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/lit/ - Literature

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2291065 No.2291065 [Reply] [Original]

Hey /lit/
I've been playing around with automatic writing, using it as a starting point for some poems. Can you recommend some surrealist literature?

If you can recommend any other surrealist writing techniques, that would be cool as well. Surrealism general, I suppose.

>> No.2291076

The night land by willam hope hodgson, or the house on the borderlands. The second book is the literary equivalent of "my god, it's full of stars".

>> No.2291097

>>2291076
Thanks for the recommendation. I've never heard of him before.

Bump

>> No.2291103

>>2291065
>I've been playing around with automatic writing, using it as a starting point for some poems.
You understand that you're going directly away from surrealism by using these techniques, right? Not saying it's bad to have nothing to do with surrealism, just making sure you're aware of it.

>> No.2291107

>>2291103
Automatic writing is a surrealist technique. Do you know what automatic means?

Not OP.

>> No.2291109

>>2291107
Yes. And using surrealist techniques is a sure way to oppose surrealism.

Do you know what surrealism is?

>> No.2291110

>>2291109
OP here. This is news to me. Can you elaborate?

>> No.2291112

>>2291110
Sure. But you will have to believe my word. Otherwise, you could go study surrealism and Andre Breton for a few weeks and find out yourself.

In the next post I'll explain what I'm talking about. (No part of it is my own opinion on what surrealism is or should be. It's mostly going to be Breton.)

>> No.2291120

>>2291110
The point of surrealism is going beyond the superficial human consciousness and reveal the thoughts free of consciousness. It was supposed to be a way to perceive and record what's now called the subconscious. In a word, surrealists wanted to deep-mind-read themselves and record the results.

One of the more popular ways to do that was the concept of automatism. The idea is that the artist has no control over the artwork whatsoever. The less, the better, and if possible, no control at all. "Expressing" a way your muscles move by painting in your sleep is a form of automatism.

Techniques are many. Recording your thoughts without structuring them was a way. You don't edit, you don't even read, you just write. That's automatic writing. Exquisite corpse, cubomania, etc. were all the ways to make works of art without using the conscious or techniques at all.

Then, when surrealism became popular, Breton noticed that people started using "surrealist techniques" for proper, premediated art. He became very vocal against it, because it indeed went against the whole philosophy. The idea is that surrealism isn't supposed to be an artistic movement at all - it's more of a philosophy or a metaphysical science. The whole point of those "techniques" was originally the removal of the author (or at least his consciousness) from equation.

This way, using automatic writing to help composition is, from the surrealist's point of view, completely defeating the purpose.

Here's an analogy: a surrealist wants a completely random number. That's it. He wants the randomness. An artist wants to generate numbers with varied "techniques" until he gets a number he likes (maybe he'll add a 7 in the end for it to look better, too). It's the two opposing concepts, as you can see.

>> No.2291121

>>2291109
I didn't mean to sound condescending and I misunderstood your point.

>> No.2291143

>>2291120
Wow, brilliant post. Thanks for that, anon. I guess surrealism as Breton intended it is not what I'm after then.

>> No.2291154
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2291154

>>2291143
Doesn't mean you shouldn't use the techniques to create actual, non-surrealistic works of art.

Not to assume, but could be what you're looking for is actually expressionism.

>> No.2291161

>>2291154
When I think of expressionism, the first name that springs to mind is Edvard Munch. I don't know of any expressionist poets though - what are they like?

>> No.2291174

>>2291161
Literature is mostly kafkaesque, including Kafka himself. Poetry is mostly gloomy and distracted by grief, like Georg Trakl etc.:
>O the corroding cross. In sunless communion
>man and woman awoke to each other.
>By the barren wall
>the deserted one wanders with his shifting stars.

Expressionistic music includes dodecaphonists, like later Berg. Munch is a good example of expressionistic painting, yeah.

>> No.2291178

I've been trying to find Le Champs Magnetiques everywhere, it's driving me insane. I can't find it in the library, on the internet, in any bookstore...

I wish I could read it in Spanish since it's more closely related to French, but I'm so desperate I could settle for reading it in English.

>> No.2291205
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2291205

>>2291174
>Georg Trakl
I remember one anon quipped that he looks like his poetry.

>> No.2291288
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2291288

>>2291120
Twilight fan fic doesn't use surrealist techniques, so does that mean its surrealism?

>> No.2291369

Kurt Schwitters' poetry is possibly the closest to true surrealism. It's impossible to tell if he's just an insane man or not. That's proper surrealism.

>> No.2291837

Bump

>>2291369
I've read one or two poems by Kurt Schwitters. I should check out more of his stuff, thanks.