SOURCE: “Towards a Camusian Reading of Le Devoir de violence,” in Australian Journal of French Studies, Vol. XXVIII, No. 2, May-August, 1991, pp. 211-19.

In the following essay, Nicholls explores the historical aspects of Le Devoir de violence, and likens Ouologuem's writing approach to that of Albert Camus.

It was to be hoped¹ that the views expressed by, amongst others, John Erickson² and Aliko Songolo³ might have allowed the charges of plagiarism to be dropped and have encouraged Le Seuil to reprint Le Devoir de violence; but the 1968 Prix Renaudot remains unavailable in its original form. This is to be regretted since the English translation, Bound to Violence,⁴ in several places seems to have obscured Ouologuem's intentions, and in ways which are important here. Some of these places will be mentioned below. Songolo shows that Ouologuem's borrowings are neither gratuitous nor an indication of creative penury, but that they fit...