Over a century has passed since Andre Breton’s Manifesto of Surrealism (1924), and yet surrealism persists, albeit in various guises and a variety of media. This seminar will explore surrealist narratives across eras and cultures. In so doing, we take inspiration from Anna Watz’s approach in A History of the Surrealist Novel, which “seeks to challenge critical biases that have defined surrealism in predominantly masculine and European terms,” and emphasizes the long reach of surrealism, from prior to 1924 and into the twenty-first century.

We welcome proposals on surrealist narratives, with both of those terms broadly defined. “Surrealism” here may refer to the canonical European texts of the mid-twentieth century, or may go much further afield, to consider, for example, medieval dream visions, oneiric films, AI as a form of automatic writing, and weird fiction. “Narrative” is also to be interpreted widely, including novels, films, television shows, and new/digital media. We invite narratological approaches, particularly as surrealism intersects with unnatural narratology.

In the spirit of comparative literature, we also encourage proposals on the narratives of surrealism: how has surrealism developed from its Eurocentric origins? How can we grapple with the ways in which the concept was retrojected onto non-European works? Is surrealism a fuzzy set, and if so, how do we delineate that set in terms of content, form, and/or practices?

Selected Bibliography:

Jan Alber, Stefan Iversen, Henrik Skov Nielsen, Brian Richardson, "Unnatural Narratives: Unnatural Narratology: Beyond Mimetic Modes," Narrative 18.2 May 2010): 113-136.

Martine Antle, “Dada and Surrealism Faced with Colonialism,” South Central Review 32.1: Dada, Surrealism, and Colonialism (Spring 2015): 116–119.

Maria Chiorean, From Paris to Tlön: Surrealism as World Literature (Bloomsbury, 2018). 

Lusty, Natalya, ed., Surrealism: Cambridge Critical Concepts (Cambridge University Press, 2021).

Allison C. Meier, "Surrealism at 100: A Reading List," JSTOR Daily (19 September, 2024). 

Anna Watz, ed., A History of the Surrealist Novel (Cambridge University Press, 2023).