Absurdism is a philosophy, usually translated into different art forms, that holds that any attempt to understand the universe will fail.

The Absurdist philosophy finds its roots in the existential despair that swept over Europe in the wake of World War I and World War II, as articulated in Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus.

Examples

• Franz Kafka's literary works.
• Theatre of the Absurd, most famous being Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
• Albert Camus' novels The Stranger and The Fall.
• Tom Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

See also

• Theatre of the Absurd