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Introduction
Alfred Jarry (French: [al.fʁɛd ʒa.ʁi]; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896), a pataphysical work which depicts the bourgeoisie as the super-mediocre. He coined the term and philosophical concept of pataphysics, which uses absurd irony to portray symbolic truths (and playfully vice versa).Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, and his mother was from Brittany. He was associated with the Symbolist movement. His play Ubu Roi is often cited as a forerunner of Dada and the Surrealist and Futurist movements of the 1920s and 1930s. He wrote in a variety of hybrid genres and styles, prefiguring the postmodern, including novels, poems, short plays and opéras bouffes, absurdist essays and speculative journalism. His texts are considered examples of absurdist literature and postmodern philosophy.
Wikidata
Q7841
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Introduction
Author of 'Ubu Roi' and other plays, poetry, novels and essays. He has been claimed as a predecessor of Dada, the Surrealist movement, and the Theatre of the Absurd. He created a number of graphic works to illustrate his writings, and associated with visual artists such as Rousseau and Gauguin. He founded two art magazines, "L'Ymagier," with Remy de Gourmont, and later "Perhinderion." He coined the term "'pataphysics" to describe a "science of imaginary solutions," expressed in verbal games and logic so rigorously applied that it slips into the irrational. He has been admired by a variety of writers and artists, and inspired two formal societies, the Collège de 'pataphysique, and Oulipo.
Nationality
French
Gender
Male
Roles
Artist, Author, Engraver, Writer, Lithographer, Pataphysician, Woodcutter, Playwright, Poet, Graphic Artist, Illustrator, Painter
Names
Alfred Jarry, Alfred-Henri Jarry, Alain Jans
Ulan
500199881
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Information from Getty’s Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License

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