Surrealism Questions
Bring on the tough stuff. There's not just one right answer.
- Surrealism is often distinguished from "Dada," the literary movement that preceded it, but the two movements share a lot in common—they both emphasized the irrational and the breaking of literary and artistic conventions. So how, and why, do we distinguish one movement from the other?
- Can we distinguish "Surrealism" as a movement in the visual arts from "Surrealism" as a movement in the literary arts? Why do we draw a distinction between the visual arts and literature, if both artists and writers were inspired by the same "Surrealist" techniques and impulses?
- Surrealism developed in the aftermath of World War I. In what ways can Surrealism be understood as an "anti-war" literary movement?
- Why do you think Surrealism is most closely associated with poetry? What about poetry, as opposed to fiction, non-fiction, or drama, lends itself to Surrealist techniques?
- How do we distinguish a "Surrealist" poem from a non-Surrealist poem? Some of the poetry written by the Surrealists is "realistic." Can "realistic" poetry also be Surrealist?
- The major writers associated with Surrealism are male. Does the absence of women among the Paris group of poets who founded the movement indicate that Surrealism was a patriarchal, even a misogynistic, movement?
- Is "automatic writing" an effective way to produce literature? If we write without editing our thoughts or sentences, can we produce "good" literature?
- The Surrealists thought of themselves as a "revolutionary" group that wanted to transform literary, social, and political conventions. Can poetry be revolutionary? How can poetry transform society and politics?
- Why were the Surrealists so interested in the irrational and why do you think they insisted on using it as an inspiration for their writing?
- Why do you think the Surrealists thought it was important to reach a level of perception that went beyond reality?