As I read the Manifesto of Surrealism, I struggled to find a difference between surealist poetry and Robert Bly's concept of "leaping poetry"--poetry that takes leaps of the subconcious, usually in a child-like fashion. I don't know much about either one, leaping poetry or surrealism, I venture a guess that Robert Bly is strongly influenced by surrealists if he isn't one himself. Surrealist writing is intimate leaps and jumps within the conciousness.
The thing that I don't get is that if Andre Breton truly practiced surrealism, wouldn't he not approach life with a clearly sexist view? His dream castle has at least twenty men, all named by name and "gorgeous women, [he] might add" (17)! "And anyway," he goes on, "isn't what matters that we be the masters of ourselves, the masters of women, and of love too?" (17). I think where I differ from Breton is that I assume that if surrealism is complete freedom of thought expressed through some sort of art, it would appear obvious to the surrealist that a woman's purpose is not to be mastered by a male--or males, if the man wants to get kinky . . . I am aware that this is a historic document but I this does not diminish my shock that a man who argues for such freedom of subconcious thought can model himself as a master--of anything but especially of women.
(I have to admit that I write this whole passage with a smirk of irony on my fingers because I know the shape of the history of sexism in France from Napoleon's legalization of the male's "mastery" in the household to all the fuss Simone de Beauvoir made for good reason. Much good reason.) So there.
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7 comments:
Good use of irony, I'm impressed.
maybe his subconscious is just really misogynistic
or maybe he's gay
maybe his mom beat him
Not to sound racist, but I think he's just French. Most French work is incredibly chauvanistic and even slightly kinky especially before the 1960's. I mean, I think before that women weren't even able to have bank accounts. Their husbands controlled the money. It wold affect how you thought about the "softer sex."
Not to sound racist, but I think he's just French. Most French work is incredibly chauvanistic and even slightly kinky especially before the 1960's. I mean, I think before that women weren't even able to have bank accounts. Their husbands controlled the money. It wold affect how you thought about the "softer sex."
Well it is home to the city of love. Or is that Amsterdam? I can never remember.
nahh amsterdam is the city of coffee shops.
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