Jean Genet: "Shocking but never vulgar"

Well, I love the internet for the ease with which we can find information. A question comes to mind, and I research, and I find something. Now, Carol-Sue and Susan, librarians extraordinaire, have been diligent in instructing students and teachers on how to find the most legitimate and accurate sources as possible. NOT WIKIPEDIA! This is said to contrast the way a few of our students are wont to simply take the first site that comes up on a Google search. By the way, the French use the verb "googler" as the equivalent of "to google". Fun!

Okay, this link provides a lovely summary by Bettina Knapp, professor of Romance Languages and Comparative Literatures at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) as found in the Groller Multimedia Encyclopedia.

http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Theatre/Genet/genet.shtml
I agreed with all of the summary until I got to the last sentence. Knapp writes: "His plays, always shocking but never vulgar, have been a powerful force in the renewal of modern drama."

Um, I agree with the fact that these plays "are a powerful force of renewal in modern drama," but "always shocking and never vulgar". Last night, two actors in Les Paravents farted (ooh, I said "farted". In French, "to fart" is "péter") the Marseillaise (French National Anthem)--well, they vocalized the sound one makes to imitate farting--they didn't really fart--Perhaps she meant it would have been vulgar if they had actually farted?

In Les Paravents Genet covers all of the bodily functions -- the ones middle schoolers love to talk (and laugh) about because they are so inappropriate in polite society. The screens...hmmm...usually, things happen behind screens, but Genet deliberately places the action in front the screen. I believe Genet, like Artaud, intended to transform audiences by shocking them with vulgarity.

When I think of Artaud and Genet, I think of the "Family Guy", an American animation program on prime time t.v. that is for adults (men fall apart for the humor), and adolescents enjoy it too. Similar, but a bit more outrageous, to the "Simpsons" or "South Park".