In Gestes et opinions du docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien: Roman néo-scientifique (translated as Exploits & Opinions of Doctor Faustroll, Pataphysician: A Neo-Scientific Novel, 1996), written in 1898 but not published until 1911, Jarry describes 'Pataphysics, a philosophy that he applied not only in his writing but also in his life: "La pataphysique est la science de ce qui se surajoute à la métaphysique" ('Pataphysics is the science of the realm beyond metaphysics), which seeks to study "les lois qui régissent les exceptions" (the laws which govern exceptions) and to describe "l'univers supplémentaire à celui-ci" (the universe supplementary to this one). He defines 'Pataphysics as "la science des solutions imaginaires, qui accorde symboliquement aux linéaments les propriétés des objects décrits par leur virtualité" (the science of imaginary solutions, which symbolically attributes the properties of objects, described by their virtuality, to their lineaments).
As a practitioner of 'Pataphysics in his life and his art, Jarry reveled in ambiguities, abstractions, and imaginative excess. His willingness to undertake any form of writing--and many forms of poetry--represents a kind of 'Pataphysics in action.
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