Ithaca or Homecoming Paths

In 1948, during a radio programme dedicated to René Char, Camus evoked “that great voice that accompanies our difficult navigation and speaks to us unremittingly about Ithaca where we will land, desspite all obstacles, and where we will once more find the simple joy of being a man.” (Pléiade, O.C.II, p.768)

From his very first essays to The First Man, the work of Camus is marked by nostalgia, that longing to return, that “nostos”. Just as Ulysses was far from Ithaca, Camus, exiled from the original island, “uprooted from the innocent and warm world of the poor, a world closed in on itself like an island…” (1), the world of his mother and his Minorcan grandmother, embarks on a journey in search of his true motherland at the expense of a “difficult navigation”, at the end of which he hopes to reach Ithaca although, as he notes, “it was not that easy to find Ithaca”. (Pléiade, O.C.I, p.1299).

The Choice of Ithaca

«We shall choose Ithaca, the faithful land, frugal and audacious thought, lucid action (…)»
(The Rebel, Pleiade, O.C.III, p.323-4)

After the Second World War, at a round table titled “Civilisation”, Camus made this call: “… the only thing left to do is have sufficient energy, willpower and lucidity to gather a certain number of people around provisional wills. We must prepare today a continuation and a future…” (O.C. II, p.684)

Here, on this island of Minorca, in these times of crisis in which the Mediterranean is witnessing on its shores and waters so many tensions and dramas… Is not this the time and place to respond to the call of Camus and try to find in his works “buoys” that could guide us and pave the way to a calm future?

Mediterranean Lights

«In the core of our work, albeit black, shines an endless sun…»
(O.C.III, Summer, The Enigma, p.606)

In these times, we also need something to show us the way, to shed some light on these turbulent paths. We, the citizens of the 21st-century world, wish to five into Camus’ works to try and understand ourselves better, and find a way to build a better future.

We also wish to give the floor to all those who build new horizons via their words and thoughts while drawing from Camus’ works, where the light, that “endless sun”, is present.

“O light! This is the cry of all the characters of ancient drama brought face to face with their fate. This last resort is also ours… In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer”. (The Summer, Return to Tipasa, O.C.III, p.613)

During the Gathering, we will feel the light shining on the Mediterranean with the help of these men and women of letters.