The Revolutionary Consciousness of Surrealism Faced with Totalitarianism
Journal of Avant-Garde Studies August 15, 2024 Michael Richardson
Surrealism claims to be revolutionary, but the nature of that revolution is unclear. The movement's early relationship with the French Communist Party ended in disillusionment by the 1930s, and later engagements with Trotskyism and anarchism were similarly disappointing. Even the initial enthusiasm for the 1959 Cuban Revolution faded. This article reexamines what revolution meant for the Surrealists as totalitarianism emerged, focusing on Pierre Mabille's 1937 concept of egregores—the process by which groups solidify into entities capable of social and political change—and François Jullien's idea of silent transformations.