Anthology of Black Humor (1940) - André Breton
Related: 1940 - André Breton - black comedy - literature
Unique collection of experimental poetry and cult fiction. Please consult and edit the Wikipedia list here.
Anthology of Black Humor (1940) - André Breton [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Featured authors: Jonathan Swift - D.-A.-F.de Sade - Georg Christoph Lichtenberg - Charles Fourier - Thomas De Quincey - Pierre-Francois Lacenaire - Christian Dietrich Grabbe - Petrus Borel - Edgar Allan Poe - Xavier Forneret - Charles Baudelaire - Lewis Carroll - Villiers de l'Isle-Adam - Charles Cros - Friedrich Nietzsche - Isidore Ducasse (Comte de Lautreamont) - Joris-Karl Huysmans - Tristan Corbiere - Germain Nouveau - Arthur Rimbaud - Alphonse Allais - Jean-Pierre Brisset - O. Henry - André Gide - John Millington Synge - Alfred Jarry - Raymond Roussel - Francis Picabia - Guillaume Apollinaire - Pablo Picasso - Arthur Cravan - Franz Kafka - Jakob van Hoddis - Marcel Duchamp - Hans Arp - Alberto Savinio - Jacques Vache - Benjamin Peret - Jacques Rigaut - Jacques Prevert - Salvador Dali - Jean Ferry - Leonora Carrington - Gisele Prassinos - Jean-Pierre Duprey
Description
"L'humour Noir" is one of the seminal concepts of Surrealism, and Breton's famous anthology is his definitive statement on the subject. It contains provocative assessments of the writers he most admired. Some, such as Kafka, Swift, Rimbaud, Poe, Lewis Carroll and Baudelaire, are well known, but other names will come as a revelation to many - as will the passages Breton includes by writers you thought you knew. Breton's original foreword, considered to be one of his most important theoretical essays, is included, along with his preface to the 1966 edition. For each of the 45 authors included, Breton writes a biographical and critical preface, placing their work in the context of black humour, which, as readers will discover for themselves, is a partly macabre, partly ironic, and often absurd turn of spirit that Breton defined as "a superior revolt of the mind." Baker&Taylor
For a Wikipedia list of the featured authors, click here. [Sept 2006]
Xavier Forneret (1809-1884)
Xavier Forneret (1809-1884) was a French dramaturge, poet and journalist. In the 1830s, he was a member of the Bouzingo, a group of poets which advocated a radical bohemian romanticism in life and art; contemporaries and kindred spirits included Gérard de Nerval and Théophile Gautier. His reputation was partly rehabilitated by Andre Breton, who included some of Forneret’s poems and aphorisms in his Anthology of Black Humor (1940). --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Forneret [Nov 2006]
Il l’a tirée
De sa poche percée,
L’a mise sous ses yeux ;
Et l’a bien regardée
En disant : ” Malheureux ! “Il l’a soufflée
De sa bouche humectée ;
Il avait presque peur
D’une horrible pensée
Qui vint le prendre au coeur.
Il l’a mouillée
D’une larme gelée
Qui fondit par hasard ;
Sa chambre était trouée
Encor plus qu’un bazar.
Il l’a frottée
Ne l’a pas réchauffée
A peine il la sentait ;
Car, par le froid pincée,
Elle se retirait.
Il l’a pesée
Comme on pèse une idée,
En l’appuyant sur l’air.
Puis il l’a mesurée
Avec du fil de fer.
Il l’a touchée
De sa lèvre ridée. -
D’un frénétique effroi
Elle s’est écriée :
Adieu, embrasse-moi !
Il l’a baisée,
Et après l’a croisée
Sur l’horloge du corps,
Qui rendait, mal montée,
De mats et lourds accords.
Il l’a palpée
D’une main décidée
A la faire mourir. -
- Oui, c’est une bouchée
Dont on peut se nourrir.
Il l’a pliée,
Il l’a cassée,
Il l’a placée,
Il l’a coupée ;
Il l’a lavée,
Il l’a portée,
Il l’a grillée,
Il l’a mangée.
Quand il n’était pas grand on lui avait dit : Si tu as faim, mange une de tes mains.
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