Manifestoes of Surrealism

Chapter 7 includes the texts of three speeches given by Breton in 1935. He prefaces the chapter with a nostalgic look back at the early days of the Soviet Union, an era when, in his view, the Socialists' dream of that country seemed stable and genuine. The intellectual Socialists worked hand in hand with the working class to analyze the failures and successes of the movement and determine how the revolution should proceed in the future. Breton believes that early Socialist movements were truly movements of the people and created new ideas that would bring about genuine social change. By 1935, however, he sees the Soviet Union as a country with top-down leadership similar to that of every capitalist country. He states that the Socialists there are determined to follow every whim of the Soviet leaders, relying on them to tell the rest of the world's adherents to their views what to do and think. To Breton, this makes no sense. He believes that socialists should embrace their right to think for themselves and that “this contemplative, ecstatic attitude is totally irreconcilable with the revolutionary sentiment” (209). The introduction concludes by stating that Breton no longer feels that Surrealism has a specifically socialist impetus; instead, it should be “a method of creating a collective myth with the much more general movement involving the liberation of man” (210).

“Political Position of Today’s Art," a speech given in Prague, attempts to reconcile the place of artists and other intellectuals within the leftist movement. Breton defines modern society as a competition between “night” and “day," two forces within society with many similar aspects but entirely different eventual outcomes. In both realities, society as a whole recognizes its need to transform. In Breton’s “night," however, capitalist forces co-opt this desire for change and convince the masses to fight for causes that ultimately enrich a small minority while continuing to exploit the proletariat. In contrast to this is “day," which Breton defines as everyday people’s ability and drive to take control of their own destiny. Breton urges fellow avant-garde artists to fully commit themselves to their leftist ideals and to the idea that achieving a societal “day” is possible even in the face of massive opposition. He also urges artists and art critics to recognize which artists are truly committed to revolution and which ones acquired a revolutionary label without any real commitment to leftist ideas. Their art must influence political change, or they must abandon the idea that they are leftists. Since their art is naturally open to many interpretations and is becoming increasingly popular, the right will unrelentingly try to claim it as their own. Thus, artists should not make art for mere entertainment and should not allow their work to be shown in any exhibitions organized by right-wing governments.

In “Speech to the Congress of Writers,” Breton extends this belief to the written word, explaining that writers have a duty to be revolutionaries. He begins by remarking on the timing and the place of his speech. In Breton’s words, Paris in 1935 is at a critical turning point for the preservation of humanity’s future success. He is skeptical about France’s recent political choices, especially the recent pact between France and the U.S.S.R. that was carried out in light of Hitler’s rise in Germany. He warns fellow revolutionaries not to see this partnership as a sign that France is moving toward a revolutionary attitude. Instead, France is using the impending war as an excuse to make its military infrastructure even stronger. Breton predicts that France will use its friendly interactions with the U.S.S.R. as a way to conceal its imperialistic goals. Like the artists addressed in the Prague speech, Breton believes that writers in such a cultural climate have a moral responsibility to address pressing issues in a meaningful way. He writes, “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” (240).

“On the Time When the Surrealists Were Right” outlines the Surrealists' prediction of the trajectory of the Soviet Union and shows that they correctly anticipated that the country would stray from rule by the masses. This letter connects with the content of “Speech to the Congress of Writers" and addresses the ways in which an activist might be radical, and even communist, without wholly embracing the political position of the Soviet government in the mid-1930s. Breton clarifies the intentions of a letter written by the Surrealists to the International Congress of the Defense of Culture. He wants artists and writers to critically examine their “defense of culture," which he believes can become a dangerous idea if it is used in the wrong way. He also hopes to compel artist-activists to unify their movement and make real political change, rather than simply creating idealistic writing and art. Breton writes that the Surrealists had high hopes for the Congress of Writers, but it ultimately became a cliquish event at which any voice outside the core group of organizers was silenced. Breton worries that the Surrealists who joined the Congress will come to define the entire movement, and he uses the text to officially declare his Surrealist group’s mistrust of the Congress and its later iteration, the International Association of Writers for the Defense of Culture. He predicts that the Surrealists—to whom he refers as former Surrealists—who joined the Congress and are committed members of the Communist Party will use his words against him in an attempt to delegitimize the goals of his group. The text is signed by Breton and his followers, including such well-known artists as Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí.

“Surrealist Situation of the Object” is another speech made in Prague in 1935. It examines the meaning of Surrealism more than 10 years after its founding and explores what makes an object Surrealist or non-Surrealist. He is careful to define “object” very broadly as any piece of art or writing. Breton begins by speaking on the beauty of Prague, calling it a poetic city and commenting that its atmosphere creates the perfect context for his speech. He moves on to a discussion of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s Aesthetics, which Breton believes is not widely read enough in contemporary artistic circles. He credits Hegel with answering a great number of questions on the topic of artistic value and accuses other artists of intentionally ignoring the truths the philosopher revealed. In Breton’s mind, this collection of Hegel’s lectures is the only valuable resource for examining Surrealist works' artistic value or lack thereof. Hegel believed that the most important art form was poetry. Breton largely agrees, but he believes that Surrealist painting is equally valuable, if not more so, since it became the most widely known form of Surrealism and, thus, must speak to the art consumer most effectively. He also makes the case for architecture—which Hegel defined as the lowest form of art—as the forerunner of Surrealism through styles like Art Nouveau. Because they designed spaces that defied the ruling notion that form should follow function in architecture, Breton believes that many early-20^th-century architects were Surrealist in nature. He ends the speech with a selection of poetry, both historic and modern, that he believes shows strong Surrealist elements.