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[First intervention by Andre Breton at Contre-Attaque]

Manuscript

Author

Author André Breton
People cited Friedrich Engels, Pierre Laval, Karl Marx, David Borissovitch Goldenbakh, dit Riazanov, Joseph Staline, Maurice Thorez, Paul Vaillant-Couturier, Léon Trotsky

Description

A manuscript by André Breton, dated 11 November 1935, for the founding of Contre-attaque, an anti-fascist group created by Georges Bataille, accompanied by a letter from Jules Monnerot and press clippings.

Published in the cahiers d'Inédits of the second volume of the Œuvres complètes, this intervention by Breton in Contre-attaque has a problematic value: ‘to denounce the monstrous system of deception’ fomented by parties that claim to embody the revolutionary spirit. Breton is here castigating the Stalinist USSR’s about-face, not to say betrayal: as much in its position towards the League of Nations, towards fascism, in the policies leading to the constitution of the popular fronts, as in the emergence of a reactionary morality, notably on the subject of the family. Breton emphasises that the difficulty lies in the federation of personalities and sensibilities naturally constituted by irreducible spirits unwilling to bend to the discipline of a dogma. Hence his insistence on vocabulary, on a very Rimbaudian necessity,needed to find a language as a prerequisite to any collective action. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005]

This intervention by André Breton for the foundation of Contre-attaque, an anti-fascist group created by Georges Bataille with the surrealists and the former members of Souvarine’s Democratic Communist Current had the value of denouncing ‘Stalinism’. [André Breton website, GM, 2009]

Handwritten signed manuscript, 11 November 1935.
- Handwritten manuscript of 4 pages in-4°, folioed, in green ink on green paper, with erasures and corrections, dated and signed by Breton.
Founded in September 1935, the Mouvement Contre-Attaque brought together Surrealists and their sympathizers and former members of Souvarine's Democratic Communist Current who had gathered around Georges Bataille.
‘The action we undertake is viable only insofar as it will be carried out by us with enthusiasm. It is no longer a question of these short term actions that tolerate all sorts of reservations from its participants. We intend to play the card on which we have the greatest faith, the card that is in some way magical.’
- Jules Monnerot’s letter, mentioned in the manuscript, is attached: 3 pages in-8° signed.
- Press clippings attached. (Œuvres complètes, Volume II, Inédits I, pages 585 to 594). [sale catalogue, 2003]

Bibliography

André Breton, « [Trois interventions de d'André Breton à Contre-Attaque] », Inédits I,  Œuvres complètes, tome II (édité par Marguerite Bonnet avec des contributions de Philippe Bernier, d'Étienne-Alain Hubert et de José Pierre), Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Paris, Gallimard, 1992, pp. 585-594.

See also

3 Works

 

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[Tout à fait alité, hier déjà je toussais sérieusement...]

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Jules Monnerot

Lettre de Jules Monnerot à André Breton, non datée.
Trois images, une notice descriptive, une œuvre associée.

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Au secours de la famille !

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Paul Vaillant-Couturier

Article du quotidien L'Humanité écrit par Paul Vaillant-Couturier et paru le 31 octobre 1935.

Une image, une notice descriptive, une œuvre associée.

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La natalité décroît

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Maurice Thorez

Coupure de presse du quotidien L'Humanité du 14 octobre 1935 retranscrivant un discours sur la famille de Maurice Thorez prononcé le 7 octobre 1935. 
Une image, une notice descriptive, une œuvre associée.