Talk:Alfred Jarry

"Shittr" vs. "Pshit"
I've always seen "Merdre" translated as "Pshit". Who is responsible for this translation? (Wasn't it Cyril Connolly, who translated various Jarry plays, by any chance?) Acb 10:46, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)

It's Barbara Wright, who did a 1961 translation as "Ubu Roi" (ISBN 0-8112-0072-8). I have to say I think it's a much superior translation of an eminently untranslatable word. But them's just my two cents. Saposcat 20:49, 28 Apr 2005

My translation has "shikt", which I think is actually better, but profanity has always been hard to translate, and made-up profanity trebly so. 216.39.182.234 12:54, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

I have added Cyril Connolly's Simon Watson Taylor's translation which, is "Pschitt" (at least in the Grove Edition) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.170.202.3 (talk) 10:28, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Profound impact
"he was of Breton descent on his mother's side, a fact which would have a profound impact on some of his writings." is not explained in the article. What is the impact? In what way is it profound? --sparkit (talk) 20:07, Jun 9, 2005 (UTC)

It has to do with certain quite early works and certain quite late works primarily; I have been meaning to get to an explanation for some time but have been too busy to do so, and therefore will remove the phrase until such time as I might find myself with the time to go into the issue somewhat. Saposcat 02:12 (GMT +02:00), 6 August 2005

Half-high apartment?
If possible, someone with access to a good Jarry biography should get a reference for this or remove it:

"Jarry moved into a flat which the landlord had made by horizontally dividing one flat into two. He could just manage to stand up in the place, but guests had to bend or crouch."

Sounds a lot like that bit from Being John Malkevich (maybe they stole it from Jarry) and it's pretty unbelievable. It's pretty hard to subdivide your apartment horizontally! Six.oh.six 04:56, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

This is documented in The Banquet Years by Roger Shattuck. Specifically, on pages 213-214, an account of Jarry's apartment is given by Guillame Apollinaire.# — Preceding unsigned comment added by Antipyrine (talk • contribs) 06:21, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

C'est vrai. The building still exists. Jarry's apartment is on the 2 1/2 floor. The entrance is in the courtyard behind 7 Rue Cassette in the 6th Arrondissement. I've been there and I have photos. Certa 22:26, 31 December 2006 (UTC)


 * love to see the photos. working on Jarry piece 69.53.126.139 (talk) 00:35, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

Drugs?
Is it possible to elaborate on the type(s?) of "drugs" he used? I'm gathering that you are referring to something other than liquor. It seems that it may have been important to him in this case. Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.150.247.62 (talk) 20:06, 27 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I wonder if this "drug" reference might be misleading. I haven't seen any evidence of Jarry's drug use except inasmuch as liquor might be considered a "drug." Perhaps the writer meant absinthe as being distinct from other liquor and, thus, a drug. In her biography of Jarry, his friend Rachilde detailed Jarry's daily intake, citing astonishing amounts of wine, coffee, absinthe and other spirits. Chthonicguy (talk) 20:47, 29 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I am reading 'The banquet years' by Roger Shattuck (mentioned in the bibliography for the article). Jarry used ether as well as absinthe; according to Shattuck, Jarry used ether when he could no longer afford alcohol.  Eam531 (talk) 23:09, 18 January 2011 (UTC)Eam531

LGBT Tie-in
I'm confused by the flagging of this article as being related to the LGBT Wikiproject. What is the connection? I am not aware of any evidence that Jarry was homosexual. There is a line in this article, "(though he was not at all inclined to engage with females in the manner implied)" which might be interpreted that way. That ambiguity should probably be cleared up. My (albeit limited) reading about Jarry suggests that early in his life he engaged female prostitutes, had a short-lived relationship with a Madame Berthe de Courriere, and may have a had a romantic attachment to a long-time friend of his, the married poetess known as Rachilde who later wrote his biography. (I get this from reading Nigey Lennon's biography, "Alfred Jarry: The Man with the Axe") This doesn't necessarily preclude his having been homosexual, but I think some evidence would need to be presented to back that up. Chthonicguy (talk) 20:19, 29 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Agreed. Removed from this Talk page. HairyWombat 06:42, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Cause of Death
In spite of the intake described in my post above (see "Drugs?"), it seems that alcohol wasn't necessarily a factor in Jarry's death. I quote page 87 of "Alfred Jarry, The Man with the Axe" by Nigey Lennon (1984), "His liver and kidneys appeared to be quite unaffected by his prodigious tippling; it was the chronic malnutrition which had weakened his condition, leading to the inevitable conclusion of his life." Before his death Jarry himself wrote "Pere Ubu, as I am called, is dying not of having done too much drinking, but of not having always had enough to eat." Chthonicguy (talk) 20:56, 29 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Removed Category:Drug-related deaths in France from article. HairyWombat 06:42, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Alfred Jarry Award
The article on Michael McClure mentions such an award. Varlaam (talk) 03:19, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

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Did Jarry live in Montmartre?
Another page, Incoherents, mentions the Montmartre culture in relationship to Jarry's work. Did Jarry live there? This page mentions residences and apartments, but I missed the locations within Paris if any are mentioned. Thanks. Randy Kryn (talk) 13:26, 11 March 2018 (UTC)
 * An above talk-page section gives his exact address, it's not in Montmartre. Randy Kryn (talk) 17:24, 11 March 2018 (UTC)

Quote origin
I've been trying to find the origin of the quote "If you let a coin fall and it falls, the next time it is just by an infinite coincidence that it will fall again the same way; hundreds of other coins on other hands will follow this pattern in an infinitely unimaginable fashion." But I was so far unsuccesful. I assumed it'd be in Exploits and Opinions, but it doesn't seem like it is there in any form. Looking online wasn't very helpful, as most places I found seem to have taken this quote from this wikipedia article. I put a Citation Needed on it for now because of this, hopefully that is correct (I don't edit Wikipedia much). Username1230 (talk) 08:02, 4 March 2024 (UTC)