Surrealism Texts
Primary and Secondary Resources for all your Surrealism Needs
Primary Resources
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The protagonist of this famous novella wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant bug.
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The speaker compares his wife's body to all kinds of strange things in this poem.
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In this Surrealist novel, written in ten day by the two authors, nothing makes sense.
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A poem by one of the original founders of Surrealism.
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This manifesto explains everything those Surrealists are up to.
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This collection of poetry is a great entryway in the work of one of the most important Surrealist poets.
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The speaker of this poem goes all mushy inside when he looks at his lover's eyes.
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A novel composed using automatic writing technique. Warning: it's quite trippy.
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This novel by Breton begins with the question: "Who am I?" and we'll be asking the very same question by the time we finish reading it.
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The Surrealist Manifesto rebooted.
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This poetry collection showcases Desnos' talent for automatic writing.
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This epic poem by Tzara is considered to be his greatest contribution to Surrealism.
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Here's a little poem in prose by Tristan Tzara. This poet loved to experiment with form.
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In Péret's poem about World War I, a veteran remembers eating rats during the battle of Verdun. Blegh.
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In this poem, the speaker mourns the occupation of France by the Nazis during World War II.
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The speaker of this poem is obsessed with liberty.
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This novel—in verse—includes Aragon's famous poem "The Red Poster."
Secondary Resources
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Here's a thorough introduction to the Surrealist movement. It's a great place to start.
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This collection of essays delves into the work of women Surrealists and focuses on gender issues within Surrealism.
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This scholarly study looks at how Parisian culture inspired Surrealism.
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This special issue of Yale French Studies journal focuses on how Surrealist writers related to each other and to others outside the movement.
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Surrealism explained via the French Revolution. Vive la France!