Alfred+Jarry

- Alfred Jarry -




 * Alfred Jarry** (8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a [|French] [|writer] born in [|Laval], [|Mayenne], [|France], not far from the border of [|Brittany]; he was of [|Breton] descent on his mother's side. Best known for his [|play] //[|Ubu Roi]// (1896), which is often cited as a forerunner to the [|surrealist] theatre of the 1920s and 1930s, Jarry wrote in a variety of genres and styles. He wrote plays, novels, poetry, essays and speculative journalism. His texts present some pioneering work in the field of absurdist literature. Sometimes grotesque or misunderstood (e.g. the opening line in his play //Ubu Roi//, "Merdre!", has been translated into English as "Pshit!", "Shitteth!", "Shittr!", "Shikt!", "Shrit!", "Pschitt!", and "Shitsky!"), he invented a [|pseudoscience] called //[|'Pataphysics]//.

A precociously brilliant student, Jarry enthralled his classmates with a gift for pranks and troublemaking. At the lycée in [|Rennes] when he was 15, he led of a group of boys who devoted much time and energy to poking fun at their well-meaning, but obese and incompetent physics teacher, a man named Hébert. Jarry and classmate Henri Morin wrote a play they called //Les Polonais// and performed it with [|marionettes] in the home of one of their friends. The main character, //Père Heb//, was a blunderer with a huge belly; three teeth (one of stone, one of iron, and one of wood); a single, retractable ear; and a misshapen body. In Jarry's later work //[|Ubu Roi]//, Père Heb would develop into Ubu, one of the most monstrous and astonishing characters in French literature.

Living in worsening poverty, neglecting his health, and drinking excessively, Jarry went on to write what is often cited as the first [|cyborg] sex novel, //Le Surmâle// (//[|The Supermale]//), which is partly a satire on the [|Symbolist] ideal of self-transcendence. Unpublished until after his death, his fiction //[|Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, pataphysician]// (//Gestes et opinions du docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien//) describes the exploits and teachings of a sort of antiphilosopher who, born at age 63, travels through a hallucinatory Paris in a sieve and subscribes to the tenets of //[|'pataphysics]//. 'Pataphysics deals with "the laws which govern exceptions and will explain the universe supplementary to this one". In 'pataphysics, every event in the universe is accepted as an extraordinary event.

In his final years, he was a legendary and heroic figure to some of the young writers and artists in Paris. [|Guillaume Apollinaire], [|André Salmon], and [|Max Jacob] sought him out in his truncated apartment. After his death, [|Pablo Picasso], fascinated with Jarry, acquired his pistol and wore it on his nocturnal expeditions in Paris, and later bought many of his manuscripts as well as executing a fine drawing of him.

Jarry lived in his 'pataphysical world until his death in Paris on 1 November 1907 of [|tuberculosis], aggravated by drug and alcohol use. It is recorded that his last request was for a toothpick. He was interred in the [|Cimetière de Bagneux], near Paris__.__

__Links:__

(Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Jarry) (Source:http://hilobrow.com/2010/09/08/alfred-jarry/)

__Plays:__
 * //Caesar Antichrist//
 * [|//Ubu the King// (Ubu Roi)]
 * //Ubu Cuckolded (Ubu cocu)//
 * //Ubu Bound (Ubu enchaíné)//