French Literature Reviews - 2026
C. Aurouet, Desnos et le cinéma
Art and Visual Culture
Bibliographic reference: Carole Aurouet - Desnos et le cinéma, Nouvelles Editions Jean-Michel Place, collection "Le cinéma des poètes", 2016. EAN13: 9782858939695.
Born five years after the birth of cinematography, Robert Desnos was immediately captivated by this new medium of expression. His enthusiasm was such that he engaged with the 7th art in two distinct ways. On one hand, he wrote about cinema: film reviews, analyses of filmmakers' works, as well as articles addressing issues external to the films themselves; between 1923 and 1930, he published over eighty pieces. On the other hand, he wrote for cinema; indeed, Desnos authored some twenty cine-texts—only four of which were published during his lifetime, between 1925 and 1933—which reflected what he dreamed of seeing on the silver screen. This volume sheds light on the passionate and fruitful relationship that Robert Desnos maintained with the cinema.
Carole Aurouet is an Associate Professor (Maître de conférences habilitée à diriger des recherches) at the University of Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée. The author of numerous works on Jacques Prévert (theatre, poetry, cinema, collages), her publications also focus on literature and cinema, surrealism, the Groupe Octobre, and screenwriting genesis. Poetry and cinema (Guillaume Apollinaire, Pierre Albert-Birot, Antonin Artaud, Robert Desnos, Benjamin Péret, etc.) also lie at the heart of her research.
The intersection of poetry and the cinematic arts has long fascinated scholars of twentieth-century French culture. During the interwar period, numerous writers and avant-garde figures turned their attention to the silver screen, viewing it as a revolutionary medium for modern expression. Within this vibrant intellectual milieu, the surrealist movement frequently embraced film as a space for dream-like experimentation and visual poetry. Carole Aurouet contributes to this broader field of research by examining the multifaceted ways in which literary authors engaged with the nascent film industry as both critics and creative writers.
Readers interested in the intersections of surrealism, poetry, and early cinema may find this volume relevant. Robert Desnos published over eighty pieces of film writing between 1923 and 1930, and authored some twenty cine-texts, only four of which appeared during his lifetime between 1925 and 1933. Carole Aurouet is an Associate Professor at the University of Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée whose research focuses on literature and cinema, surrealism, and poetry and cinema among figures such as Guillaume Apollinaire, Pierre Albert-Birot, Antonin Artaud, Robert Desnos, and Benjamin Péret.