Breton and the Surrealist Split pt. 2

"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."
-Andre Breton, Second Manifesto of Surrealism

When I envision Andre Breton writing Second Manifesto of Surrealism, I picture him enraged and constantly shaking his head and cursing those he excommunicated. Around 1928, while enduring a year of fellow surrealists (such as Pierre Naville) whispering in his ear, Breton gets the itch for revolution. After writing to his surrealist friends and asking “for an account of their present ideological position with a view to individual or collective action,” Breton doesn’t receive the feedback he has been hoping for (Nadeau 155). Rather than hear from serious surrealists and those willing to “accept the established order, install oneself in that order, and finally put oneself in the service of the enemy,” Breton gets NADA-ZIP-ZILCH (Nadeau 158). Right off the bat he counters such disappointing responses in his second manifesto written in 1930, where he critiques the general population for its “lethargy” and submissive behavior towards “higher authorities” (Second Manifesto of Surrealism 120). (He must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed!) Essentially, in this manifesto he proposes to create a collective action (towards communism) and asks those who he has not already excommunicated to prove their commitment to the movement. It seems as if Breton is bored with his exploration of the psyche and becomes obsessed with “the question of the social regime under which we live” (Second Manifesto of Surrealism 139). It is important to note that Breton isn’t proposing to abandon surrealism, but rather to “orient surrealism in the direction of revolutionary action” (Nadeau 131). It is his support for the communist party that I believe to be the main cause of “the split”. After listing names and pointing fingers (a specific finger if you catch my drift) at those who he felt were disloyal to surrealism, he goes a bit further on his lengthy tangent (also known as the Second Manifesto) by stating, “I would like to make it very clear that in my opinion it is necessary to hold the cult of men in deep distrust” (Second Manifesto of Surrealism 127). Lexi’s post will dive deep into Breton’s involvement with the idea of paranoia, however, this quote epitomizes the divide between Breton and fellow thinkers at the time. Between the first and second manifesto, Breton asks his peers to channel their surrealist thoughts, art and writing towards a cause-the communist revolution. When faced with little support, he lashes back with the Second Manifesto of Surrealism somewhat declaring, “If you aren’t with us-you’re against us!”

Bringing parts 1 and 2 of this blog post full circle, a key difference in regards to Dadaism and Surrealism are their roles as movements. Dadaists are deconstructionists, meaning they aim to break down (societal) boundaries. Surrealists on the other hand, specifically Andre Breton, view themselves as constructionists. When I say constructionists I am referencing Andre Breton’s focus on the need to define a moral constant to develop an avant-garde transformation. I hate to admit it, but I find his ambition admirable (how many of us will have written multiple manifestos by the age of 30?). However, his ideas are expressed in a hypocritical, vague and immature manner. Who is Andre Breton to label my thoughts as “limited”? Isn’t he stifling his unconscious with his meticulously thought out manifestoes? In my opinion, his excommunication in his Second Manifesto of Surrealism is a mode of self-rationalization that lacks reason (how fitting for a surrealist!).

FIN

-Alexa Hankard

Works Cited:

Breton, Andre. Manifestoes of Surrealism. N.p.: Ann Arbor, 1972. Print.

Nadeau, Maurice. The History of Surrealism. New York: Macmillan, 1965. Print.

Witkovsky, Matthew S. "Dada Breton." Dada 105 (2003): 125-36. JSTOR. The MIT Press. Web.

*All images were found on Google. I do not claim them as my own.*