Pataphysical calendar
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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![Ubu Roi (King Ubu) is a play developed by Alfred Jarry premiered on December 10 1896, and is widely acknowledged as a theatrical precursor to the Absurdist, Dada and Surrealist art movements.](/images/thumb/200px-Véritable_portrait_de_Monsieur_Ubu,_par_Alfred_Jarry_(1896).png)
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The Pataphysical Calendar begins as a French student joke first perpetuated by Alfred Jarry, creator of fictional characters Père Ubu and Docteur Faustroll. The calendar was formatted similar to the contemporary French Catholic Calendar.
The first calendar was published by Jarry in L'Almanach du Père Ubu, illustré (Fasquelle, 1899) and was titled « calendrier du Père Ubu », Jarry later produced a second version also titled L'Almanach illustré du Père Ubu (Fasquelle, 1901), but is not until after Jarry's death in 1907, that the calendar is instated (1948) under the auspices of the Collège de ’Pataphysique which, in its statutes presents it like this:
Pataphysical calendar
The pataphysical calendar is a variation of the Gregorian calendar. The Collège de 'Pataphysique created the calendar in 1949. The pataphysical era (E.P.) started on Jarry's birthday, 8 September 1873 vulg. When converting pataphysical dates to Gregorian dates, the appendage (vulg.) for vulgate ("common") is added.
The week starts on a Sunday. Every 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd is a Sunday and every 13th day of a month falls on a Friday (see Friday the 13th). Each day is assigned a specific name or saint. For example, the 27 Haha (1 November vulg.) is called Template:Lang-fr or the 14 Sable (14 December vulg.) is the day of Template:Lang-fr.
The year has a total of 13 months each with 29 days. The 29th day of each month is imaginary with two exceptions:
- the 29 Gidouille (13 July vulg.) is always non-imaginary
- the 29 Gueules (23 February vulg.) is non-imaginary during leap years
The table below shows the names and order of months in a pataphysical year with their corresponding Gregorian dates and approximate translations or meanings by Hugill.
Month | Starts | Ends | Translation |
---|---|---|---|
Absolu | 8 September | 5 October | Absolute |
Haha | 6 October | 2 November | Ha Ha |
As | 3 November | 30 November | Skiff |
Sable | 1 December | 28 December | Sand or heraldic black |
Décervelage | 29 December | 25 January | Debraining |
Gueules | 26 January | 22/23 February | Heraldic red or gob |
Pédale | 23/24 February | 22 March | Bicycle pedal |
Clinamen | 23 March | 19 April | Swerve |
Palotin | 20 April | 17 May | Ubu's henchmen |
Merdre | 18 May | 14 June | Pshit |
Gidouille | 15 June | 13 July | Spiral |
Tatane | 14 July | 10 August | Shoe or being worn out |
Phalle | 11 August | 7 September | Phallus |
For example:
- 8 September 1873 (vulg.) = 1 Absolu 1
- 1 January 2000 (vulg.) = 4 Décervelage 127
- 10 November 2012 (vulg.)(Saturday) = 8 As 140 (Sunday)