Revolution in Surrealism
Revolution in Surrealism
The Surrealists were revolutionary writers. That is, they felt that there was something seriously wrong with the society in which they lived. That society, remember, had just come out of World War I, a war that had resulted in the brutal deaths of millions and millions of people. Nothing more surreal than mass death, eh?
According to the Surrealists, a society that was capable of so much destruction was definitely corrupted. And so part of their mission was to revolutionize society. They felt that literature—specifically Surrealist literature, of course—was capable of giving people new perspectives both on themselves and on their society. Surrealist literature was a way to escape the old, corrupted ways of thought (which had led to so much dang destruction) and to enter new ways of thought: ways of thought that would be more productive, rather than destructive.
Chew On This
Tristan Tzara's "Poem for a Dress" is revolutionary both in terms of form and imagery.
The speaker's body is shattered and born anew in Antonin Artaud's poem "Who am I?" It's all symbolic of revolution, of course.