Dessalegn, A: Adam Reta as a Literary Existentialist

Adam Reta, who has been writing for the last quarter of the century, has published a novel and three collections of short stories and novellas. Nevertheless, the critical attention given to his works was very insignificant. The author‘s relationship with existentialism, however, is much stronger and conspicuous. Thus, the study aims at discussing the tenets of existentialism found in the creative works of Adam Reta, which eventually gear up to elucidate his overall existentialist philosophical thinking. To this end, the philosophy of existentialism and its concepts are employed to analyze the selected works of the author; his novel, Giracha Kachiloch, and six other narratives from his anthologies. The researcher has also employed textual and descriptive criticism as method. From the analyses and interpretations made, the writer of this study found out that the characteristic tenets of existentialism are shared by Adam Reta. Absurdity, alienation, death and repetition are among the major ones. Thus, Adam Reta is found to be a literary existentialist, who achieves in turning his philosophical ideas into symbols and myths, which greatly add up to the aesthetic value of his works.