Jean Genet (1910 - 1986) was one of the most
influential and important writers of the 20th
Century. Born to a prostitute in France, Genet
endured an unhappy childhood before establishing a
short-lived career as a petty criminal. Ultimately,
Genet became known as a controversial writer of
formidable originality and frankness who excelled at
writing novels, plays, and poetry. Examining the
major novels and plays of Jean Genet, The Anti-
Aesthetics of Jean Genet illustrates the way in
which he inverts traditional aesthetic values to
champion negative themes such as ugliness,
criminality, and evil. This aesthetic inversion is
accomplished through Genet's fluid lyricism and
stylistic inventiveness. In addition to discussing
the influence of Genet's homosexuality on his body
of work, The Anti-Aesthetics of Jean Genet reveals
some of the atypical elements of his novels and
plays, along with the limitations of his anti-
aesthetics.
influential and important writers of the 20th
Century. Born to a prostitute in France, Genet
endured an unhappy childhood before establishing a
short-lived career as a petty criminal. Ultimately,
Genet became known as a controversial writer of
formidable originality and frankness who excelled at
writing novels, plays, and poetry. Examining the
major novels and plays of Jean Genet, The Anti-
Aesthetics of Jean Genet illustrates the way in
which he inverts traditional aesthetic values to
champion negative themes such as ugliness,
criminality, and evil. This aesthetic inversion is
accomplished through Genet's fluid lyricism and
stylistic inventiveness. In addition to discussing
the influence of Genet's homosexuality on his body
of work, The Anti-Aesthetics of Jean Genet reveals
some of the atypical elements of his novels and
plays, along with the limitations of his anti-
aesthetics.