Absurdism, a term used originally to describe a violation of the rules of logic, uses various genre to express the failure of traditional values to fulfill man's spiritual and emotional needs.

Philosophy

The Danish philosopher Sooren Kierkegaard first used the term absurd in its modern sense to describe Christianity because no one could comprehend or justify it according to rational principles, rather Christianity had to be accepted through a Aleap of faith,@ a concept further developed by the German existentialist Martin Heidegger.  Other existentialists used absurdism to describe the seemingly pointlessness of life (Sartre), to show the distance between what one intends and what one does (Camus), to demonstrate that reality is always an obstacle in the way of one=s dreams (Jaspers).  All of these ideas are significant themes in various dramas in the Theatre of the Absurd.  In the visual world of art, the techniques and philosophies of DADAISM and SURREALISM are varieties of ABSURDISM.