08 May Albert Camus, the goalkeeper : “I learned that the ball never comes when you expect it to. That helped me a lot in life”
While many legendary philosophers and writers developed their ideas during long solitary strolls through the city streets or the countryside, Camus was mostly indebted to the football pitch.
One can imagine a young Camus shouting at the referee (in French, of course), “That was absurd, you w*****,” on some dodgy offside call. Still, contemplating suicide or religious conversion would seem a somewhat drastic measure in that instance.
In his late teen years, Camus played as the goalkeeper for the Racing Universitaire d’Alger (RUA) junior team. The club was based in Algiers, Algeria, which, at the time, was a region under French rule. It is difficult to picture an academic of Camus’ introspective, academic ilk in the position of striker or midfield, but his preferred goalkeeper position seemed to fit like a glove.
One could read much into the existentialist’s position between the posts since philosophers often prefer observation over action. Touching the game from a distance, Camus could study a clash of personalities in an intense environment and submit to thoughtful reveries while the ball was at the other end of the field. The role of goalkeeper seemed to satiate the requirements of isolation and serviceability.
It is difficult to quantify just how much of Camus’ work was indebted to the study of football, but he discussed its importance on several occasions. “I learned that the ball never comes when you expect it to,” he once mused. “That helped me a lot in life, especially in large cities where people don’t tend to be what they claim.”
Football seemed to prepare the philosopher for societal inconsistencies and the dispassionate disorder of the universe. Tragically, Camus was struck with true adversity, or “absurdity”, when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis at age 17. Due to the debilitating illness, he was forced to hang up the gloves and immerse himself in books.
Camus had long since left the football pitch when he began his early essays and novels, but the analogous lessons stuck with him for life. “After many years in which the world has afforded me many experiences,” he famously noted in 1957, “what I know most surely in the long run about morality and obligations, I owe to football.”
Camus died in 1950 at the age of 46 in a catastrophic car accident in Villeblevin, France, but his legacy lives on in his cherished works of fiction. Musicians, writers and filmmakers frequently cite the French existentialist as a significant influence to this day, with many pondering the extent to which football guided his philosophical outlook.
Some contrive parallels between the beautiful game and Camus’ various theories, while others claim he simply found more truth and morality on the playing field. Taken candidly, Camus’ quote outlined that one could learn much more about morality by witnessing the morale and camaraderie of a functional football team than by following the complex and often corrupt realms of religion and politics.
Jordan Potter
SOURCE : faroutmagazine.co.uk
IMAGE : m.imdb.com
