The focus of this study is on textual links between ten fictional works by three French writers and the Bible. The text-orientated study illuminates how palimpsestuous writing has been actualised in the works of Paul Claudel, André Gide and Albert Camus. In this dissertation, the biblical hypotext, an earlier text that the author's text imitates or transforms, is considered one of the most significant features in their works, opening up whole new interpretations of their stories. Some of the works are more hypertextual than others but all are in a paratextual relation to a biblical story: their titles build the first link to the writings of the Bible. Each author featured in this study has a very different relation to Christianity: Paul Claudel is a practicing Catholic; André Gide who comes from a Protestant background is anti-religion; Albert Camus is an agnostic from a Catholic background. The case of Claudel is interesting: in his oeuvre, the biblical re-writing integrates the Catholic dogma and the influence of Saint Thomas. The writing of Gide proves the influence of the French Protestantism of his era; whereas Camus' interpretation of the biblical text is a consequence of a personal and selective reading containing reflections of Saint Augustine's notions.
