pataphysics

’Pataphysics

'Pataphysics (French: 'Pataphysique), a term coined by French writer Alfred Jarry (1873 – 1907), is a philosophy dedicated to studying what lies beyond the realm of metaphysics. It is a parody of the theory and methods of modern science and is often expressed in nonsensical language. A practitioner of 'pataphysics is a 'pataphysician or a 'pataphysicist.

History

The term first appeared in print in Alfred Jarry's play text Guignol in the 28 April, 1893 issue of L'Écho de Paris littéraire illustré. Jarry later defined it as "the science of imaginary solutions, which symbolically attributes the properties of objects, described by their virtuality, to their lineaments" (Gestes et opinions du Docteur Faustroll, II, viii). Raymond Queneau has described 'pataphysics as resting "on the truth of contradictions and exceptions."

Jarry mandated the inclusion of the apostrophe in the orthography "to avoid a simple pun," the pun possibly being patte à physique (leg of physics), as interpreted by Jarry-scholars Keith Beaumont and Roger Shattuck, or possibly pas ta physique (not your physics), or maybe pâte à physique (physics-dough).

The Collège de 'pataphysique, founded on May 11, 1948, in Paris, is a group of artists and writers interested in the philosophy of 'pataphysics. The motto of the college is Eadem mutata resurgo (I arise again the same though changed), and its head is His Magnificence, Baron Jean Mollet. According to Warren Motte, noted members of the college have included Noël Arnaud (Regent of General 'Pataphysics and Clinic of Rhetoriconosis, as well as Major Confirmant of the Order of the Grand Gidouille), Luc Étienne also known as Luc Etienne Périn (Regent), Latis (Private General Secretary to the Baron Vice-Curator), François Le Lionnais (Regent), Jean Lescure (Regent of Anabathmology), and Raymond Queneau (Transcendent Satrap). As such, its members are linked with Oulipo. Publications of the college include the Cahiers du Collège de 'Pataphysique and the Dossiers du Collège de 'Pataphysique.

The authors Raymond Queneau, Jean Genet, Eugene Ionesco, Boris Vian and Jean Ferry have described themselves as following the 'pataphysical tradition. Pataphysics and pataphysicians feature prominently in several linked works by science fiction writer Pat Murphy. The philosopher Jean Baudrillard is often described as a 'pataphysician and did consider himself as such for some part of his life. One American writer, Pablo Lopez, has even developed an extension of the "science" called the pataphor.

Although France had been always the center of the 'pataphysical globe, followers have grown up in different cities around the world. In 1966 Juan Esteban Fassio was commissioned to draw the map of the Collège de 'Pataphysique and its institutes abroad. In the 1950s, Buenos Aires and Milan were the first cities to have 'pataphysical institutes. London, Edinburgh, Budapest, and Liege — as well as many other European cities - caught up in the sixties. In the 1970s, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, The Netherlands, and many other countries showed that the internationalization of 'pataphysics was irreversible.

In the 1960s 'pataphysics was used as a conceptual principle within various fine art forms, especially pop art and popular culture. Actual works within the 'pataphysical tradition tend to focus on the processes of their creation, and elements of chance or arbitrary choices are frequently key in those processes. Select pieces from Marcel Duchamp and John Cage characterize this. At around this time, Asger Jorn, a 'pataphysician and member of the Situationist International, referred to 'pataphysics as a new religion. Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson were artists who contrived machines of a 'pataphysical bent.

During the Communist Era, a small group of 'pataphysicists in Czechoslovakia started a journal called PAKO, or Pataphysical Collegium. Apparently, Alfred Jarry's plays had a lasting impression on its underground philosophical scene.

In music

Perhaps the most famous mention of 'pataphysics remains the Beatles' 1969 song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," from Abbey Road, which mentions Joan, a student who "was quizzical/studied 'pataphysical science in the home.
Professor Andrew Hugill, of De Montfort University, Leicester, is a practitioner of 'pataphysical music. A CD, Pataphysics, was curated by Dr. Hugill for the Sonic Arts Network's CD series.
British progressive rock band Soft Machine has songs "Pataphysical Introduction" parts I and II on their album Volume Two.
Acid Mothers Temple's 1999 release Pataphisical Freak Out MU!! references pataphysics in the title.

Pataphor

The pataphor (Spanish: patáfora, French: pataphore), is a term coined by writer and musician Pablo Lopez ("Paul Avion"), for an unusually extended metaphor based on Alfred Jarry's "science" of 'pataphysics. As Jarry claimed that 'pataphysics existed "as far from metaphysics as metaphysics extends from regular reality," a pataphor attempts to create a figure of speech that exists as far from metaphor as metaphor exists from non-figurative language. Whereas a metaphor is the comparison of a real object or event with a seemingly unrelated subject in order to emphasize the similarities between the two, the pataphor uses the newly created metaphorical similarity as a reality with which to base itself. In going beyond mere ornamentation of the original idea, the pataphor seeks to describe a new and separate world, in which an idea or aspect has taken on a life of its own.

Like ‘pataphysics itself, pataphors essentially describe two degrees of separation from reality (rather than merely one degree of separation, which is the world of metaphors and metaphysics). The pataphor may also be said to function as a critical tool, describing the world of "assumptions based on assumptions," such as belief systems or rhetoric run amok. The following is an example.

Non-figurative

Tom and Alice stood side by side in the lunch line.

Metaphor

Tom and Alice stood side by side in the lunch line, two pieces on a chessboard.

Pataphor

Tom took a step closer to Alice and made a date for Friday night, checkmating. Rudy was furious at losing to Margaret so easily and dumped the board on the rose-colored quilt, stomping downstairs.

Thus, the pataphor has created a world where the chessboard exists, including the characters who live in that world, entirely abandoning the original context.

References

Bibliography

Beaumont, Keith (1984). Alfred Jarry: A Critical and Biographical Study. St. Martin's Press.
Jarry, Alfred (1980). Gestes et opinions du Docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien. France: Gallimard. ISBN.
Schonberg, Bo (1986). Beatles Complete Guitar. Hal Leonard Corporation.
Shattuck, Roger (1980). Roger Shattuck's Selected Works of Alfred Jarry: Ubu Cuckolded, Exploits and Opinions of Doctor Faustroll. Grove Press.
Taylor, Michael R. (2007). Thomas Chimes Adventures in 'Pataphysics. Philadelphia Museum of Art.