Review of the Literature

      Surrealism, as stated by The Hutchinson Dictionary of the Arts, was interested in relating art through thoughts and visions. It was the most prominent movement in art between the World Wars and was inspired in part by Freud's studies of the subconscious. In seeking to eliminate the conscious criticism of the mind by utilizing free association (automatism), the primary reason for its naissance was as a backlash against the reliance of modern art on aesthetics and technique. In today's terms Surrealism (or more simply, the word surreal) has taken on a more generic meaning and as such, there has been a dilution of its founding principles to the point of rendering its original context unrecognizable.
      In the Manifestoes of Surrealism, André Breton contended that mankind believed so strongly in real life that the ability to dream had been lost. He identified children as being the last examples of carefree, non-critical purveyors of imagination. "Beloved imagination," lamented Breton, "what I most like in you is your unsparing quality" (4). He equated freedom with madness, proposing that imagination had the potential to reach its creative zenith in both states.
      Breton abhorred the structure of realism and that it pandered to a materialistic society. It insulted him to see the lack of creativity in this area and how it flattered "the lowest of tastes; clarity bordering on stupidity, a dog's life"(6). His particular dislike of the format of the traditional novel was illustrated by his feeling completely stripped of having any creative investment while reading, that he was "spared not even one of the character's slightest vacillations" (7).
      In general, his protest was that mankind was governed by logic and paid little or no attention to the working of the mind and in essence, imagination. He believed that these two aspects of life were of equal value and proposed pursuing a resolution in the form of "a kind of absolute reality, a surreality" (14). The method put forth as a starting point was automatism, a process of creative release void of logical criticism and as such, "unencumbered by the slightest inhibition and which was, as closely as possible, akin to spoken thought" (23).
      He returned again to the analogy of the child and renounced the idea that there would ever be any structure imposed upon Surrealism and that the future possibilities of Surrealism were of no interest to him. Summarizing his objective, he asserted his complete adherence to "nonconformism" and the "state of distraction which [the Surrealists] hope[d] to achieve" (47).
      Contemporary author Mario Vargas Llosa examined Breton's technique and philosophy in relation to the manifesto of 1924. He reaffirmed Breton's low opinion of the novel for its necessary descriptions and rationality. Breton did however, according to Vargas Llosa, embrace novels of an obscure nature, those that freely mixed narration with fantasy and poetry.
      Unlike in the explosive time of the Surrealists, there is now not a so easily distinguishable line between poetry and fiction. "The passage of time has apparently deconstructed Surrealism historically and culturally," contended Vargas Llosa. He suggested that Surrealism's commendable achievement was to challenge the intellectual norm, but that today it seems to have become less philosophical than poetic.
      Breton´s novel Nadja, was poetic, full of "structural originality" and free from the constraints of the expected reality of mainstream literature of today and of his day (Vargas Llosa). The most important parts were not what happened, but just that things did happen in an abstract, vaporous manner i.e. drifting, combining and separating all at once. It was written as an "invisible reality" with Freud's unknowing encouragement through his studies of the subconscious on everyday life (Vargas Llosa).
      In today's terms Nadja's content might be considered literature, a concept that Breton despised. Vargas Llosa suggested that today's definition of literature might also encompass the rich exploration of the psyche and the release of fantasy. "Nadja´s accomplishment [is that] it transformed the real [world] into another by immersing it in poetry" (Vargas Llosa). Breton delved into his subconscious to embellish mere memory with his own brand of poetry and thus created both a work of literature and Surrealism.
      Rather than adapting Surrealism's philosophy to today's definition, Charles Molesworth questioned the logic of Surrealism. He suggested that globalism had swallowed the premise of Surrealism, reducing the idea to "a bunch of guys in Paris up to fancy games that challenged cultural authority" (Molesworth). The objectives were high and often self-mocking. The Surrealists sought spectacle and controversy as a course of acknowledgement. Molesworth believed that they merely gave a name to something already in existence within everyone, as a means of exerting their brand of imperialism. After examining the exhibits of a Surrealist art show, he concluded that "Surrealism was best thought of as an (unsuccessful) assault on the humanness of the human form" (Molesworth).
      Although he leveled criticism at individuals and their work, he acquiesced that Surrealism was a movement of revolution against the status quo, "the ultimate anti-capitalist, anti-commodity gesture" (Molesworth). It was more than just a place and time in history but a continued idea within society. However, he argued that it has lost its potency and been absorbed into society, something that was ironically "the greatest motivating anxiety behind the movement" (Molesworth). What remained was the idea that art can be larger than life and in the particular case of Surrealism "outside and beyond" reality, as defined by the word itself (Molesworth).
      In conclusion, while there were varying reactions to the philosophy of Surrealism and of those who practiced it, there was a consensus that the contemporary definition has evolved or been adapted to reduce its controversial and adversarial beginnings. What was once shocking has now developed into a mere description - the adjective "surreal" - leaving its methods and philosophy lost somewhere in the passage of time.