi.org/10.5117/IN2022.3.002.JONG PB Amsterdam University Press, SN 2214-5729, AB Abstract (English) 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’, UL https://www.aup-online.com/content/journals/10.5117/IN2022.3.002.JONG