Manifesto of Surrealism - Andre Breton

Surrealism

A 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.

A style of art and literature developed principally in the 20th century, stressing the subconscious or nonrational significance of imagery arrived at by automatism or the exploitation of chance effects, unexpected juxtapositions, etc.

“as beautiful as the chance meeting of an umbrella and a sewing machine upon a dissecting table”

(Breton, 1924: p. 241-242)

This is quite an interesting quote as at first it seems so random and out of the blue that it must have no significance or meaning, quite clearly the speaker is off their rocker. But if we think about it, a sewing machine is quite a dense mechanical machine, with lots of moving parts and interesting components in order to carry out a function which appears easy. The umbrella is a mundane, everyday object, but again, is a feat of engineering, its intriguing how something can change shape and functionality so quickly. So to have both these objects on a table, ready for dissection implies that we will learn how these objects work, and, quite possibly, create something new from their remains. There is a strong sense of intrigue and excitement in this quote, which is why I like it.

“Surrealism… was a melange of new insight and discoveries made elsewhere – part poaching, part paralleling, part passing – sur-passing as one might say”

(Breton, 1924: p.242)

(Melange meaning a varied mixture) Just before this quote, Breton draw parallels to surrealism, dadaism and futurism, so there is an understanding that surrealism is a combination of ideas, making something new. That surrealism takes ideas (poaching), mimics ideas (paralleling) and becomes arguably superior to the original idea (passing/surpassing). This concept of stealing ideas, mimicry and the presence of a superior is reminiscent of the ideas discussed in the cultural appropriation texts. Surrealism is claiming ideas as original when they actually came from other sources, is that stealing? Is that cultural appropriation?

Christopher Columbus should have set out to discover America with a boatload of madmen”

(Breton, 1925: p. 243)

Breton states that since insane people are not confined (or do not feel confined) by the social rules of society they can be the most honest of people. They are resilient for overcoming judgement and even punishment by others, and strong in accepting the fact that their madness, their imagination does not exist outside of themselves. The next line in the text reads 'And note how this madness has taken shape and endured.' which implies that Breton would be intrigued how a colony of 'madmen' would have survived and developed. 

“I have always been amazed at the way an ordinary observer lends to much more credence and attaches so much more importance to waking events than to those occurring in dreams”. 

(Breton, 1924: p. 244-245)

Dreams are written off as nonsense that we should not pay attention to, the waking world is of absolute truth compared to the unconscious world. The waking world has solid meaning but why do we not pay attention to the dream world? Why does its absurdity make it any less significant? New, original ideas often come from the subconscious, the free mind, unrestrained by a strongly held belief in what is true and real, or what we recognise. This can be useful in fashion, and may explain how random some collections appear.

“Why should I not expect from the sign of the dream more than I expect from a degree of consciousness which is daily more acute”

(Breton, 1924: p. 245)

In simple terms, Breton is asking why he shouldn't pay more attention to the significance of dreams than he does to reality. Acute meaning an unpleasant or unwelcome situation experienced to an intense/severe degree. So waking life is becoming more and more unbearable and unpleasant. The dream is a free medium for thought as it is not bound by rationality and reality, anything can happen, and the sensual experience is the most intense that we can comprehend. 

“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”

(Breton, 1924: p. 247). 

In this part of the text, Breton states his desire for the ability to analyse dreams, and allow reality and the unconscious to exist together, as neither reality or unconscious but as a surreality, since both are so opposing it would be logical to create a new, half way world. 

Bretons manifesto aims to show dreams in a positive light and prove their use, he lists famous, revolutionary inventions and discoveries as acts of absent mindedness and of delving into the surreal. Surrealism is the gap between reality and unconscious thought, both can exist in the same place, where thought is free and available to draw inspiration from and analyse.