Genet, Jean

(1910-1986)

   writer

   An important novelist and dramatist whose works, which dwell upon bizarre aspects of human existence, express profound rebellion against society and its conventions, Jean Genet was born in Paris, the illegitimate son of a prostitute. He was confined (unjustly) at age 10 for theft and from his early adolescence served a number of sentences for theft and homosexual prostitution, over a period of nearly 30 years. He joined the foreign legion in 1930 but deserted two years later. in 1947, after his 10th conviction for theft, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. in prison he continued his writing and publishing, while his literary reputation induced a group of leading French writers to petition for his pardon. it was granted by the president of the republic in 1948. Genet's first novel, an autobiographical work about homosexuality and life in the prison underworld, was Notre-Dame des fleurs (1943). Later novels include Le Journal du voleur (1949), Miracle de la rose (1946), and Pompes funèbres (1947). His prose is characterized by a mixture of lyricism and use of underworld jargon. in 1947, Genet began to write drama, the genre in which he had the greatest impact. With his first play, Les Bonnes (1947), he entered the movement known as the theater of the absurd. in the later plays, he used the techniques of role playing and inversion of good and evil to comment on the absurdity and hypocrisy of traditional values. Later in his career, Genet espoused the causes of such radical groups as the Black Panthers, the Palestine Liberation Front, and the Red Brigade. All of his works reveal his deep sympathy with the outcasts of society. He has been recognized as an existentialist dealing with the problem of identity and alienation and is regarded as one of the 20th century's most influential writers, points revealed in jean-paul sartre's study of Genet, Saint Genet, comédien et martyr (1952). Genet, who in 1983 was awarded the Grand Prix National des Lettres, left three unfinished works that were published after his death.