Juan Emar is the pen name of the Chilean writer, artist and critic Álvaro Yáñez Bianchi (1893–1964). He was the son of politician, lawyer and journalist Eliodoro Yáñez. In Paris, he associated with the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

artists of the

Dadaist Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

and

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

movements. He published four books between 1935 and 1937 – ''Un año'', ''Miltín'', ''Ayer'' and ''Diez'' – but was met with critical indifference. His works were rediscovered after his death, and his reputation has grown in recent decades as a precursor of

modernist literature Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form a ...

in Latin America. He split his time between Santiago and Paris. ''Ayer'' has been published in English translation by

Peirene Press Peirene Press is an independent publishing house based in Bath. Established by the novelist and journalist Meike Ziervogel, Peirene publishes literary fiction in translation from all over the world. Their books are regularly listed for significa ...

. His magnum opus ''Umbral'', which totals over 4,000 pages in the Spanish edition, remains untranslated. The pseudonym Juan Emar derives from the French phrase "J'en ai marre", meaning "I'm fed up".

Works

* 1935 Ayer (novel) * 1935 Miltín 1934 (novel) * 1935 Un año ne Year(novel) * 1937 Diez (stories) * 1977-96 Umbral (novel) * 1988 Serie de los ventrudos mandibulares (sketches) * 1992 Jean Emar. Escritos de Arte (1923-1925) * 1999 Cartas a Carmen. Correspondencia entre Juan Emar y Carmen Yáñez (1957- 1963) * 2003 Notas de arte: Jean Emar en La Nación: 1923-1927 * 2006 Mi vida: diarios 1911-1917 * 2007 Cartas a Pépèche * 2011 Don Urbano (sketches) * 2014 Cavilaciones (essays) * 2014 Amor (novel) * 2017 Diarios de viaje (travel) * 2017 Regreso (novel)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emar, Juan 1893 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Chilean novelists 20th-century Chilean male writers Chilean art critics Chilean male novelists Chilean male short story writers Chilean surrealist writers Writers from Santiago, Chile 20th-century Chilean short story writers