The Automatic Message, the Magnetic Fields, the Immaculate Conception (Atlas Anti-Classics) - Softcover

Breton, Andre; Soupault, Philippe; Eluard, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0947757996 ISBN 13: 9780947757991

Publisher: Atlas Pr, 1998

Synopsis

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."

About this title

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

About this edition

• Publisher: Atlas Pr
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0947757996
• ISBN 13: 9780947757991
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224