Surrealist Manifesto 826399 222054379 2008-06-27T10:02:28Z Edward 4261 link [[collective action]] {{Surrealism infobox}} Two '''Surrealist Manifestos''' ([[French language|French:]] '''''Le Manifeste du Surréalisme''''') were issued by the [[Surrealism|Surrealist movement]], in 1924 and 1929, respectively. The first was written by [[André Breton]], the second was supervised by him. Breton drafted a third Surrealist Manifesto, which was never issued. ==First manifesto== The first Surrealist manifesto was written by the [[France|French]] [[writer]] [[André Breton]] in [[1924]] and released to the public [[1925]]. The document defines [[Surrealism]] as: :''Psychic [[surrealist automatism|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.'' 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. 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. 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 Alighieri|Dante]]. The works of several of his contemporaries in developing the Surrealist style in poetry are also quoted, including texts by [[Philippe Soupault]], [[Paul Éluard]], [[Robert Desnos]] and [[Louis Aragon]], among others. 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. The text concludes by asserting that [[Surrealist]] activity follows no set plan or conventional pattern, and that Surrealists are ultimately [[nonconformist]]s. Signers of the manifesto included [[Louis Aragon]], [[Antonin Artaud]], [[Jacques Baron]], [[Joe Bousquet]], [[Jacques-André Boiffard]], [[Jean Carrive]], [[Rene Crevel]], [[Robert Desnos]], [[Paul Éluard]], [[Max Ernst]], and [[André Breton|Breton]]. ===Quotations=== * "I could spend my whole life prying loose the secrets of the insane. These people are honest to a fault, and their naiveté has no peer but my own." * "We are still living under the reign of logic: this, of course, is what I have been driving at. But in this day and age logical methods are applicable only to solving problems of secondary interest." * "Let us not mince words: the marvelous is always beautiful, anything marvelous is beautiful, in fact only the marvelous is beautiful." * "Surrealism will usher you into death, which is a secret society. It will glove your hand, burying therein the profound M with which the word Memory begins." * "Surrealism does not allow those who devote themselves to it to forsake it whenever they like. There is every reason to believe that it acts on the mind very much as drugs do; like drugs, it creates a certain state of need and can push man to frightful revolts." * "In this realm as in any other, I believe in the pure Surrealist joy of the man who, forewarned that all others before him have failed, refuses to admit defeat, sets off from whatever point he chooses, along any other path save a reasonable one, and arrives wherever he can." * "It is living and ceasing to live which are imaginary solutions. Existence is elsewhere." ==Second manifesto== In 1929 Breton asked Surrealists to assess their "degree of moral competence", and along with other theoretical refinements issued the ''Second manifeste du surréalisme''. The proclaimation excluded Surrealists reluctant to commit to [[collective action]]: [[Michel Leiris|Leiris]], [[Limbour]], [[Morise]], [[Jacques Baron|Baron]], [[Raymond Queneau|Queneau]], [[Jacques Prévert|Prévert]], [[Robert Desnos|Desnos]], [[André Masson|Masson]] and [[Jacques-André Boiffard|Boiffard]]. They moved to the periodical ''[[Documents (journal)|Documents]]'', edited by [[Georges Bataille]], whose anti-idealist materialism produced a hybrid Surrealism exposed the base instincts of humans.<ref name=grove>Dawn Ades, with Matthew Gale: "Surrealism", ''The Oxford Companion to Western Art''. Ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford University Press, 2001. Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, 2007. Accessed March 15, 2007, http://www.groveart.com/</ref><ref name="pompidou">[http://www.cnac-gp.fr/education/ressources/ENS-Surrealistart-EN/ENS-Surrealistart-EN.htm Surrealist Art] from [[Centre Pompidou]]. Accessed March 20, 2007</ref> ===Quotations=== * "The simplest Surrealist act consists of dashing down into the street, pistol in hand, and firing blindly, as fast as you can pull the trigger, into the crowd." ==Third manifesto== Breton drafted a third manifesto which was never issued. ==See also== *[[Art manifesto]] ==References== <references/> Brenton Art manifesto ==External links== *[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/F98/SurrealistManifesto.htm Andre Breton's Surrealist Manifesto] *[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/SurManifesto/ManifestoOfSurrealism.htm The Manifesto of Surrealism (1924)] *[[wikilivres:Surrealist_Manifesto|Complete text of the ''Surrealist Manifesto'']] [[Category:Surrealism|Manifesto]] [[Category: Art manifestos]] [[eo:Manifesto de la Superrealismo]] [[fr:Manifeste du surréalisme]] [[ka:სიურრეალისტური მანიფესტი]] [[pl:Manifest surrealizmu]] [[pt:Manifesto Surrealista]] [[fi:Surrealismin manifesti]] [[tr:Sürrealizm Manifestosu]]