There is now only one thesis for all university disciplines. But it may be interesting to see what was happening before 1984, the official date of the abolition of the State thesis. This is what can be seen in the documentation provided by the first volume of Mélusine, particularly by comparison with the situation in the USA. Today, all this is accessible on the national thesis file: theses.fr, explore the 1198 theses for "Surrealism"

Download the PDF (complete)

or read the textual version:

V

DOCUMENTATION SURREALISM AT THE UNIVERSITY HENRI BEHAR — CHRISTINE POUGET INVENTORY OF THESES ON SURREALISM COMPLETED OR IN PREPARATION (1970-1978)

We begin here the publication of thesis topics registered in French higher education institutions from January 1, 1970 to October 1, 1978, as well as in the United States of America. This inventory will be continued and updated in our next issues.

These documents were established thanks to the active collaboration of the managers of the Central Thesis File (University Paris X, Nanterre) and, for the American section, of Renée-Riese Hubert, whom we warmly thank.

The first section provides all research work (State Doctorate, University Doctorate, 3rd cycle) presented in France with the indication of the research director, the place and date of defense. The three State doctorates (Marguerite Bonnet, Marie-Claire Dumas, Raymond Jean) are known and have been published; this is not the case for University or Third Cycle doctorates, for which we endeavor to provide an analysis in Recherches sur le Surréalisme (Amsterdam).

For the second section, which concerns State Doctorates in preparation, we did not content ourselves with noting and ordering the indications provided by the Reasoned Directory of State Doctorates in Letters and Human Sciences (Paris, 1977) because the latter, relying on current legislation, only mentions topics filed or renewed for less than five years (they appear here with their order number in the Directory). However, it appeared to us, in several cases, that these topics were by no means abandoned by the candidates, despite their negligence. On the other hand, their wording provides an interesting indication on research trends before 1972 and since this directory appeared, because we have completed it as much as possible (by reporting, of course, on the first list the completed work). Finally, their insertion allows harmonizing the entire documentation of which we make mention.

Given the large number of University and 3rd cycle theses in preparation, it was necessary to devote a special section to them. It goes without saying that 3rd cycle doctorates — new regime — undertaken last year are not included, since the candidate must have obtained his D.E.A. before being able to register his topic.

It appears that certain topics have been abandoned since 1970, that others have been transformed into State theses, that others, finally, appear several times in the file under a slightly different title. Work has been defended without the central file being notified. We have tried to remedy this, to the extent of our knowledge.

Finally, section IV does not call for any particular remark except that, in the future, it will have to extend to all countries that wish to communicate their inventories to us.

The establishment of these lists is not without some difficulties, increased by the fact that we only know a brief (and often provisional) wording of the work undertaken.

For authors who have only passed through surrealism, only topics clearly considering their passage in the movement have been retained. Thus topics on "Aragon journalist from l'Humanité to Les Lettres Françaises" or on the "communist militant" have been excluded. But the selection is rarely so simple: in the absence of precise data, we preferred to increase the list rather than commit an abusive elimination.

Certain authors whose names are mentioned, either directly or "in the margin" would have howled to find themselves thus classified. Let no one see any attempt at annexation: Delteil, Reverdy, Schehadé, Césaire retain all their independence. But since the documents we used are not publicly accessible, it seemed useful to us to mention them, if only for information and to, possibly, arouse reflection. Let us recall that in the current state of our work the only criterion of belonging to surrealism is an external criterion. It remains that it is interesting, even eloquent from a perspective of studying critical reception, to know how many works are devoted to Breton, and, at the same time, to Bataille or Roussel, who were never surrealists; how many examine Artaud or Char in a global grasp integrating their passage in surrealism — at least in the topic statement.

The classification we have proceeded with within each list is a function of the number of entries. We have most often adopted a bipartition Authors-Subjects (which do not take up the indications relating to the particular study of each author). In one case, we reserved a section for work concerning several authors, this indicating a comparative orientation of research. But any other classification has its logic and interest, as shown by the list of American theses, established chronologically.

Beyond informing the reader, this must serve as primary material for an image of surrealism within the university institution. We will limit ourselves to a few remarks, suggested by the following tables:

Completed work In preparation

D.E. D.U.-3° U.S.A.' D.E. D.U.-3° U.S.A.

ARAGON 0 0 1 4 7 1

ARTAUD 0 6 3 4 33 2

BATAILLE 0 7 0 1 16 0

BRETON 1 5 4 9 20 3

CREVEL 0 0 1 2 5 0

DESNOS 1 0 1 1 7 1

GRACQ 0 6 1 3 17 1

SOUPAULT 0 0 0 0 0 0

TZARA 0 0 0 0 2 0

In the eyes of researchers, Artaud and Bataille have roughly the same importance as Breton, but the surrealist Aragon enjoys little favor, Tzara is quite neglected; as for Soupault, he is simply ignored, as are Jacques Baron, Joyce Mansour, Malcolm de Chazal, Jean-Pierre Duprey, Kurt Seligmann, to name just a few. On the other hand, we note a certain disaffection towards the State Doctorate, while the 3rd cycle doctorate appears to be a much sought-after title, perhaps insofar as it implies an investigation circumscribed to precise aspects of a work.

The table of themes and subjects reflecting a certain state of contemporary criticism also provides us with interesting information:

Completed work In preparation Total D.E. D.U.-3°C. U.S.A. D.E. D.U.-3°C. U.S.A.

Poetry 1 3 7 12 22 1 46

Poetics 3 2 2 13 1 21

Poetic lang. 1 2 7 11 1 20

Theater 4 1 4 4 10

Novel 1 1 5 3 7

Aesthetics 3 2 3 3 10

Revolt 1 2 5 7 13

Revolution 1 0 2 3 11

Liberation 1 0 2 4 6

Rebel 1 1 3 6

Freedom 1 1 4 6

Parapsychology 0 2 4 6

Alchemy 0 2 4 6

Occultism 2 4 6

Esotericism 2 4 6

Sacred 3 2 4

Love 1 0 4

Sexuality 2 0 3

Eroticism 0 2 3

Woman 0 0

Local studies 0

Politics 0

Myth

Marvelous

Fantastic

Surreal

Strangeness

Body

Eye

Gaze

Suicide

Madness

Death

Nature-water

Minerality

Forest

Perception-Sounds

Colors-Dark

Luminous

Cities

Press

Dream-Reverie

Orient

Automatic writing

Objective chance

Psychoanalysis

As an indication, let us point out that the number of occurrences does not correspond to the number of theses. We have indeed judged it useful when the title of a thesis gave several indications to count them in each of the categories. Thus "Myth and Reality in Julien Gracq" has been indexed in two different categories. On the other hand, it was obviously impossible to classify all themes, so we chose certain ones that seemed significant to us.

These remarks made, the simple reading of this table of motifs is revealing. We will not be surprised to see that poetics comes first in concerns, that the surrealist discourse on madness, freedom, personal myths is examined from several angles, as is its treatment of language or its highlighting of love, the marvelous, etc. The theme of woman alone is cited 13 times in the wording of theses, which marks the highest frequency. This interest is explained by the current nature of feminine and feminist concerns as well as by the discovery of an original field of research. This reader impression is confirmed by the fact that no State doctorate or 3rd cycle is defended on this subject in France but that on the other hand 10 doctorates are undertaken in this field. However two are completed in the United States, which indicates an interest in feminine questions certainly more ancient.

The frequency of theses on the theme of revolt is hardly surprising. It suffices to think of the titles of the group's journals to understand the meaning and value of this notion in the eyes of the surrealists.

However the absence of work concerning automatic writing or Marxism for example is surprising. Certainly the wording of topics does not allow grasping the totality of contents. It is certain that a thesis on parapsychology will evoke the problem of automatic writing, just as a thesis on politics will address the position of surrealists regarding Marxism. But it is symptomatic that these themes of capital interest do not give rise to specific studies. Would this gap come from the need for very specialized training to deal with such topics? Interdisciplinarity is a recognized principle in the university, but not a fact.

On the other hand, examination methods can hardly be inferred from a necessarily brief title. If the study of "man and work" tends to disappear, some analyses that display themselves as structural, psychoanalytic or Marxist emerge instead. Theme studies, historico-literary research do not seem abandoned.

Thinking that a decade has passed since the promulgation of the orientation law in higher education, we can seek to know if the autonomy of principle enjoyed by each university determines a specific orientation of research relating to our subject that is conducted there. In truth, the choices seem to reflect more the personality of candidates and masters to whom they address themselves than the intellectual options of their universities. We hardly see collective research and few interdisciplinary approaches emerging. Which, in a sense, confirms us in the options exposed at the head of this collection, and leaves the field free to all sorts of studies of sociology, general aesthetics...

The number of registered theses, the amplitude of undertaken research, mark a significant cultural integration process, which can only serve surrealism by spreading its aspirations, its disgusts, the moral values 1 of which it was the bearer. However the fact that six State doctorates relating to Breton have not led to defense (or renewal) within the deadlines — for three officially registered — testifies to a weariness, a discouragement in the face of "everything has already been said", fortunately fought by the frequency and vigor of 3rd cycle doctorates.

This brief assessment established until October 1978 will undoubtedly be contradicted by the new topics filed since then. In any case, this research nevertheless remains the first step of an in-depth study of the image of surrealism within the university. (See the nominal tables in the PDF)