Surrealist Manifesto

The Surrealist Manifesto was written by the French writer André Breton and published in 1924. This document defines Surrealism as:

Related Topics:
French - Writer - André Breton - 1924 - Surrealism

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:Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express -- verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other manner -- the actual functioning of thought. Dictated by the thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern.

Related Topics:
Automatism - Reason

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The text includes numerous examples of the applications of Surrealism to poetry and literature, but makes it clear that the tenets of Surrealism can be applied in any circumstance of life, and is not merely restricted to the artistic realm. The importance of the dream as a reservoir of Surrealist inspiration is also highlighted.

Related Topics:
Surrealism

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Breton also discusses his initial encounter with the surreal in a famous description of a hypnagogic state that he experienced in which a strange phrase inexplicably appeared in his mind: There is a man cut in two by the window. This phrase echoes Breton's apprehension of Surrealism as the juxtaposition of two distant realities brought together to create a new, uncanny union.

Related Topics:
Hypnagogic state - Surrealism

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The manifesto also refers to the numerous precursors of Surrealism that embodied the Surrealist spirit prior to his composing the manifesto, including such luminaries as the Marquis de Sade, Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Lautréamont, Raymond Roussel, and even back as far as Dante.

Related Topics:
Marquis de Sade - Charles Baudelaire - Arthur Rimbaud - Lautréamont - Raymond Roussel - Dante

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The works of several of his contemporaries in developing the Surrealist style in poetry are also quoted, including texts by Philippe Soupault, Paul Eluard, Robert Desnos and Louis Aragon, among others.

Related Topics:
Philippe Soupault - Paul Eluard - Robert Desnos - Louis Aragon

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The manifesto was written with a great deal of absurdist humor, demonstrating the influence of the Dada movement which immediately preceded it in France, and in which Breton was also a key player.

Related Topics:
Absurdist - Dada - France

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The text concludes by asserting that Surrealist activity follows no set plan or conventional pattern, and that Surrealists are ultimately nonconformists.

Related Topics:
Surrealist - Nonconformist

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