Manifestoes of Surrealism

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

Breton argues, especially in his first manifesto, that modern society unfairly labels dreams as existing outside reality. He lays out specific reasons why dreams should be considered real and hopes to achieve a unification of waking and dreaming life that will give humanity access to a fuller picture of reality. Surrealist art and writing often mirrors the world of dreams for this reason.

“Language has been given to man so that he can make surrealist use of it.”

Breton believes that words are inherently surrealist, but because language has been corrupted, most people do not use it to its full potential. As a writer, Breton hopes to regain the ability to use language outside the confines of realistic prose. He criticizes writers who try too hard to reflect real life.

“Plain rain is divine; that is why when the storms shake their great ornaments over us, and throw us their purse, we make a vague gesture of revolt which is comparable only to the rustle of leaves in a forest.”

This quote highlights the naturalism and metaphor that dominate “Soluble Fish." Breton freely associates disparate images and themes to create a text that is both abstract but relatable. Often, the work anthropomorphizes nature with images such as that of the rain throwing its purse. Human resistance to natural forces is so minimal that it remains barely perceptible.

"The spring has gone through the city looking for a bit of shade.”

Like the previous quote, this passage shows the metaphoric language that defines Breton’s automatic writing. Spring is personified as a woman in search of respite from the sun. The subsequent paragraphs describe spring as a frustrated woman; women are often presented as symbols in Surrealist writing.

"To understand the movements that drove this dismal elevator, one must call upon some of one’s knowledge of astronomy.”

The “dismal elevator” in this passage refers to the passage of time. Breton describes his memories, which have become less clear as time has passed, and implies that time is somewhat meaningless outside its astronomical context.

"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.”

Included in the "Second Manifesto of Surrealism," this phrase is perhaps the most controversial line in all of Breton’s writing. He includes this sentence in his argument that Surrealism has no baseline morality; he represents the surreal here as being concerned only with rejecting the norms of society, not with right or wrong. The manifesto includes a footnote explaining that Breton does not believe that firing into a crowd is right; he means only that it is Surrealist.

"Everything remains to be done, every means must be worth trying, in order to pay waste to the ideas of family, country, religion.”

Surrealism as Breton envisions it is an inherently nonconformist movement. In the context of the early 20^thcentury, the Surrealists saw religious and nationalistic devotion as a dangerous path that would ultimately lead to fascism.

"I am, however, willing to accept that as a result of an error I am considered in the Communist Party to be one of the most undesirable intellectuals.”

Breton was thrown out of the French Communist Party in 1933. Instead of being upset by this, he believes it is a sign that Communism and Surrealism are at odds with each other. He believes modern communists are too conformist and are unwilling to accept any schools of thought beyond Marxism.

"The mind is not a weathervane: at least it is not merely a weathervane.”

In this phrase, Breton argues that it is impossible for someone to switch quickly among belief systems. Because of this, he rejects the idea that someone can instantly become a Surrealist simply because they have a desire to do so. The mind does not merely pivot as the wind blows.

"I do not believe there is any serious problem as far as Surrealism is concerned because it has suffered the loss of this individual or that, however brilliant, and especially in the case of the one who, after he has left the fold, is no longer whole and indicates by his every action that he is desirous of returning to normality.”

After a decade of Surrealism, Breton thought that many Surrealists had abandoned the movement's original goals. He encourages such “dissidents” to leave at will because to be a Surrealist, one must embrace every aspect of the movement.

"Man, who would wrongly allow himself to be intimidated by a few monstrous historical failures, is still free to believe in his freedom.”

Freedom of thought includes the right to believe that one is free. Breton posits that once people believe they have freedom, they will be freer in reality, as they will not be worried about the implications of their actions on wider society.

"His imagination is a theater in ruins, a baleful perch for parrots and crows.”

This phrase from “A Letter to Seers” describes the conventional man. In contrast to the female seer, he is so concerned with retaining his place in society and making money that he abandons his natural will to be creative. Like much of Breton’s writing, the phrase uses animal metaphors to convey its point.

"Mesdames, today my mind is wholly on your disgrace.”

“A Letter to Seers” shows Breton’s concern for the practice of mysticism. He believes that men like the ones referenced in the preceding quote condemned mystics to a marginal life that is not taken seriously by much of humanity. The seers' gifts are not valued in a world that is anchored to realism and capitalism.

"Time is certain: already the man that I will be has the man that I am by the throat, but the man that I have been leaves me in peace.”

Part of Breton’s argument in “A Letter to Seers” concerns the relative positions of the past and present. Breton believes that he, like the mystics, can see into the future because he can predict how things in his life will play out based on past events.

"Give us stones, brilliant stones, to drive off the infamous priest.”

Breton calls for the seers to work with the Surrealists against the mass conformity that threatens society. Neither priests nor seers can be proven to have actual powers, and a seer has as much right to influence society as a priest does. Yet priests and the major religions are widely accepted, while seers are viewed as charlatans or mentally ill.

"Before being a moral conscience, the conscience is a psychological conscience.”

Breton believes that morality is based within the brain, and modern art should reflect this. He rejects the idea that morality has a basis in religion, government, or family values, and he believes that people who hold that morality is dependent on outside influence are simply trying to force people to adhere to their own version of conformity.

"There are still a great many of us in the world who think that putting poetry and art in the exclusive service of an idea, however much that idea moves us to enthusiasm by itself, would be to condemn them in a very short time to being immobilized, and amount to sidetracking them.”

Despite Surrealism's being a revolutionary movement, Breton does not think that Surrealist art should include direct political or ideological content. Reducing ideology to aesthetics, he believes, undermines the seriousness of revolutionary thought and distracts people from the real goals of radical politics.

"In these conditions, thus, art is no longer a question of the creation of a personal myth, but rather, with Surrealism, of the creation of a collective myth.”

Breton worries that Surrealism has gone too far in the direction of exploring the individual minds of its practitioners. Instead, the movement should work collectively. In this way, the Surrealist myth will be able to compete with other myths that govern society, such as religion and nationalism.

"Here is France about to be able to put on airs as the elder sister of the Soviet Republic, and by that I mean airs as its protector: French imperialism needed only this mask to become even more insolent.”

Breton is highly critical of French politics. He writes that France still superficially considers itself a revolutionary country, although it quickly abandoned the ideals of its own revolutionaries shortly after the war was over. By supporting the Soviet Union in the conflicts of the 1930s and 1940s, France hides its own colonial reality behind a veneer of supporting leftism.

"From where we stand, we maintain that the activity of interpreting the world must continue to be linked with the activity of changing the world.”

In a speech in 1935, Breton addresses his fellow writers with a call to serious political action. The Surrealists, he says, are committed to promoting revolutionary ideas through their works, and other writers should share this commitment if they hope to have any influence over the growing social upheaval.

"Perhaps the greatest danger threatening Surrealism today is the fact that because of its spread throughout the world, which was very sudden and rapid, the word found favor much faster than the idea and all sorts of more or less questionable creations tend to pin the Surrealist label on themselves.”

Breton believes that only artists who commit themselves fully to Surrealist ideas should be called Surrealists. As the movement became popular, the label was applied to any art with surreal themes. The core group of Surrealists worried that this would undermine the goals of their work.

"Thus the whole technical effort of Surrealism, from its very beginning up to the present day, has consisted in multiplying the ways we penetrate the deepest layers of the mental.”

Breton maintains that Surrealism has always been and will always be an exploration of the unconscious. Any artist who rejects this idea is not really a Surrealist, even if their work appears to be surreal.

"I find myself obliged, as I did in my youth, to take a public stand against every type of conformism and in so doing attack as well a Surrealist conformism that is all too obvious.”

In the movement's later years, conventions began to dominate Surrealist art. As a radical nonconformist, Breton rejects this trend. He believes that conformity is inherently contradictory to Surrealism, as Surrealist works are generated from the subconscious.