Surrealism

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Surrealism 1924
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Surrealism1924 Originally a literary movement,
it explored dreams, the unconscious, the element
of chance and multiple levels of reality. more
than real better than real
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WHY Surrealism in 1924? What was happening in
the world around this time?
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• WHY Surrealism in 1924?
• What was happening in the world around this time?
• World War I (1914-1918)
• Sigmund Freud

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Physically and psychologically, WWI destroyed
Western civilization
Countries Involved   Australia Austria
Belgium Bulgaria Canada France Germany
Great Britain Greece India Iraq Italy Japan
Montenegro New Zealand Poland Portugal
Rhodesia Romania Russia Serbia South Africa
Turkey United States
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The logic, science and technology that many
thought would bring a better world had gone
horribly wrong. Instead of a better world, the
advancements of the 19th century had produced
such high tech weapons as machine guns,
long-range artillery, tanks, submarines, fighter
planes and mustard gas. (source Janson)  
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(No Transcript)
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Staggering destruction and loss of life TOTAL WWI
CASUALTIES 11,016,000
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• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
• The father of psychoanalysis
• In 1900, Freud published The Interpretation of
  Dreams, and introduced the wider public to the
  notion of the unconscious mind
• theorized that forgetfulness or slips of the
  tongue (now called "Freudian slips") were not
  accidental at all, but it was the "dynamic
  unconscious" revealing something meaningful.
• He said Dreams are often most profound when they
  seem the most crazy.

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Freuds Mental Iceberg
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Andre Breton Poet
Surrealism is based on the belief in the
superior reality of the dream
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Surreal Odd Illogical Irrational Exciting Disturbi
ng
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Characteristics of Surrealism

• Reaction to chaos of WWI
• Influence of Freud Dreams and subconscious
• Explored the world of dream,
• chance, and free association
• Explored the psychological
• responses to modern culture

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Salvador Dali
(Spanish, 19041989)
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The Metamorphosis of Narcissus, 1937, Salvador
Dali
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Salvador DaliPersistence of Memory 1931
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Salvador DaliApparition
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Rene Magritte (Belgian)
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Rene Magritte
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René MagritteLes valeurs personnelles
(Personal Values)1952
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René MagritteLa Chambre d'écoute (The Listening
Room)1952 (impossible scale)
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Rene Magritte Carte Blanche
Carte Blanche, Rene Magritte
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Rene MagritteCeci nest pas une pipe
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Rene Magritte (Reversal of Natural Laws)
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Franz Kafka

• Felt he was an outsider
• Jewish in Catholic Prague
• Sickly
• Lonely
• Perceived human beings as
• being trapped by authority in
• a hopeless world
• Became frustrated at having
• to support his family
• Had to work in a meaningless
• bureaucratic job where he was
• just another pencil pusher
• Took time away from his writing

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Kafkas Literature

• Seeks to reproduce not objective reality but the
  subjective reality which people, objects, and
  events arouse in us
• Depicts a psychological or spiritual reality
  through distortion and/or exaggeration
• Presents the distorted, exaggerated situation as
  if it were completely real
• Emphasizes visionary experience
• Pierces the surface of things to reveal deeper
  truths
• Explores how to transcend the material world
• Replaces concrete particulars with allegorical
  forms

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Metamorphosis
The word "metamorphosis" derives from Greek
"transformation, transforming
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Franz Kafkas personal life reflected in the
Metamorphosis

• The Metamorphosis is said to be one of Franz
  Kafkas best works of literature. It shows the
  difficulties of living in a modern society and
  the struggle for acceptance of others when in a
  time of need. In this novel Kafka directly
  reflects upon many of the negative aspects of his
  personal life, both mentally and physically. The
  relationship between Gregor and his father is in
  many ways similar to Franz and his father
  Herrman. The Metamorphosis also shows resemblance
  to some of Kafkas diary entries that depict him
  imagining his own extinction by dozens of
  elaborated methods. This is a story about the
  authors personal life portrayed through his
  dream-like fantasies.

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Surreal and Existentialist Perspective

• We will be using the major concepts from
  surrealism as well as existentialism in order to
  explore the text more deeply.
• exploration of the unconscious mind
• the use of the odd and illogical as a critique of
  modern society
• dread and anxiety
• absurdism and alienation