An analysis of Breton's "nature writing" continues with an account of the “Creole Dialogue” between Breton and André Masson, in which they reflect upon the psychological and physiological affect of tropical vegetation, its overwhelming allure, and how it represents a natural force analogous with the creative imagination. The text then looks to the neo-Romanticism of the chapter of Mad Love based on Breton's experiences in Tenerife, in which he develops a lyrical eroticism relating the symbiosis of his new love to that of the unique natural environment of the island made famous by the ecologist Alexander von Humboldt. Opening with Aragon's account in of a surrealist adventure into the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, it explores various aspects of the surrealist sensibility for nature, captured so evocatively in Aragon's meditation in Paris Peasant upon "a feeling for nature": a primal, mythical emotion for which Aragon seeks a modern manifestation in the ersatz picturesque/sublime surroundings of the rather shady park. A central point of analysis concerns the surrealists’ interest in blurring the relations between nature and culture, and the trans-historical alignment between the Early Modern epistemological structure of similitude with the core dynamics of surrealist lyrical thinking. This text addresses the theme of natural history in surrealist thought, focusing on the writings of Louis Aragon, André Breton, and Roger Caillois. Key words: Surrealism, nature, André Breton, Roger Caillois, Rousseau, Romanticism, automatism, Art Nouveau, Vegetal Delirium, Martinique: Snake Charmer, Foucault, The Order of Things, taxonomies, minerals, “demon of analogy,” Strindberg, Goethe, marvellous, Cabinets of Curiosity, Wunderkammer, Dalí, L’Amour fou/Mad Love, praying mantis. ABSTRACT Donna Roberts, “Surrealism and Natural History: The Marvellous in Breton and Caillois” Published in: A Companion to Dada and Surrealism, David Hopkins (ed.).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |