Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry (September 8, 1873–November 1, 1907) was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France. He is best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896), which is often cited as a forerunner to the theatre of the absurd.
His texts presents some early work in the themes of the "absurdity of existence" and "sensibilities". Sometimes grotesque or misunderstood (remember the famous "Merdre!", meaning something like "Shit!"), he put his mark on a science called "Pataphysics".
Pataphysics is the acceptance of every event in the universe as an extraordinary event.
Jarry wrote:
- If you let a coin fall and it falls, the next time it is just by an infinite coincidence that it will fall again the same way; hundreds of other coins on other hands will follow this pattern in an infinitely unimaginable fashion.
French authors Raymond Queneau, Jean Genet, Boris Vian and Jean Ferry have described themselves as following the Pataphysical tradition.
He died of alcoholism and tuberculosis in Paris on November 1, 1907 and was interred in the Cimetière de Bagneux, near Paris.
Plays include:
- Ubu Roi (English: Ubu The King, King Turd) written at age 14 as a puppet play
- Ubu cocu (Ubu Cuckolded), Ubu enchaíné (Ubu Bound)
Novels:
- Le Surmale (English: The Supermale)
- Gestes et opinions du docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien (English: Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, pataphysician)
- (others)
Other notable works:
- Short story, "The Passion Considered as an Uphill Bicycle Race", has been widely circulated and imitated, notably by J.G. Ballard
is there really a movement called Jarivism, or is that just a joke by Jan Brusse?
External links
- Ubu Roi (http://pata.obspm.fr/livres/jarry/Ubu_roi.html) (French)
- Gestes et opinions du docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien (http://pata.obspm.fr/livres/jarry/faustrol.htm) (French)
- College of Pataphysics (http://pata.obspm.fr/) (French)
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