King Ubu

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Data
Title: King Ubu
Original title: Ubu roi
Genus: Theater of the absurd
Original language: French
Author: Alfred Jarry
Premiere: December 10, 1896
Place of premiere: Paris
persons
  • Père Ubu
  • Mère Ubu
  • Captain Bordure
  • King Venceslas
  • Queen Rosemonde
  • Boleslas , Ladislas , Bougrelas ; her sons
  • General Lascy
  • Stanislas Leczinski
  • Jean Sobieski
  • Nicolas Rensky
  • Tsar Alexei
  • Giron , Pile , Cotice ; Palotins
  • Conspirators and soldiers
  • people
  • Mikhail Fyodorovich
  • Nobles
  • high officials
  • advisor
  • Bankers
  • Phananzian servants
  • Peasant people
  • The whole Russian army
  • The whole Polish army
  • Mère Ubu's Guard
  • A captain
  • A bear
  • The phynanzische horse
  • The dumbing down machine
  • The crew
  • The captain

King Ubu ( French title: Ubu roi ) is a play by the French writer Alfred Jarry (1873-1907). The drama, which premiered in 1896 , was celebrated by surrealists and dadaists and translated into numerous languages. Jarry later identified more and more with his character; towards the end of his life he even signed with Ubu .

genesis

The figure of Père Ubu was created around 1885 at the Rennes high school as a school travesty to the physics teacher Félix-Frédéric Hébert ("Père Ebé", "Eb", "PH", later "Père Ubu"), who for the pupils was "all grotesque." World ”embodied. Charles Morin, a school friend of Jarry's, made Hébert the protagonist of a short farce for puppets called Les Polonais . This now lost play - the original text for King Ubu , as it were - was performed several times around 1888 in the Jarry and Morin family as a puppet theater. The text before us today was finally completed by Jarry in the 1890s and published in part in various journals.

Premiered Ubu Roi on 10 December 1896 at the Théâtre de L'Oeuvre, Paris, and sparked a scandal at once. After Ubus initially exclaimed “Merdre!” (In the German translation “Schoiße!” Or “ Schreiße !”), The demonstration had to be interrupted for several minutes due to tumult.

The play was performed a second time at the Théâtre des Pantins , but this time again with marionettes. In the meantime, Jarry completed a second piece with the same main character, Ubu Hahnrei (French: Ubu Cocu ). After the first performance, Jarry hadn't found a publisher because of the negative reception. The third Ubu piece, Ubu in Ketten ( Ubu enchaîné ), was completed in 1899 . However, the author did not live to see the production of the two sequels by King Ubu. It is controversial whether the three pieces can be seen as a cohesive trilogy. Jarry himself never perceived it as a coherent cycle, nor did he conceive it as such. It is believed that after completing the third piece he simply lost interest in the Ubu material and therefore did not work on it any further without the resulting dramas being part of a larger coherent whole. They were also published in a joint volume for the first time long after their completion.

contents

Père Ubu after a drawing by Alfred Jarry

The main character of the play, François Ubu (also Père Ubu , later Ubu Roi ), is an officer of King Venceslas , decorated with the Order of the Red Dragon of Poland , formerly King of Aragon , Count of Sandomir ; later King of Poland, Doctor of Pataphysics .

The primitive, cowardly, voracious and power-obsessed Père Ubu is instigated by his wife, Mère Ubu , to usurp the Polish throne by massacring the honorable King Venceslas and his family. With the support of Captain Bordure and his cronies, Ubu succeeds in the fatal coup d'état, and he becomes a relatively popular ruler until he decides - as a first government measure, so to speak - to execute (ie, "brainless") all nobles and state officials for the purpose of his personal enrichment. allow. Ubus no less radical tax policy includes not only the unfounded multiplication of all direct and indirect taxes, but also their forcible collection by the king himself. As Ubu begins to tyrannize the Polish population more and more, the now renegade Bordure encourages the Russian Tsar Alexis to intervene against the unleashed murderous despot. While Ubu is on the campaign against the Russian army, the "regent" Mère Ubu is overthrown by the rightful heir to the throne Bougrelas , but not without having stolen the treasury beforehand. Ubu himself is defeated by the Russian army, but through cowardice and malice he is able to flee to France with his wife , where he wants to be proclaimed maître des phynances .

Theater aesthetics and staging practice

Poster for a performance at the Théâtre de l'Œuvre

The premiere King Ubu was dominated by Alfred Jarry's radically a- mimetic theater aesthetic that their inspiration from the Grand Guignol moved and instead of the exact reproduction of reality, a creative and dynamic action théâtre- called. The anti-illusionist stage decor, which juxtaposed different seasons, widely spaced locations and indoor and outdoor spaces, as well as the rapidly changing locations, which are only indicated by a sign, evoke the abolition of an orderly space-time continuum (according to Jarry, the play plays in “ Poland, that means nowhere ”). In addition, the figures are characterized by face masks and a monotonous style of language, which can be read as audiovisual evidence of their complete de-psychologization and de-individualization. Mass scenes (crowds, armies, etc.) were consistently represented by a single actor; sometimes actors even functioned symbolically as props (doors etc.).

Interpretative approaches

Parody: The piece makes the greed for power and tyranny of its characters ridiculous and grotesque. These can be seen as travesties by Shakespeare figures: Ubu as a parody of King Lear , mother Ubu as Lady Macbeth . In addition to the figures, individual motifs (for example Ubus “warhorse”) or even entire scenes (for example, revenge by the spirits of the deceased) can be read as a parodic recording of relevant literary material.

Comedian couple: Jarry used the construction principle of the pairing of white clown and stupid August in the circus with the Ubu couple and thus anticipated the famous comedian couple Laurel and Hardy . Fernando Arrabal wrote: "The Incredible Ubu is camouflaged the hämorridale Stan Laurel as anorexic Oliver Hardy." Samuel Finzi and Wolfram Koch in 2008 at the Freie Volksbühne Berlin in these roles, "a comedian couple to kneel down."

Schoiße / Physik / Phynanz: The terms “Schoiße” (or “Schreiße”), “Physik” and “Phynanz” occupy a central position in the piece. They stand symbolically for the outstanding character traits Ubus and can therefore be read as "anthropological constants". The "Schoiße" Ubus represents unleashed and uninhibited corporeality, which has strongly primitive and vulgar traits. His idiosyncratic worldview is reflected in "physics". That this is not about classical physics can be seen in various abstruse Ubus projects (for example the construction of an oversized windmill). Rather, pataphysics is anticipated here, which is to play an important role in Jarry's later works. The term "Phynance" unites all activities that are intended to provide Ubus with rapid and intensive enrichment. This unconditional enrichment ultimately becomes a kind of “amoral imperative” with which Ubu justifies his actions in front of critics.

The perversion, which is reflected in these ideal-typical character traits Ubus, is underlined by the deformation of the terms themselves (“Schoiße” instead of “Shit”, “Phynance” instead of “Finance”).

Language: The vulgar and grotesque language of the piece is modeled on, among other things. in the novels of Rabelais . As can be seen from the terms "Phynanz" and "Schoiße" ("merdre") already cited, the graphic and phonic deformation of terms is an essential part of Ubus (and Jarry's) strongly idiosyncratic language use. Other examples are the use of Ohnen instead of "ears" and apparently absurd compound words like "Phynanzpferd", "Schoißhaken" etc. This refers to the marked tendency of the language of the piece to become independent beyond any semantics, a tendency that was later adopted by the Representatives of the theater of the absurd should still be radicalized.

Comedy / Carnival: In addition to his parodic comedy and his comedy language, King Ubu also has a striking affinity for the comedy of the carnival scary , as was theorized, for example, by Mikhail Bakhtin . In its constant reversal of hierarchies, its revaluation of values ​​and “grounding” of sacred objects (cf. the toilet brush as a scepter), Ubu stands for an anarchic counterworld, a mundus inversus that subverts or at least relativizes the existing order. Ubus's carnivalesque nature also speaks for his overemphasized creatureliness, his sprawling body (with the enormous nose and huge navel) as well as his pronounced interest in the fecal and scatological. This conception of a "grotesque corporeality" (Bakhtin), which is typical of Carnivalesque literature, also means that the bodies of the characters in the world of the play have no fixed boundaries. They become permeable to the environment; the inside is constantly turned outwards (cf. “brain removal”, “exploding” cronies, omnipresence of the feces); So there is a constant exchange between body and world, which is in contrast to the model of the closed, individual body that has prevailed since the 17th century. In addition, the piece as a whole is structurally identical to the rite of the elevation and humiliation of the carnival king common in carnival.

However, it is difficult to attribute the positive, regenerative power to the carnivalesque moment in King Ubu , which Bakhtin believes to recognize in Rabelais' pentalogy (as a prime example of Carnivalesque literature). In view of the aggressively brought forward arbitrariness and excessive violence, King Ubu can only be read with reservations as an optimistic celebration of the “happy relativity of every order” (Bakhtin). Rather, in this piece we are dealing with a permanent reciprocal penetration of comedy, tragedy and grotesque, which by no means lacks a socially critical component and which often leaves the reader / viewer laughing in the throat.

Ubu in works by Alfred Jarry

  • Ubu roi , German: King Ubu , transl. v. M. and P. Pörtner, Zurich 1959
  • Ubu Cocu
  • Ubu enchaîné
  • Ubu sur la Butte
  • Les Almanachs du Père Ubu
  • Ubu intime

Ubu literary reception

  • Ambroise Vollard : La politique coloniale du Père Ubu: Croquis par Georges Rouault . Paris: Crès 1919.
  • Ambroise Vollard : Le Père Ubu à la guerre . Paris: Vollard 1923
  • Robert Florkin : Ubu pape: pièce en cinq actes. D'après une idée d'Alfred Jarry. Verviers: Ed. Temps Meles 1989
  • Robert Florkin: Ubu Dieu: pièce en cinq actes. Les Ateliers du TAYRAC, St. Jean du Bruel 2001
  • Patrick Rambaud : Ubu president: ou L'imposteur; farce justicière. Paris: Bourin 1990
  • Wole Soyinka : King Baabu. 2001
  • Peter Eckhart Reichel : Ubu Rex Saxonia - radio play based on the play King Ubu by Alfred Jarry. hoerbuchedition words & music, 2008, ISBN 978-3-9811778-7-9

Ubu reception in (visual) art

Ubu reception in music

  • Franz Hummel : King Übü , opera. Premiere March 11, 1984 Salzburg
  • Rusty Magee: Ubu Rock , Musical (Book: Andrei Belgrader, Shelley Berc). Premiere July 16, 1995 American Repertory Theater, Cambridge, Massachusetts
  • Krzysztof Penderecki : Ubu Rex , Opera buffa in two acts (1990–1991)
  • Bernd Alois Zimmermann : Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu - Ballet noir (1966, revised as a concert piece in 1968)
  • British avant-garde band Coil released an instrumental piece called Ubu Noir on their 1984 album Scatology .
  • The American rock band Pere Ubu named themselves after the main character of the play.
  • The Australian rock band Methyl Ethel called their 2017 single Ubu .

Radio play editing

literature

  • Judith Cooper: Ubu roi: An analytical study. New Orleans 1974
  • Elke Krumm: The figure of Ubu in Alfred Jarry's work. Cologne 1976
  • Jürgen Grimm: "The Jarrys Theater", In: Jürgen Grimm: The avant-garde theater of France. 1885-1930 , Munich 1982, pp. 269-300. ISBN 3-406-08438-9
  • Achim Schröder: Alfred Jarry "Ubu roi" 1896 and Guillaume Apollinaire "Les Mamelles de Tirésias" 1917. In: Konrad Schoell (ed.): French literature. 20th century: theater. Publishing house and series Stauffenburg Interpretation, Tübingen 2006 ISBN 3-86057-911-8

Web links

Wikisource: Ubu roi  - Sources and full texts (French)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Maurice Marc LaBelle: Alfred Jarry - Nihilism and the Theater of the Absurd , New York University Press: New York / London (1980), p. 100
  2. ↑ Fernando Arrabal: "El 'presidente-Ubu' y el 'retrete-gate'", El Mundo
  3. ↑ Christine Wahl: “ Ruepel's dream. “In: Tagesspiegel. May 24, 2008
  4. ↑ Excerpt from Nöbel: Jarry was one of the most noticeable artistic personalities of the Belle Époque. The fact that his work is more than a fashionable revolt is proven by its continuous reception ... Ubu is a primitive, cunning figure who unscrupulously asserts himself against society, or even installs it unrestrainedly in it. Jarry wanted to shock and caricature the bourgeois of his time with this antihero . "Introduction: Jarry - attempt at rapprochement; King Ubu; The deceased Ubu (final scene); Ubu in chains; Ubu cuckold. - About the play: Jarry's letters to Lugné-Poe ; Costume directory for "King Ubu"; Paralipomena zu Ubu; On the performance of the play; Jarry's speech at the premiere; Jarry's texts: Theatrical questions From the uselessness of theater in the theater. Answers to questions about dramatic art; Chat about puppets; Letter to Rachilde v. May 28, 1906; From the Almanacs: The Devil's Island ; The Automobile Festival; Confessions of a child of his time; Ubu in the colonies; Opinions of contemporaries: Paul Souday ; Lautent Teilhade ; Paul Fort , Guillaume Apollinaire , Rachilde, André Gide , Lugné -Poe ; William Butler Yeats , Jules Renard , Henry Fourier , Catulle Mendès , Henry Bauër , Arthur Symons , Romain Coolus , Arthur Eloesser , Henry Ghéon , Julien Torma , Julius Fučík , fr: Sylvain Itk ine , Pierre Audiat , Benjamin Crémieux , Jean Morienval André Rousseau , Angés Humbert , Theater am Geländer , Werner Mittenzwei , Rita Schober . A Ubu Chronicle; Bibliography. With illustrations; Cover v. Friederike Pondelik with the woodcut shown above
  5. ↑ Marilyn J. Plotkin: The American Repertory Theater reference book: the Brustein years ( s ), 1st Edition, Praeger, Westport, Connecticut in 2005, ISBN 0-313-28913-1 , pp 127-128. Archived from the original .
  6. ^ Ubu Rock ( en ) The American Repertory Theater (ART), Loeb Drama Center, Harvard University. 1995. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  7. ↑ Ubu Rock: Return Engagement ( en ) The American Repertory Theater (ART), Loeb Drama Center, Harvard University. 1996. Retrieved July 21, 2019.