The Myth of Sisyphus: Writing the Absurd and the Existential
Course Description
What does it mean to grapple with the conditions that we live in? What does it mean to live in a world where all seems to be futile? What does it mean to exist? Camus famously compares existence and its absurd conditions to Sisyphus’s act of pushing a rock uphill without an ultimate goal or ending. Grounding on Camus’ philosophical texts, The Myth of Sisyphus, this course invites you to think with/think against the philosophical material at hand, coming up with your own concept, story, and poetic expression on the notion of existence. In conjunction with the philosophical text, we will read short excerpts from modern and contemporary writers who explore the theme of existence. The writers we will be reading include Franz Kafka, Charles Bukowski, Yiyun Li, Catherine Lacey, and Claudia Rankine. Investigating the notion of existence from different angles, the course invites you to explore the articulation of your own idea of “existence” through various intentional craft techniques.
Reading List
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Anonymous. Notes on Nothing: The Joy of Being Nobody. Los Angeles: As Is Press, 2024. (Excerpt)
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Bukowski, Charles. Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame: Selected Poems, 1955–1973. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow Press, 1974. (Excerpt)
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Bukowski, Charles. Notes of a Dirty Old Man. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1969.
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Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. Translated by Justin O’Brien. New York: Vintage International, 1991.
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Kafka, Franz. “The Doorkeeper.” In The Complete Stories of Franz Kafka. New York: The Schocken Kafka Library, 1995.
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Kafka, Franz. “The Imperial Messenger.” In The Complete Stories of Franz Kafka. New York: The Schocken Kafka Library, 1995.
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Lacey, Catherine. The Möbius Book. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025. (Excerpt)
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Li, Yiyun. Things in Nature Merely Grow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025. (Excerpt)
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Rankine, Claudia. Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2004. (Excerpt)
Course Schedule
Week 1: Introduction & “Suicide”
“Absurdity and Suicide,” The Myth of Sisyphus, p.3-10
Li, Yiyun, “A Life Worth Living. A Viable Life,” from Things in Nature Merely Grow, New York: FSG, 2025.
Week 2: The Absurd Condition
“Absurd Walls,” The Myth of Sisyphus, p.10-28
Kafka, Franz, “The Doorkeeper” and “The Imperial Messenger”
Anonymous, excerpt from Notes on Nothing: The Joy of Being Nobody, Los Angeles: As Is Press, 2024
Week 3: The Leap of Faith
“The Philosophical Suicide,” The Myth of Sisyphus, p.28-50
Lacey, Catherine, excerpt from The Mobius Book, New York: FSG, 2025.
Week 4: Freedom, Revolt, and the Absurd Man
Excerpt from “The Absurd Freedom” and “The Absurd Man,” The Myth of Sisyphus
Bukowski, Charles, poems from Burning in Water, Drowning in Flames,
Bukowski, Charles, except from Notes of a Dirty Old Man, San Francisco: City Lights, 1969
Week 5: Happiness & “Hope”
“The Myth of Sisyphus,” The Myth of Sisyphus
Rankine, Claudia, excerpt from Don’t Let me be Lonely, Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2004.
Week 6: Workshop / or the Absurd Creation
I’d love to spend the time reading some of your works around the topic and discussing everything! This is a very low-pressure submission and I’m sure you all will have some wonderful writings by the end of our six weeks together. But in the case that no one feels inspired (hopefully not!!), we can also continue to read the section “Absurd Creation” and understand the role of arts in absurdism.
Further Reading
Philosophical:
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Satre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism Is a Humanism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007.
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Kierkegaard, Søren. Fear and Trembling. Translated by Alastair Hannay. London: Penguin Books, 1985.
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Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs. Translated by Josefine Nauckhoff and Adrian Del Caro. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
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Nietzsche, Friedrich. On the Genealogy of Morality. Translated by Maudemarie Clark and Alan J. Swensen. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1998.
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Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology. Translated by Hazel E. Barnes. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992.
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Camus, Albert. The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt. Translated by Anthony Bower. New York: Vintage International, 1991.
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Weil, Simone. Gravity and Grace. Translated by Emma Craufurd. London: Routledge, 2002.
Creative:
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Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. New York: Grove Press, 1954.
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Bukowski, Charles. Post Office. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1971.
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Camus, Albert. The Plague. Translated by Stuart Gilbert. New York: Vintage International, 1991.
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Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Translated by Matthew Ward. New York: Vintage International, 1989.
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Harpman, Jacquline. I Who Have Never Known Men. Translated by Ros Schwartz. Berkeley, CA: Transit Books, 2019.
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Núñez, Sigrid. The Friend. New York: Riverhead Books, 2018.
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Kafka, Franz. The Trial. Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. New York: Schocken Books, 1998.
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Kraus, Chris. Aliens & Anorexia. Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2000.