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Manifestoes of Surrealism

by André Breton, Richard Seaver (Translator), Helen R. Lane (Translator), Helen Lane (Translation)

3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 · rating details · 859 ratings · 33 reviews

Presents the essential ideas of the founder of French surrealism

Paperback, 320 pages

Published June 15th 1969 by University of Michigan Press (first published 1924)

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Jul 16, 2011 Henry added it

Shelves: philosophy, theory-criticism, poets-prose

striking a spark from two images; longer spark from rarer gases gives greater fugue
"desired suddenness from certain associations" (41, first Manifesto)

series of events run parallel to real events; our ideals & expectations & revisions as we live

"In the final analysis, it's not such a bad thing for these images to upset the mind, for to upset the mind is to put it in the wrong." (39)

"Surrealism, such as I conceive of it, asserts our complete nonconformism clearly enough so that there can...more striking a spark from two images; longer spark from rarer gases gives greater fugue
"desired suddenness from certain associations" (41, first Manifesto)

series of events run parallel to real events; our ideals & expectations & revisions as we live

"In the final analysis, it's not such a bad thing for these images to upset the mind, for to upset the mind is to put it in the wrong." (39)

"Surrealism, such as I conceive of it, asserts our complete nonconformism clearly enough so that there can be no question of translating it, at the trial of the real world, as evidence for the defense. It could, on the contrary, only serve to justify the complete state of distraction which we hope to achieve here below. Kant's absentmindedness regarding women, Pasteur's absentmindedness about 'grapes,' Curie's absentmindedness with respect to vehicles, are in this regard profoundly symptomatic. This world is only very relatively in tune with thought, and incidents of this kind are only the most obvious episodes of a war in which I am proud to be participating. Surrealism is the 'invisible ray' which will one day enable us to win out over our opponents. 'You are no longer trembling, carcass.' This summer the roses are blue; the wood is of glass. The earth, draped in its verdant cloak, makes as little impression upon me as a ghost. It is living and ceasing to live that are imaginary solutions. Existence is elsewhere." (47)

"The attitude of Surrealism toward nature is governed above all by its initial conception of the poetic 'image.' It is common knowledge that Surrealism saw in it the means of obtaining, most often under conditions of complete relaxation of the mind rather than complete concentration, certain incandescent flashes linking two elements of reality belonging to categories that are so far removed from each other that reason would fail to connect them and that require a momentary suspension of the critical attitude in order for them to be brought together. From the moment that one has come upon its mode of generation and become conscious of its inexhaustible resources, this extraordinary network of sparks leads the mind to have a less opaque image of the world and of itself. The mind then proves to itself, fragmentarily of course, but at least by itself, that 'everything above is like everything below' and everything inside is like everything outside. The world thereupon seems to be like a cryptogram which remains indecipherable only so long as one is not thoroughly familiar with the gymnastics that permit one to pass at will from one piece of apparatus to another. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the metaphor, which enjoys every freedom in Surrealism, leaves far behind the sort of (prefabricated) analogy that . . . It should be understood that it is not a question of increasing one's speed and agility in a vain spirit of improving one's technique, but rather of becoming the master of the one and only conductive electricity so that the relationships that one wishes to establish may truly be of some consequence." (302-3, On Surrealism in Its Living Works)

As for the core of the problem, which is that of the relationship between the human mind and the sensory world, Surrealism is here of the same mind as such thinkers as Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin and Schopenhauer, in the sense that it believes, as they did, that we must 'seek to understand nature through ourselves and not ourselves through nature.' " (303)

"The most effective means he has of doing this [reconnoiter what surrounds him] is poetic intuition. This intuition, finally unleashed by Surrealism, seeks not only to assimilate all known forms but also boldly to create new forms--that is to say, to be in a position to embrace all the structures of the world, manifested or not. It alone provides the thread that can put us back on the road of Gnosis as knowledge of suprasensible Reality, 'invisibly visible in an eternal mystery.' " (304)(less)

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Dec 02, 2012 Branden William rated it 5 of 5 stars

"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." (Second Manifesto of Surrealism, 1930) Regardless of any political controversy concerning the Manifesto of Surrealism (1929)-- ignoring the countless pros and cons argued among pseudo-surrealists, academic dabblers, and bourgeois journalists, regarding its validity-- it is obvious that, independent of this controversy and bad press ("The...more "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." (Second Manifesto of Surrealism, 1930) Regardless of any political controversy concerning the Manifesto of Surrealism (1929)-- ignoring the countless pros and cons argued among pseudo-surrealists, academic dabblers, and bourgeois journalists, regarding its validity-- it is obvious that, independent of this controversy and bad press ("The only bad press is no press at all," as they say), the human adventure continued to take place with risks and perils, according to the whims of the imagination, which along causes real things. Contrary to prevalent misdefinitions, surrealism is not an aesthetic doctrine, nor a philosophical system, nor a mere literary or artistic school. Surrealism is an unrelenting revolt against a civilization that reduces all human aspiration to market values, religious impostures, universal boredom and misery. More specifically, surrealism aims to reduce the contradictions between sleeping and waking, dreaming and action, reason and madness, the conscious and the unconscious, the individual and society, the subjective and the objective. It aims to free the imagination from the mechanisms of psychic and social repression. Isidore Ducasse, comte de Lautréamont, whose influence on Surrealism has been profound, foredefined the surrealist ambition with an incomparable maxim: "Poetry must be made by all. Not by one."

Personally, I carry around my own copy of Manifestoes of Surrealism, and quote from it daily. Manifestoes underlying complete noncomformism-- where still to-day-- no intellectual movement has equalled that of surrealism. Aggressive and unrelenting, surrealism is a total revolt, and more importantly, a way of life. Breton's manifestoes will forever remain unparalleled, aiming at no less than the total transformation of man and the word. The Manifestoes of Surrealism are holy documents for initiate. Not more can be said, as even attempting to paraphrase Breton's words would prove to be no less than arbitrary...(less)

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Dec 28, 2009 Luscinnia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

Wie bei (fast) jeder vorhergehenden Unilektüre, hab ich auch dieses Werk (noch) nicht ganz gelesen.
Es war ein wenig mühsam und entweder weicht mein Hirn langsam auf oder der Mensch drückt sich zu kompliziert aus. Vieles hab ich irgendwie nicht richtig erfassen können und somit nicht verstehen können. Für meine Hausarbeit werde ich aber meine Nase nochmal in das Buch stecken müssen. Aber erstmal gönn ich mir ein paar Tage Weihnachtsferien ohne Unikram :)

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May 14, 2012 Pierre E. Loignon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: litterature

Le surréalisme, comme le romantisme, c’est la manifestation d’un désespoir qui n’est pas suffisamment naïf pour trouver son refuge et sa consolation dans l’atmosphère artistique, mais qui ne pousse pas suffisamment la réflexion existentielle au point d’en sortir et va plutôt tenter de tout y faire entrer.
Alors que l’immédiat artistique atteint son paroxysme lorsque s’impose magistralement la réalité d’une image originale qu’un individu exceptionnel parvient à extérioriser dans une extase génial...more Le surréalisme, comme le romantisme, c’est la manifestation d’un désespoir qui n’est pas suffisamment naïf pour trouver son refuge et sa consolation dans l’atmosphère artistique, mais qui ne pousse pas suffisamment la réflexion existentielle au point d’en sortir et va plutôt tenter de tout y faire entrer.
Alors que l’immédiat artistique atteint son paroxysme lorsque s’impose magistralement la réalité d’une image originale qu’un individu exceptionnel parvient à extérioriser dans une extase géniale, l’immédiat surréaliste est une fuite rageuse de la réalité qui revendique aussi bien le rêve : « L’homme, ce rêveur définitif, de jour en jour plus mécontent de son sort » (p.11), que la destruction violente et gratuite en tant que mode d’existence : « L’acte surréaliste le plus simple consiste, revolvers aux poings, à descendre dans la rue et à tirer au hasard, tant qu’on peut, dans la foule » (p.78) et sa réflexion ne se fera jamais autrement qu’en tant que réaction contre les critiques externes, les courants de pensées concurrents et les défections.
D’autre part, si on s’attarde au cas de Breton, on s’aperçoit que sa subjectivité entre constamment en conflit avec l’idéal surréaliste qu’il a fondé et voulu défendre. Par exemple, on voit mal pourquoi un mouvement qui affirme la primauté du rêve devrait être athée et matérialiste, surtout lorsque la « magie » et l’« esprit » sont évoqués comme repères intellectuels et que la réalité socio-économique est complètement ignorée par le mouvement.
Ceci dit, malgré l’absence de véritable originalité du mouvement (qui répète de manière plus violente et plus pauvre ce que l’on trouvait déjà chez les romantiques), malgré toutes les incohérences, les bizarreries et maladresses dans l’expression de ces manifestes, ils ne manquent pas leur effet lorsqu’il s’agit de servir, comme l’écriture nietzschéenne, de digestif efficace et agréable à celui qui a beaucoup à digérer.
(less)

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Apr 19, 2011 Amandine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 20e-et-21e-siècles, essais-manifestes-etc

Lu le Manifeste du Surréalisme de 1924: intéressant, bien que j'aie parfois eu l'impression qu'il laissait aller sa pensée et en perdait quelque peu le fil de son exposé auquel il se raccrochait ensuite tant bien que mal. J'ai surtout apprécié lire la façon dont il a "découvert" l'écriture automatique et ses conseils à ceux qui voudraient s'y essayer. Ce qui m'a déplu, surtout au début, est son ton de "juge" face à l'attitude réaliste: j'ai lu plusieurs manifestes et, même en s'opposant à tel ou...more

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Jun 01, 2009 Dave Cullen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This greatly colored my perception of art. The best art manifesto I've ever read.

(Oddly, the surrealist concept seems to work in many of the visual fields, but not lit. God, did it fail in writing. Doesn't hold up well in narrative.)

Also, oddly, I felt that the first fully-realized surrealist film came decades later, and was not generally seen as part of the movement, but in my opinion, that's what it was at heart: Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge!" This is what Dali and Bunel were shooting for, nev...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Zach added it

the first one is brilliant

the second one refines this brilliance to some degree but is also intellectually bogged down by a lot of invective about people Breton got into fights with. less a refining than a defense of his initial ideas

"soluble fish" has a passing beauty to it but is impossible to finish

the third one dips into conspiracy theorist range

if breton's "manifestoes" proves anything above all else, it's that any idea, no matter how interesting, becomes incredibly uninteresting upon conta...more

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Mar 19, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have been rereading this with my students and I find much to enjoy here. Sometimes Breton is a blowhard, sure, but isn't that part of the pleasure? The "Before/After" section is priceless in that regard. But sometimes Breton speaks good sense, as when he defends the free practice of art as against ideology to a conference of the communist party.

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Jul 16, 2010 Matthew DeCostanza rated it 3 of 5 stars

the prose pieces are grating and often pointless but his essays and commentaries are interesting and mildly enlightening. plus, this edition is gorgeously printed in a newspaper-like style with artistic fonts and blotchy over-inked transition graphics that bring to mind iron embroidery.

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Feb 28, 2013 Sarah Schantz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anyone studying Surrealism or Dada must read this book. It is after all the manifesto. Thank you Elizabeth Robinson for teaching a wonderful class that not only introduced me to this book, but most importantly to Leonora Carrington.

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Jan 08, 2011 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, french

While the first manifesto and automatic writing examples are entertaining, the name calling and attempts to act as if an artistic movement was Breton's pet movement to control totally expose him as a colossal humbug.

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Sep 07, 2007 علی rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: theories

بخش هایی از این کتاب سال ها پیش توسط رضا سید حسینی به فارسی ترجمه شده است.
.
تا چند روز پیش (سپتامبر 2007) نمی دانستم که این کتاب به تمامی توسط عبدالله کوثری ترجمه شده. در بین کتاب های تازه ای که به همت دوستی نازنین برایم رسیده، این ترجمه که چند سال پیش چاپ شده، برایم جالب بود. این سرگذشت سوررئالیسم از 1919 به بعد، به زبان یکی از بنیان گذاران این مکتب است و کار عبدالله کوثری در ترجمه ی اثر قابل ستایش است. خواندن سرگذشت نیم قرن جنبش سوررئالیسم و فراز و نشیب هایش از زبان آندره برتون و با ترجمه ی کوث...more

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May 31, 2012 George rated it 5 of 5 stars

These manifestos lay out the politics of the movement better than any of Breton's interpreters, who keep proliferating the cliched that he was "the pop of surrealism."

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Aug 01, 2009 Chris Feldman rated it 5 of 5 stars

addressed only as Goku in mute swans are not native to the Kromme Rijn (Crooked Rhine) branches off, and an internet tutoring utility for learning and practicing its feminine form and everything else.

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Feb 16, 2012 Yves Panis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Bon pas fastoche mais très intéressant...J'ai pas compris tout les mots pour être honnête...

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Aug 29, 2012 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very confusing automatic surrealist poems, the foundation of the surrealist art movement

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Aug 22, 2012 Päivi Brink rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: french

The book I read was just the First Manifesto of Surrealism by Breton.

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Jun 04, 2012 Jill added it

Except I read "Les manifestes du surréalisme"

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Apr 24, 2013 Dana Harju added it · review of another edition

SO HARD
A V HARD BOOK

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Aug 16, 2012 Jimmy added it

sure, dude, whatever.

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Sep 07, 2011 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-a-class

Okay, "read" is a strong way to put this. Read the first two manifestos and part of Soluble Fish, with the intention to return to it. Onto The Metamorphosis!

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Jul 30, 2011 Dorian Neerdael rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ce livre est, à coup sûr, le livre le plus décevant que j'ai jamais lu.
André Breton y explique finalement fort peu la théorie du surréalisme, et la diversité de ses pratiques. Il se contente de formuler dans ses deux manifestes un ramassis de détails, de conflits de personne et de basses informations. Ceci sans compter les notes de bas de page, d'une longueur proprement interminable.

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Jan 09, 2009 Christiana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Read Soluable Fish.

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Dec 26, 2011 Patrik Sampler rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Very important.

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Apr 17, 2013 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars

8.5/10

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Jan 25, 2009 Ann White rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays, surrealist

See my review at my blog: http://tawhite123.wordpress.com/2009/...

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Jun 10, 2008 Darren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Whether Breton is to receive the largest thanks or not, due to a microcosm of zeitgeist, Surrealism has a name, a credo, edicts, catalogued respiration, and beautiful folly. May yachts grow complex, adulterous, arch, and silly personalities as we inaugurate the next 1,326 years in random order. Thanks!

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Feb 14, 2013 Hobbes rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: montrouge, abandonn

Lu le premier manifeste uniquement. Intéressant, pas toujours tout compris (Breton a tendance à se répéter de manière plus ou moins claire à mon goût). Et on voit bien qu'il imagine des implications révolutionnaires au-delà de l'art comme ces crimes commis en "actes automatiques".

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May 28, 2008 Tedb0t rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fuckingweird, poetry

I admit it: I borrowed this from the FAC Architecture Library and never gave it back, because the binding was so perfectly aged and worn. I paid them for a replacement... but I got what I wanted.

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Jul 12, 2007 Wavegenerator rated it 5 of 5 stars

A somewhat difficult read, but this is the quintessential statement of the surrealists' position regarding the philosophy of art and thought.

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About André Breton

André Breton was a French writer, poet, and surrealist theorist, and is best known as the principal founder of Surrealism. His writings include the Surrealist Manifesto (Manifeste du surréalisme) of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism".

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Quotes from Manifestoes of Surrealism

“I believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality, if one may so speak.” — 9 people liked it

“There are fairy stories to be written for adults. Stories that are still in a green state.” — 7 people liked it

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