Alfred Jarry: An Imagination In Revolt

This illustrated study on Alfred Jarry includes chapters on his contribution to the art of the book, art criticism, the marionette theatre and the literature of dance and acrobatics. Jarry’s scattered statements of belief are placed in their proper context to build a cohesive picture of his individual aesthetics and loyalties. The study plots his precocious progress as a poet-illustrator during the three years before the production of Ubu Roi, then follows his literary output beyond that cathartic event to his post-1900 satirical journalism and prose fiction. Jarry’s eclectic and complex literary texts are shown in terms of a series of challenges to mainstream artistic and literary standards, including the prevalling ideal of feminine beauty, marking him as a key indicator of shifting aesthetic tastes. This interdisciplinary analysis of his work firmly links him to the origins of modernism and to surrealism, proving his influence and affinities with twentieth-century aesthetics to have extended well beyond the theatre.