Manifeste du surréalisme (1924; reed. 1929) is the first of three programmatic texts written by André Breton. Together with Second manifeste du surréalisme (1930; Reed. 1946) and Prolégomènes à un troisième manifeste du surréalisme ou non (1942), it is often collected under the title Manifestes du surréalisme. Manifeste deserves consideration in its own right, however. Its value lies at the intersection of the collective and the personal (“son sort dépen[d] étroitement du mien propre” (9) [“its fate is closely linked to my own”], Breton reminds us in his second preface). It is at once serious and playful, prosaic and lyrical, and of historical importance: Manifeste provided the fledgling “mouvement flou” [“vague and blurry movement”] with its first set of coherent theoretical underpinnings. Initial critical reception ranged from genuine interest to open scepticism, due in no...
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Citation: Andréo, Benjamin. "Manifeste du surréalisme". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 September 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33204, accessed 05 December 2025.]
