Mar.27,2011
On the morning of March 22th, 2011, invited by the Institute of French Language & Culture, SIS, ZJU, Professor Agnès Spiquel, from Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut Cambrésis, made a seminar with almost 70 French-major teachers and students. It was hosted by Mr. Claude de Girancourt.
Agnès Spiquel is a professor on French literature from 19th century to 20th century. She commits herself to the study of Hugo and Romanticism and has published numerous works in this area. She also is the president of the Institute of Camus in France, and participates in the compilation of the Camus Corpora launched by the Seven Star Library recently.
In this nearly two-hour lecture, Professor Agnès Spiquel mainly introduced Albert Camus’ life (a French writer, 7 November 1913 - 4 January 1960) and his main achievements, emphasizing five main stages of Camus's short life for only 47years. In 1930, Camus entered the philosophy class and therefore got to know Professor Jean Grenier. In 1940, he worked as a reporter in Algiers, Paris, Clermont and Lyon, and completed the trilogy of absurdity. In 1945, his play <Caligula> was performed for the first time and later his novel <The Plague> was published on June 10th, 1947, and it turned out to be a great success. In 1951, his essay <The Rebel> was published, which stirred up an intense debate and led him to break up with Left Wing and Sartre as well. In December 1957, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for the cognition represented in his works on the problems in changing times.
In the following Q&A section, Professor Agnes Spiquel carried out a positive and heated discussion with teachers and students on the character and style of Camus's works and his relationship with Sartre. The lecture was finally brought to a successful close in a harmonious academic atmosphere.
