Between the “Revelation of Non-Being” and “The Revelation of Being” – Aspects of Exile in Literature

We set forth the hypothesis that the literature of exile is consistently represented in the modern novel, if we understand exile in its philosophical meaning, that of an interior attitude characterized by the irremediable incompatibility between spirit and the order of the world. Taking on the role of the outsider imposes an alternative defined by Karl Jaspers: ultimate situations are experiences that once assumed can show the individual the nothingness or the fullness of being. The first alternative is illustrated by the “literature of the absurd”, with themes that derive from the “revelation of non-being” mentioned by Jaspers. Writers like Camus, Ionesco or Kafka are commented from this perspective. Mircea Eliade and Vintilă Horia are, on the other hand, writers that prove the second alternative, finding the path for knowledge in exile.

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