Absurdism A term created by theatre critic Martin Esslin in his 1961 book, The Theatre of the Absurd, to encompass a wide range of works produced in the two decades after World War II which seem to dramatize Albert Camusâ philosophical position in Le Mythe de Sisyphe (1942), translated as The Myth of Sisyphus (2005), that life is inherently absurd. Esslin identified Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, and Arthur Adamov, later adding Harold Pinter to the list, as authors whose work typifies what he means by absurd. Although the work of these authors varies quite widely, it shares in common the creation of impossible situations, wordplay, and a pervasive but indefinable sense of menace coupled with seemingly random explosions of violence. The absurd is closely related to the work of the catharsis and Surrealism; it also claims Alfred Jarryâs notion of âpataphysics and Artaud, Antoninâs Theatre of Cruelty as its precursors. Although the term was originally conceived to describe theatrical productions, its use has grown more general to encompass a wide range of texts sharing the same qualities. Outside the theatre, the work of Czech writer Franz Kafka would certainly qualify as Absurdist, as would the work of Polish author Witold Gombrowicz. But it is not just a literary or âhigh artâ phenomenon. Today, one could point to The Simpsons and South Park as continuing examples of what Absurdism might mean. Certainly, Homer Simpsonâs great line âItâs funny because itâs trueâ is utterly Absurdist in spirit.