Actantial Schemes in the Novel Sampar by Albert Camus: A Collective and Dynamic Representation of Actantial Relations

Abstract

This research aims to describe the actantial schema in Albert Camus’s novel “Sampar” based on A.J. Greimas’s narratological study, focusing on the relations between actants and narrative roles that construct the story’s structure. The approach used is descriptive qualitative, with data consisting of quotes, sentences, and paragraphs from the novel Sampar, translated by N.H. Dini. Data collection techniques included reading, note-taking, and data classification, while data analysis used the interactive model of Miles and Huberman. The research results show that the actantial schema in the novel “Sampar” is collective and dynamic. The function of the subject is not centered on a single character, but is instead carried out alternately by Dr. Bernard Rieux, Jean Tarrou, Rambert, the group of volunteers, and the people of the city of Oran in accordance with the development of Sampar conflict. The object actant gradually evolves from the effort to understand the disease to the struggle to maintain human solidarity. The sender act is evident in situational pressures such as the appearance of dead rats and the increasing number of victims of the epidemic, while the receiver act is dominated by the community experiencing the epidemic’s social and psychological impacts. The helper actant is manifested through knowledge, social solidarity, and collective work, while the opposing actant is not only the epidemic but also social denial and bureaucratic response delays. The most significant finding of this research is that the boundaries between actants are fluid and dynamic, allowing a character to perform more than one actant function within the narrative. This research demonstrates that A.J. Greimas’s narratology is relevant to analyzing novels with collective conflicts and complex narrative structures.