Tragic Lucidity

Presenting the work of Miguel de Unamuno and Albert Camus as paradigmatic, the present study examines the significance and function of the -tragic- in a modern context, using a historical, socio-political approach. This approach permits the tragic to be seen as a product of specific historical circumstances, rather than as a fundamental, metaphysical aspect of the human condition, first revealed in Greek Tragedy and still evident today. In addition, a connection is made between Unamuno's and Camus's controversial political positions taken at the end of their lives and their insistence upon a tragic human condition."