Alfred Jarry
French literature by category French literary history Medieval Renaissance 17th 18th 19th 20th century Contemporary French writers Chronological list Writers by category Essayists Novelists Playwrights Poets Short story writers Portals France French language Literature French/Francophone literature v t e Alfred Jarry (French: [ʒaʁi]; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer known for coining the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics. Born in Laval, Mayenne, France, his mother was from Brittany. In his lifetime, though associated with the Symbolist movement, Jarry was best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896), which is often cited as a forerunner to the Surrealist and Futurist movements of the 1920s and 1930s. Jarry wrote in a variety of hybrid genres and styles, prefiguring the Postmodern. He wrote plays, novels, poetry, essays and speculative journalism. His texts present us with pioneering work in the fields of absurdist literature and postmodern philosophy.