Active Users:1164 Time:22/11/2024 03:55:35 PM
Re: I bought that Jarry book a week ago off of your mention of it here. DomA Send a noteboard - 02/05/2012 03:36:34 PM
The first one I'd put on my list would be:

Gestes et Opinions du Docteur Faustroll, 'pataphysicien. Roman néo-scientifique suivi de spéculations.

by Alfred Jarry, written in the late 19th century, published in 1911. It's the founding text of 'Pataphysics, and as influential on later currents like dadaism, absurdism, surrealism, Ouxpo (and eventually even pop music - eg: the Beatles, and in arts people like Duchamp, Dali, Ernst, Man Ray, Miro, Escher, or Borgès, Ionesco, Queneau, Vian, Beckett, Arabal, Calvino in drama/literature) as the novel itself is little known outside literary circles.

'Pataphysics was defined by Jarry as "the science of imaginary solutions, which symbolically attributes the properties of objects, described by their virtuality, to their lineaments."





Haven't started reading it yet, but it looks promising, especially if it influenced Oulipo :P


Faustroll, but also Jarry's works in general are definitely major influences (but don't expect Fsustroll or anything by Jarry to be some kind of manifesto or theorical book. He's more the literary and philosophical heir of Rabelais). Oulipo was the first "ouvroir" introduced under the Ouxpo (Ouvroirs d'X potentiels) concept that was created by Queneau and Le Lionnais from the Collède de 'pataphysique in the 60s.

Incidentally I got to see the Oulipo Show (a collage of texts from Calvino, Queneau, Perec, Le Lionnais etc.) on stage last year. It's a near mythical stage show around here (and abroad as they toured it in francophone Europe a lot back in the 80s), re created for the 30th anniversary of the Théàtre Ubu company.

Lucky for me (as I've loved that tradition since I was a teenager)there's still a fairly strong presence of the Oulipo/Cd'p and Théâtre de l'absurde in Montréal (you can even spot an absurdist or dadaist "twist" in some recent productions of Shakespeare or Seneca). I'm very much looking forward to the new production of Ionesco's Le Roi se meurt next season. I've seen two already, and the last one that was played on an half-sphere that kept the actors off-balanced throughout was especially brilliant, but the new one looks promising as for the dying King whose kingdom is dying with him, they had this great idea of casting an actor in his mid-20s. Funny how the 21th century seems to have made old movements that marked the beginning of the 20th resonate even more strongly, especially in their darker/desperate aspects.
Reply to message
Rare and unique books - 21/04/2012 07:12:20 PM 1670 Views
Two off the top of my head... - 21/04/2012 07:55:46 PM 839 Views
I would have to think for more but... - 21/04/2012 09:56:03 PM 818 Views
Interesting, but hard to envision - 21/04/2012 11:12:23 PM 808 Views
It is hard to envision - 22/04/2012 04:12:18 PM 1004 Views
I bought that Jarry book a week ago off of your mention of it here. - 02/05/2012 03:51:46 AM 726 Views
Re: I bought that Jarry book a week ago off of your mention of it here. - 02/05/2012 03:36:34 PM 1002 Views
A few off your list - 21/04/2012 11:06:15 PM 775 Views
I thought of Borges - 21/04/2012 11:16:34 PM 685 Views
House of Leaves is a rare book? - 22/04/2012 08:01:32 AM 792 Views
Re: Rare and unique books - 29/04/2012 06:35:49 PM 852 Views
Re: Rare and unique books - 30/04/2012 10:11:42 PM 831 Views
A few more (only my own opinion) - 29/04/2012 07:27:18 PM 1544 Views
Re: A few more (only my own opinion) - 30/04/2012 10:44:09 PM 887 Views
Re: A few more (only my own opinion) - 01/05/2012 01:35:11 PM 1006 Views
Murakami as New Weird? *NM* - 02/05/2012 04:08:31 PM 355 Views
Finch is quite good, but it's really the third book in a sequence - 02/05/2012 09:23:01 PM 626 Views

Reply to Message