IDENTITY AS AN ARCHEOLOGY OF THE SELF. THE CASE OF ALBERT CAMUS

The two aims of this article are, first, to inquire into the theoretical problem of narrative identity which, according to Ricoeur, provides the subject with a sense of biographical unity and, secondly, to approach a significant case of autobiographical narrative based on giving up the search for a sense of unity because the real self is located in the past and what is pursued is to dig in it in order to recover it, as exemplified by Camus autobiographical novel The first Man. To interpret his narrative it is argued that a double or split identity together with the experience of a strong alienation led Camus to bracket off his public identity as an intellectual and to focus on the private familiar one, that linked him to his own people and provided him with a sense of belonging with which to overcome his rootlessness.