Aspley - Historical Dictionary of Surrealism

Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts

Jon Woronoff, Series Editor

1. Science Fiction Literature , by Brian Stableford, 2004.

2. Hong Kong Cinema , by Lisa Odham Stokes, 2007.

3. American Radio Soap Operas , by Jim Cox, 2005.

4. Japanese Traditional Theatre , by Samuel L. Leiter, 2006.

5. Fantasy Literature , by Brian Stableford, 2005.

6. Australian and New Zealand Cinema , by Albert Moran and Errol Vieth, 2006.

7. African-American Television , by Kathleen Fearn-Banks, 2006.

8. Lesbian Literature , by Meredith Miller, 2006.

9. Scandinavian Literature and Theater , by Jan Sjvik, 2006.

10. British Radio , by Sen Street, 2006.

11. German Theater , by William Grange, 2006.

12. African American Cinema , by S. Torriano Berry and Venise Berry, 2006.

13. Sacred Music , by Joseph P. Swain, 2006.

14. Russian Theater , by Laurence Senelick, 2007.

15. French Cinema , by Dayna Oscherwitz and MaryEllen Higgins, 2007.

16. Postmodernist Literature and Theater , by Fran Mason, 2007.

17. Irish Cinema , by Roderick Flynn and Pat Brereton, 2007.

18. Australian Radio and Television , by Albert Moran and Chris Keating, 2007.

19. Polish Cinema , by Marek Haltof, 2007.

20. Old Time Radio , by Robert C. Reinehr and Jon D. Swartz, 2008.

21. Renaissance Art , by Lilian H. Zirpolo, 2008.

22. Broadway Musical , by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird, 2008.

23. American Theater: Modernism , by James Fisher and Felicia Hardison Londr, 2008.

24. German Cinema , by Robert C. Reimer and Carol J. Reimer, 2008.

25. Horror Cinema , by Peter Hutchings, 2008.

26. Westerns in Cinema , by Paul Varner, 2008.

27. Chinese Theater , by Tan Ye, 2008.

28. Italian Cinema , by Gino Moliterno, 2008.

29. Architecture , by Allison Lee Palmer, 2008.

30. Russian and Soviet Cinema , by Peter Rollberg, 2008.

31. African American Theater , by Anthony D. Hill, 2009.

32. Postwar German Literature , by William Grange, 2009.

33. Modern Japanese Literature and Theater , by J. Scott Miller, 2009.

34. Animation and Cartoons , by Nichola Dobson, 2009.

35. Modern Chinese Literature , by Li-hua Ying, 2010.

36. Middle Eastern Cinema , by Terri Ginsberg and Chris Lippard, 2010.

37. Spanish Cinema , by Alberto Mira, 2010.

38. Film Noir , by Andrew Spicer, 2010.

39. French Theater , by Edward Forman, 2010.

40. Choral Music , by Melvin P. Unger, 2010.

41. Westerns in Literature , by Paul Varner, 2010.

42. Baroque Art and Architecture , by Lilian H. Zirpolo, 2010.

43. Surrealism , by Keith Aspley, 2010.

44. Science Fiction Cinema , by M. Keith Booker, 2010.

45. Latin American Literature and Theater , by Richard A. Young and Odile Cisneros, 2010.

46. Childrens Literature , by Emer OSullivan, 2010.

Historical Dictionary
of Surrealism

Keith Aspley

Historical Dictionaries of
Literature and the Arts, No. 43

The Scarecrow Press, Inc.

Lanham Toronto Plymouth, UK

2010

Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

http://www.scarecrowpress.com

Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom

Copyright 2010 by Keith Aspley

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Aspley, Keith.

Historical dictionary of surrealism / Keith Aspley.

p. cm. (Historical dictionaries of literature and the arts ; 43)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-8108-5847-3 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8108-7499-2 (ebook)

1. SurrealismDictionaries. 2. Surrealist artistsBiographyDictionaries. 3. Arts, Modern20th centuryDictionaries. I. Title.

NX456.5.S8A87 2010

700'.4116303dc22 2010017397

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

Although its nice to be able to sum up a movement in just a few words or sentences, it takes much more than that to trace the origins, manifestations, and works of Surrealism. One key is perhaps revoltrejection of what went before and both appeared hopelessly outdated and probably was outdated in the World War I era of radical political change and devastation. Thus, writers and artists couldand didinnovate and seek new ways of expression. Although Surrealism was a broad movement that attracted many participants, it was organized and quite strictly disciplined, at least until the death of its leader, Andr Breton, in 1966. The fact that it encompassed so many countries and so many art forms (painting and sculpture, music, photography, cinema, theater, literature and poetry), however, meant that not everyone followed its leader. Just who was a Surrealist could be an open question even for Surrealists, let alone the public. Nonetheless, during the interwar period it was one of the dominant trends and it continues to have many adherents today.

That being said, it is no mean feat to write a Historical Dictionary of Surrealism . The introduction presents some of the major figures and manifestations of the movement, and the chronology traces its major steps forward as it gathered strength but then apparently faded away gradually before rising like the phoenix with the new exhibitions, groups, and journals. Some of Surrealisms participants might not even concede that its a movement, let alone that they belong to it, while others proclaim their participation (which might not be generally accepted). Therefore, the encyclopedic format of the dictionary includes those who are directly or indirectly related, gives them their own entry, and lets readers decide. Along with people, which are in this case clearly the most important, there are also entries on associations and groups, some of the journals and reviews they produced, and a sampling of major works of art, cinema, and literature. The bibliography provides additional resources.

This book was written by Keith Aspley, whose career as, successively, an assistant lecturer, lecturer, then senior lecturer and honorary fellow of the University of Edinburgh spanned more than four decades. During that time he published monographs on Andr Breton, the leader of the movement, and Philippe Soupault, another of its major figures. He has also written numerous articles, encyclopedia entries, and book chapters and coedited From Rodin to Giacometti: Sculpture and Literature in France 18801950 . All his book chapters relate in some way to Surrealism. This is not only an advantage but a prerequisite since Surrealism was and is one of the broadest movements to date, covering all of the arts in one way or another. Dr. Aspley is thus an ideal author for such a historical dictionary.

Jon Woronoff

Series Editor

With reference to the contents of the dictionary section, ultimately personal choices have to be made and some may appear to be arbitrary or idiosyncratic; our basic position is to include men and women who were associated at some point in time with the Surrealist movement and to avoid, for the most part, the inclusion of material that may merely possess surreal elements. In terms of genre or the different media, there would be minimal dissent to the coverage of art and literature, but the concept of Surrealist architecture, dance, and design may be less obvious and the idea of Surrealism in fashion and music may be even more problematic. We have dared to venture, with a degree of trepidation, into such territories.