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Surrealist Revolution
Morning Star: Surrealism, Marxism, Anarchism, Situationism, Utopia
An expanded edition of revered theorist Michael Lowy's Morning Marxism and Surrealism (previously published in French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Greek), this masterwork collects the author's essays on the ways in which surrealism intersected with a variety of revolutionary political approaches, ranging from utopian ideals to Marxism and situationism. Taking its title from Andre Breton's essay "Arcane 17," which casts the star as the searing firebrand of rebellion, Lowy's provocative work spans many perspectives. These include surrealist artists who were deeply interested in Marxism and anarchism (Breton among them), as well as Marxists who were deeply interested in surrealism (Walter Benjamin in particular).Probing the dialectics of innovation, diversity, continuity, and unity throughout surrealism's international presence, Morning Star also incorporates analyses of Claude Cahun, Guy Debord, Pierre Naville, Jose Carlos Mariategui and others, accompanied by numerous reproductions of surrealist art. An extraordinarily rich collection, Morning Star promises to ignite new dialogues regarding the very nature of dissent."
175 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1983
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466 people want to read
About the author
Michael Löwy
180 books118 followersFrench-Brazilian Marxist sociologist and philosopher. He is presently the emerited research director in social sciences at the CNRS (French National Center of Scientific Research) and lectures at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS; Paris, France). Author of books on Karl Marx, Che Guevara, Liberation Theology, György Lukács, Walter Benjamin and Franz Kafka, he received the Silver Medal of the CNRS in 1994.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 26, 2021
Michael Löwy, kanımca yaşayan en önemli liberter Marksist düşünürlerden biri. Aynı zamanda, 70'li yıllardan beri uluslararası sürrealist hareketin bir parçası. Löwy'nin farklı tarihlerde yazdığı burada toplanan yazıları, sürrealist hareketin tarihi içinde (Andre Breton'un ölümünden sonrasını da kapsayacak şekilde) Marksizm, romantik anti-kapitalizm ve ütopik sosyalizm perspektifleriyle nasıl bir ilişki içinde olduklarını ortaya koyuyor. Andre Breton, Walter Benjamin, Pierre Naville, Guy Debord, Vincent Bounoure duraklarına uğrayan ve içinde kuşe kâğıda nefis kolaj ve çizim örnekleri de barındıran ilham verici bir çalışma. Versus ne güzel bir yayıneviydi...
February 26, 2014
http://zinelibrary.info/files/Lowy%20...
A short, vaguely interesting collection of essays on Surrealism and the Situationists, done up from *within* the jargon (which is never that useful, since what is always needed, in all cases, is always a *critical* examination – that is, one undertaken from *outside* the jargon).
A short, vaguely interesting collection of essays on Surrealism and the Situationists, done up from *within* the jargon (which is never that useful, since what is always needed, in all cases, is always a *critical* examination – that is, one undertaken from *outside* the jargon).
July 21, 2016
Overall, I was pretty disappointed in this book. Initially, I was hoping this would be Lowy's sort of personal take on surrealism, marxism, anarchism, situationism - how he sees them working together, contradictions, etc. But this was really more about a handful of surrealist celebrities and moments that they had political opinions, (which were often disappointing - at least my interpretation based on these essays), or when marxists dabled in surrealism. I can't say much about their work as surrealists, but *barf* to their leninism, trotskyism, and stalinism.
Before I review the book more broadly, though, I will say the most redeeming part of this book was learning about a few obscure marxists, specifically Claude Cahun, who I actually want to talk about instead.
Claude Cahun became a surrealist in their late 30s in the 1920s. They were a non-practicing jew who took a more jewish sounding name as anti-semitism was on the rise in Europe. They wore "women's" and "men's" clothing (apparently even other surrealists were uncomfortable with Cahun's flamboyant and male dress), were life-long lovers with their childhood best friend and step-sister (Suzanne Malherbe), dabbled in the french Communist Party when it was taking orders from Stalin and quickly became a dissenting voice within it before outright abandoning it for a more libertarian view. They wrote poetry and political prose/ theory, though are posthumously remembered most for their photography.
In the 1930s, Cahun and Malherbe moved to Jersey (an island between France and England). During Nazi occupation, the two routinely dressed as men and nazi soldiers and attended marches and rallies, passing out (more like dropping, hiding and discarding) thousands of leaflets calling for soldiers to mutiny and shoot their officers. They're most common leaflets were written on cigarette papers that they left laying around or leaflets that they placed inside newspapers and magazines. Some even included mocking collages made of images cut out of Nazi publications.
I was left wondering, "Okay, if you were able to sneak around nazi rallies, why not leave a bomb at one?" As I read more about Cahun, I learned that one of the first things they did when the nazis occupied Jersey was to get a pistol and practice shooting in the woods with the intention of killing the head nazi in charge of the island. Between the pistol and Cahun it was obvious that the assassination wouldn't work and Cahun would only succeed in symbolically sacrificing themself. After much convincing by Malherbe, Cahun decided against it and for the equally risky task (in this case) of propaganda by the word.
I wish this is what most people did in these moments: okay, how can I exact revenge, an exchange of pain, or a strategic blow against the causes of my misery? Trying and considering all methods, until the most practical emerges. I wish Cahun could have joined the ranks of assassins, but not if it had meant a symbolic sacrifice. It would appear, though, that Cahun and Malherbe's leaflets may have succeeded in killing a nazi or two.
After four years and no clues as to who was responsible for the leaflets on this island of less than 50 square miles, the gestapo finally found out it was Malherbe and Cahun. Ratted-out by a clerk suspicious of all the rolling papers they'd bought over the years, the two were quickly tried and sentenced to death.
Awaiting deportation to Berlin for beheading, the two took pills in hopes of dying. The pills failed, though did make them sick enough to not be transferred. Instead they stayed in jail in Jersey for a few months - just long enough for the Allied invasion. Cahun lived another decade, though their health never fully recovered.
Something that seems inspiring is that they shared the jail with soldiers who had refused orders or had gone AWOL, possibly after reading one of their thousands of leaflets.
Looking at Cahun's photographs (please go look at them now, some are positively amazing), they look like they're from the 1980s, though they're from the 20s and 30s. It makes sense that Cahun is largely then known for having a posthumous revival (or maybe debut?) in art and queer theory circles in 1980s. I look forward to reading what will likely be disappointing biographies of Cahun at some time.
Now, back to Morning Star:
I eventually found myself making a sort of scoreboard in my mind as I read different bios - 'ok, there's a point for anarchists, there's one for trotskyists." And a lot of the time, the different surrealists sort of flip-flopped (at least that's the impression i was left with by this book.) At times being fine with Trotsky, other times Stalin (?!?) as long as the party line wasn't interfering too strongly with their artistic freedom.
And while Lowy takes time to point out the problems of supporting Stalin (even indirectly by being a member of the communist party), he at no times condemns much less chides the surrealists for their friendship and collaborations with Trotsky. If anything he points to Breton and Trotsky's Manifesto for Independent Revolutionary Art and the call inside of it for anarchists and communists to work together as an example of unorthodox mixing, something I at times appreciate about surrealists, though obvoously not here. Mind you, the call is coming from a person who had the Krondstadt uprising crushed, sent troops to kill anarchists in Ukraine and otherwise killed, disappeared, jailed and exiled thousands of dissenters, not to mention help starve thousands of peasants with his program of Permanent Revolution.
I really can't stress enough how this book felt like how when someone takes a quote by Jesus or Einstein and tries to argue why their set of beliefs (now endorsed by a famous person) has weight to it. I really wish this had been Lowy fusing those four or five schools of thought.
Morning Star would have been more appropriately subittled, "Surrealism, Marxism, Romanticism." Very little of anarchism or situationist theory is discussed, though referenced in passing frequently.
2.7
Before I review the book more broadly, though, I will say the most redeeming part of this book was learning about a few obscure marxists, specifically Claude Cahun, who I actually want to talk about instead.
Claude Cahun became a surrealist in their late 30s in the 1920s. They were a non-practicing jew who took a more jewish sounding name as anti-semitism was on the rise in Europe. They wore "women's" and "men's" clothing (apparently even other surrealists were uncomfortable with Cahun's flamboyant and male dress), were life-long lovers with their childhood best friend and step-sister (Suzanne Malherbe), dabbled in the french Communist Party when it was taking orders from Stalin and quickly became a dissenting voice within it before outright abandoning it for a more libertarian view. They wrote poetry and political prose/ theory, though are posthumously remembered most for their photography.
In the 1930s, Cahun and Malherbe moved to Jersey (an island between France and England). During Nazi occupation, the two routinely dressed as men and nazi soldiers and attended marches and rallies, passing out (more like dropping, hiding and discarding) thousands of leaflets calling for soldiers to mutiny and shoot their officers. They're most common leaflets were written on cigarette papers that they left laying around or leaflets that they placed inside newspapers and magazines. Some even included mocking collages made of images cut out of Nazi publications.
I was left wondering, "Okay, if you were able to sneak around nazi rallies, why not leave a bomb at one?" As I read more about Cahun, I learned that one of the first things they did when the nazis occupied Jersey was to get a pistol and practice shooting in the woods with the intention of killing the head nazi in charge of the island. Between the pistol and Cahun it was obvious that the assassination wouldn't work and Cahun would only succeed in symbolically sacrificing themself. After much convincing by Malherbe, Cahun decided against it and for the equally risky task (in this case) of propaganda by the word.
I wish this is what most people did in these moments: okay, how can I exact revenge, an exchange of pain, or a strategic blow against the causes of my misery? Trying and considering all methods, until the most practical emerges. I wish Cahun could have joined the ranks of assassins, but not if it had meant a symbolic sacrifice. It would appear, though, that Cahun and Malherbe's leaflets may have succeeded in killing a nazi or two.
After four years and no clues as to who was responsible for the leaflets on this island of less than 50 square miles, the gestapo finally found out it was Malherbe and Cahun. Ratted-out by a clerk suspicious of all the rolling papers they'd bought over the years, the two were quickly tried and sentenced to death.
Awaiting deportation to Berlin for beheading, the two took pills in hopes of dying. The pills failed, though did make them sick enough to not be transferred. Instead they stayed in jail in Jersey for a few months - just long enough for the Allied invasion. Cahun lived another decade, though their health never fully recovered.
Something that seems inspiring is that they shared the jail with soldiers who had refused orders or had gone AWOL, possibly after reading one of their thousands of leaflets.
Looking at Cahun's photographs (please go look at them now, some are positively amazing), they look like they're from the 1980s, though they're from the 20s and 30s. It makes sense that Cahun is largely then known for having a posthumous revival (or maybe debut?) in art and queer theory circles in 1980s. I look forward to reading what will likely be disappointing biographies of Cahun at some time.
Now, back to Morning Star:
I eventually found myself making a sort of scoreboard in my mind as I read different bios - 'ok, there's a point for anarchists, there's one for trotskyists." And a lot of the time, the different surrealists sort of flip-flopped (at least that's the impression i was left with by this book.) At times being fine with Trotsky, other times Stalin (?!?) as long as the party line wasn't interfering too strongly with their artistic freedom.
And while Lowy takes time to point out the problems of supporting Stalin (even indirectly by being a member of the communist party), he at no times condemns much less chides the surrealists for their friendship and collaborations with Trotsky. If anything he points to Breton and Trotsky's Manifesto for Independent Revolutionary Art and the call inside of it for anarchists and communists to work together as an example of unorthodox mixing, something I at times appreciate about surrealists, though obvoously not here. Mind you, the call is coming from a person who had the Krondstadt uprising crushed, sent troops to kill anarchists in Ukraine and otherwise killed, disappeared, jailed and exiled thousands of dissenters, not to mention help starve thousands of peasants with his program of Permanent Revolution.
I really can't stress enough how this book felt like how when someone takes a quote by Jesus or Einstein and tries to argue why their set of beliefs (now endorsed by a famous person) has weight to it. I really wish this had been Lowy fusing those four or five schools of thought.
Morning Star would have been more appropriately subittled, "Surrealism, Marxism, Romanticism." Very little of anarchism or situationist theory is discussed, though referenced in passing frequently.
2.7
November 15, 2022
Morning Star is a very interesting work about the philosophy and politics of the surrealist movement (and in particular about its intersection with Marxism), told through biographical essays about selected participants.
Löwy casts a light on surrealism as a principle beyond an artistic or literary movement, situating somewhere in the territory of philosophy, including ownership of a full blown metaphysics, more specifically the notion of the disenchantment of the world, that particular symptom of the modern age which surrealism aims to overthrow—their goal being a reenchantment of the world on their own terms.
While I am left far from certain about this particular division of reality (the fallen, or disenchanted world in need of saving, or reenchantment), as a great lover of surrealist art and literature I can only offer full support for its results.
Löwy casts a light on surrealism as a principle beyond an artistic or literary movement, situating somewhere in the territory of philosophy, including ownership of a full blown metaphysics, more specifically the notion of the disenchantment of the world, that particular symptom of the modern age which surrealism aims to overthrow—their goal being a reenchantment of the world on their own terms.
While I am left far from certain about this particular division of reality (the fallen, or disenchanted world in need of saving, or reenchantment), as a great lover of surrealist art and literature I can only offer full support for its results.
December 13, 2020
A history of Surrealism from its beginnings to the 21st century in short essays, written from within the perspective of Surrealism and punctuated with Surrealist collages and drawings. (Do not expect an academic treatment.) The focus here is on the liberationist politics of Surrealism and its roots in revolutionary, Gothic Romanticism. The first few essays are especially good as an overview of this political orientation and how the Surrealists negotiated party politics all the while maintaining a steadfast commitment to art and the imagination. Of the later essays, those on Claude Cahun, Ody Saban, and Guy Debord, and Surrealism of the late 20th and early 21 centuries were the most interesting to me.
June 5, 2017
The entire collection is inspiring, but the best chapter is the one about Claude Cahun.
January 28, 2013
Michael Lowy is perhaps my favourite Marxist of the present, and this book does not disappoint. Morning Star is a collection of short essays on surrealism, its Marxist and anarchist origins, and its radical, political intent. Lowy details the revolutionary politics of founding members of the art movement, especially Andre Breton. The fantastic interplay between pessimism and resistance against capitalist modernity offer a keenly insightful utopic vision akin to Walter Benjamin's 'messianic moment.'
This book is vital for an understanding of where myth fits into a political intervention in the present, and the construction of a future, and in a way free from the threat of appropriation by fascism.
This book is vital for an understanding of where myth fits into a political intervention in the present, and the construction of a future, and in a way free from the threat of appropriation by fascism.
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July 29, 2011Great collection of translated essays, with a substantial and illuminating introduction by Don LaCoss and many black and white illustrations. Would like to have seen some color reproductions, as well as examples of Claude Cahun's anti-Fascist leaflets that Löwy describes.
October 16, 2014
Short on theory. Often reads like a catalogue. Intro particularly weak. Seems like a knock off to add another book to the series. Don't let it dissuade you from looking into the others. Penelope Rosemont's "Surrealist Women" is excellent.
January 14, 2016
lot of surrealist articles and explanation about its history. not enough on the actual values
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews