French Literature Reviews - 2026

The Single Issue of Surréalisme
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

Surréalisme

Editions Jean-Michel Place

ISBN : 2 85893 675 7
2004 - 68 p. - 170 x 245 mm
18.00 €

Edition prepared and introduced by Jean Bertho

Reissuing the single issue of the journal Surréalisme, edited by Ivan Goll, brings to mind a controversy that shook the literary press and reviews in 1924.
At stake in this dispute was the ownership of the word "surréalisme".
On one side, André Breton and his associates advocated for the pure dictation of thought without any intervention from the critical faculty, thereby championing automatic writing and dream accounts. On the other, Ivan Goll’s supporters advocated for a surrealism inspired by Apollinaire—a philosophy that reserved a natural place for reason, blending the conscious and the unconscious.
In August 1924, Ivan Goll stated: “Be that as it may, Surrealism belongs to everyone and shall not be monopolized. While waiting for the Surrealist Revolution, I have a great mind to simply found a Surrealist Evolution.”
This conflict culminated in the publication of two journals: Ivan Goll's Surréalisme and La Révolution surréaliste, edited by Benjamin Péret and Pierre Naville.

Thanks to this republication of Surréalisme, readers can now better appreciate the vibrant literary and artistic milieu of late 1924.

The 1920s marked a period of intense ideological and aesthetic debate within avant-garde circles in Paris. Central to these disputes was the definition and ownership of the term surrealism, as factions vied for control over its artistic and theoretical direction. On one side, André Breton and his associates advocated for the pure dictation of thought without any intervention from the critical faculty, thereby championing automatic writing and dream accounts. Conversely, Ivan Goll and his supporters advocated for a surrealism inspired by Apollinaire—a philosophy that reserved a natural place for reason, blending the conscious and the unconscious.

This republication of the single issue of the journal Surréalisme, edited by Ivan Goll, brings to mind a controversy that shook the literary press and reviews in 1924. Readers interested in the history of avant-garde journals and early twentieth-century literary polemics may find it relevant. This conflict culminated in the publication of two journals: Ivan Goll's Surréalisme and La Révolution surréaliste, edited by Benjamin Péret and Pierre Naville, allowing readers to better appreciate the vibrant literary and artistic milieu of late 1924.