Exploits and Opinions of Doctor Faustroll, Pataphysician

162 Pages·1996·1.8 MB·English

by  Alfred Jarry (author)

EXPLOITS 6 OPINIONS OF
(C)
D 0 C T 0 R FA U S T R 0 LL , PATA P H Y S I CIA N I"'! I (
EXPLOITS& OPINIONS

OF DOCTOR FAUSTROLL,

PATA PHYSICIAN
A NEO-SCIENTIFINCO VEL
BY ALFRED ARRY
J
TRANSLATED & ANNOTATED BY

SIMON WATSON TAYLOR

INTRODUCTION BY ROGER SHATTUCK

E
EXACT CHANGE

BOSTON

1996
Translaatnidno ont e®1s9 65 SimoWna tsoTna ylor

Introdu:©c1t96i5o Rno geSrh attuck

Originpaulbllyi sihnSe eldec ted Works of Alfred}arry

Thiesd it'i)1o99n6 ExacCth ange

Publisbhyae rdr angewmietnGhtr ovPer esIsn,c .

AlRli ghRtess erved

ISBN1 -878972-07-3

Coveprh otogrTahpe hLo:ne ly Metropolitan, byH erbeBraty e1r93,2

Reprodubcyep de rmisosfit ohneM I T Press

ExacCth angbeo okasr ee ditbeydD amonK rukowski

andd esigbnyeN da omiY ang

ExacCth ange

P.OB.o x19 17

BostoMnA, 0 2205

Printoenad c id-free praepceyrc l
ed
CONTENTS
lntToduction lry Roger SbtZttuc..k ... vii

BOOK ONE: PROCEEDINGS
I Summons putroars tuia8cn1l.t9e. . . .5

2 Concerntihhneag b aintbdse aroifDn ogc tFoaru s.t.r. •o.7l l

3 Servoifc eW r..i ..t 9 .

4 Concerninegq utihveba oloeknDsto cotfFo aru s.t ..r.o. 1l0l

' Notiocfwe a rreannatb ilmimnegd siaa.l.t. e.e . 13

6 ConcerthnineDg o ctobro'awsth ,i icash s.i.ev.1e.4 .

7 Concertnhciehn ogs fee.nw. .. 1.7

BOOK TWO: ELEMENTS OF PATAPHYSICS
8 Defini..ti. o. n.21

11 Fausstrmoalltllh eaFrna us.t..r.o.2 l4l

Concertnhdieon ggfa cbeadb oBoons se-d,ew -hNokn aegwne o

I0
humawno rbdus"t h haa .". ... 2 6

BOOK THREE: FROM PARIS TO PARIS BY SEA
OR THE BELGIAN FAMILY ROBINSON
II Concertnheiemn bga rkiantt hiaeor .nk. . ..3 0

ConcertnhSieqn ugi Stetay, o latfchtelo irgyuh tsaheon,d itshlee

IZ
ofC acwkh,e wreed rannok.t. . . .3 2

It Concertnihlneag no dfL a.c .e. .3.5

14 Concertnhien gfoo rfLe osv.te. .3.6.

I, Concertnhgiern egsa tta iorfcb alsameca kr .b..l.e.4 0

I1'1 Conrcnientgh Aem orphios.ul.s.e. .41

I7 ConcertnhFiern agg irsa.ln. .et . . 4 3

IA ConcertnhCineag s tle-wEhriircasahj n ut.n,k. .. 4.5

IV Concertnhiiesn olgfPe t .y.x.. .47

IllC oncertnhineg o ifHs elrte,h C ey ocplsan,td h ger esawta n

whiicoshf c rys.t a.4 l8..
.
I I Concertnhiiesn lgCe y .ro.if. .l . 51

I I Concertnhgiern egca htu rocfSh n ou.tfi .g..s . 53
23 ConcertnhRiein ngg iisn.l.g.e .. 5 6

24 Concertnhhieen rgm Sehtaidcae nsd thweh oaki wnagid teea.d.t .h. .59

BOOK FOUR: CEPHALORGY
25 Concertnhliean ngd -anttdih dmeea ribnies hMoepn dac..i .o..u6 2s

26 Dri.n. k. . .65

27 Capi.t.a.ll. .6y8

28 Concertnhdieen agot fahn umboefr pleeao,np mdo rees pecially

ofBsose-de. .-.N. .a7g1e

29 Concersnoimfunerg t haenrd meovriedm eenatn ionfg s

thweo r"dhsha a .". ... 7 4

BOOK FIVE: OFFICIALLY
30 Conceratn hionugs vaanrmdia etdt . .e.r..s 7 7

31 Concertninhmgeu sijce.a.t.l . .81

32 Howo noeb taine.d.. . c.8a3n
vas
BOOK SIX: A VISIT TO LUCULLUS
33 Concertnhtineeg r .m. e..s . 8 7

34 Clina.. m..en8.8

BOOK SEVEN: KHURMOOKUM
35 Concertnihgnerg e sahtiM po ur-de-. •Z. .e.n95c l
e
36 Concertnhien ..gl. in..e9 8

BOOK EIGHT: ETHERNITY
37 Concernmienags utrrhoiedtn ,hgw e a tacnhd tthuen ifonrgk. .. .1 00.

38 Concertnhsieun angsa c ooslo l.i...d . 1 05

39 AccortdoIi bnigc trhaGete eosm e..t . e. .r 1 07

40 PantapanhdyC saitcsa c.h. .e. m. 1y1 0

41 Concertnhsieun rgfa ocfGe o d... .1 1.1

NotbeySs i mWoants oTnayl o. .r.. . 115

Biobglrilr,a pbyA lastBarioirte .c .. h. . 1 J 7
llNTIRSJDlUCTllSN
BY ROGERS HATTUCK
theater of the twentieth century keeps
T H E vA A N - oT A R D E
one of its convenient reference points the explosive geneofr ale
••
Ubu Roini 1 89T6ha.t performance exploited ingredients that have
hocome commonplace today, from barefaced slapstick to the
IUhtleties of the absurd.AlfredJarry (1873-p1rin9ci0pa7l a)ut,ho r
sole promoter of this schoolboy masterpiece, came close to
Mild
odipse during the thirty-year scuffle of literary movements that
ll11lowed his premature death. The temporary eclipse occurred
dupite tribute to his genius from Apollinaire, Max Jacob, Breton,
Art11ud, Queneau, and even Gide. But the midget Jarry, eccentric
In the point of mania and lucid to the point of hallucination, was
Unt une to lie low for long. Today he is very much with us again.
The original legend centered about his attire (a cyclist's cos­
with pistols), his habits (drink practiced as discipline), his
tume
lud11ing (a dark cell literally on the second-and-a-half floor), and
hl1 dAily fare (fish he caught at will anywhere in the Seine). In pub­
lh· 1he young upstart puffed himself up to the proportions of Ubu,
Vll
the human blunderbuss who smashed all history as he went. But
the artist in J arry continued to be precocious and hid rather than
revealed itself in this hypertrophied biography. There is much
more to him than the long remembered scandals of Ubu. Little
wonder that since the second World War Jarry's reputation has
enjoyed a spirited revival in France. His works have been collected
and republished in eight volumes, new writings discovered, his
career and talent reexamined, and a College de 'Pataphysique
founded to perpetuate his inventions and destructions. In his
posthumous ascent to lasting literary esteem J arry still contrives to
dismay readers in approximately the same proportion that he
impresses them. He will not be held at arm's length.
*
The great posthumous works in Western literature usually carry
with them a fundamental enigma. Pascal's Pensaned eRimsb aud's
Illuminraaiste pirooblnemss o f chronology and interpretation, as
well as making their own particular challenges to the very idea of
literature. Jarry would have guffawed and found a suitable blague
to dismiss this grandiose approach to his book, Explsoa intd
OpinioofDn osc Ftaotruros lPla,t aspihcYyieta anfte.r h aving failed
to find a publisher for more than a few chapters, he entrusted at
least two manuscripts of the text to reliable friends, and inscribed
one of them for posterity. At twenty-five Jarry suggested he was
Vlll
wrltotvneger v eryohneea'ds, inhcilosuw dnhi;en h ga d to
"experdieeanitcnohe r "d teocr a tucpwh i thhi mself.
Faustrroelvlei atelsns i gmqautailcmi otsictel se airncl oyn trast
UbRuo ,iU bEun chaarnndU tb,Cuo cu. Int hnei neUtbiue'ss
to
freewhaeneadld ionlge nsicheinwltai rsse mc ewiivtearhd a ucous
mixtoufhr oeo atnscd h eeirnts ha eu ditoarsii ntu hpmer eYsest.
warse ceiFvauesdt.er voeltnlh o,u agf hefr wa gmeanptpse airne d
It
the MercdueFr reca ein nM ay1,8 9e5n,c ounotnleysr ieldea nncde
unearseyj ecbtyti hotweno e ditmoorsdste vottoJea dr rswy o'r k.
This timheea ppeatrohe adva ett empttoemodu cIhn.ag rotesque
1ymme,tF rayursomtlolv einst hoep podsiirteec ftriotomhn Ue b u
plAaynafd o rtmhse ciorm pleBmeennetta.ht hehi gcholnyg ested
1urfaoncdie n,s piotfie t dse sultory osntesr euncsteusr ei,n
,..,urtroll thsee arfcoahrn erwe alais ttyu,p enedffooturocst r eate
oft he rUubiuhn asld e bfte hiann edsw y stoefvm a l-uetsh e
mat
wnrolfdp ataphByesniectasht.deh o ubtlaeal nked l liiptfssoi rs­,
nudale fini(tsiepoepn2 . 1 -2s3e)e tmosm eatnh atth e voirr tual
hnnainnaatruoyrft e h iansgg sl impbsyte hdhe e ighvtiensoeifdo n
ors cieonrlc oevc eab ne s eiaznelddi vaesrd e aTlh.ii ss
puetry
ultimatoef" afuotrhemen natcitcm ent."
lhl'
mathemiatsth idrece sa omf s cieunbcieq,(u sitithcyde) r eam
If
mortaalnipdto ye,tt rhdyer eaomfs peepcaht,a phfyussiecss
uf'
theimn ttho"e c ommsoenn soefD" o ctFoaru stwrhooll ilva,el sl
�rums aso ne. rJeacrorutynh mteis r acutlaoiluenas nu tterly
111ohnesdrc ienmtainfincae nrpd,u rshuieassn alwyisteshsu ch
ix