Immaculate Conception

by André Breton, Paul Éluard

This book collects together the two most vital "automatic" texts of Surrealism. Breton s prefatory essay The Automatic Message relates this technique to the underlying concepts and aesthetic of the Surrealist movement. The Magnetic Fields (1919) was the first work of literary Surrealism and is thus one of the foundations of modern European thought and writing. This authorised translation is by the poet David Gascoyne, himself a member of the group and a friend of both authors. The Immaculate Conception (1930) traces the interior and exterior life of man from Conception and Intra-Uterine Life to Death and The Original Judgement. The central section is a celebrated series of "simulations" of various types of mental instability. Maurice Nadeau (in The History of Surrealism) described the book as "An astonishing series of poems in prose, more brilliant than those of either Breton or Eluard on his own . . . if all that remained of the Surrealist movement were the pages of The Immaculate Conception, man, alerted, could not turn away from the astounding mystery of his condition."

Genres: Poetry

122 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1930

About the author

After World War I, French poet and literary theorist André Breton began to link at first with Dadaism but broke with that movement to write the first manifesto of surrealism in 1924.

People best know this theorist as the principal founder. His writings include the Surrealist Manifesto (Manifeste du surréalisme), in which he defined this "pure psychic automatism."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3...

Reviews

[Pieter De Wijngaert · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai rien compris, toch 4 sterren grt

[Cleo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all automatic writing, brilliant and garbage in equal measure

[Sara G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Marguerite Yourcenar's Fires, this is a work my sixteen year old self would have been obsessed with. And I can't fault it for that, even if it squeaks and pinches a bit, reading it as an adult. I had a very interesting time reading this. Definitely a highlight so far this year.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually quite enjoyed this

[Eternauta · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Δώσε στα όνειρα που ξέχασες την αξία των πραγμάτων που δεν γνωρίζεις".

[naturaviolenta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un esperimento libero e matto in culo.

Vorrei rileggerlo in francese solo per apprezzare i giochi di parole e la componente musicale del testo.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Προσφέρεται για ανάγνωση ξέφρενης νύχτας τη συνοδεία κονιάκ, τσιγάρου και παγκακίου υπό το θολωτό τίποτα της Κυψέλης.

[I- Stalker · Rating 3 out of 5]

+++

[Fernanda Patlan · Rating 1 out of 5]

La verdad creí que me iba a gustar mucho únicamente porque Pizarnik hizo la traducción pero ahora veo que fue un pensamiento algo tonto.... No me gustó nadita:( pero rifada la Pizarnik con su traducción
Maybe el surrealismo no es lo mío y ya.

[Laurent De Maertelaer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Klassieker in zijn genre. Over dromen als duistere toegangspoort naar andere werelden, over verbeelding en waanzin, over liefde en dood. Beklemmend en bevrijdend, rauw en poëtisch.