HENRI BÉHAR: POTLATCH, ANDRÉ BRETON OR THE CEREMONY OF THE GIFT
par Pierre Taminiaux
November 28, 2021
Henri Béhar is Professor Emeritus at the University of Paris III-Sorbonne nouvelle. He is recognized as an authority in the field of studies on surrealism and the avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century in France. His most recent work, Potlatch, André Breton or the Ceremony of the Gift constitutes in this regard a major achievement in the field of surrealist studies. It is the fruit of an extensive and meticulous collection of data and documents relating to the numerous dedications that André Breton addressed to his fellow writers as well as to artists throughout his life.
These dedications are mixed with the equally numerous dedications that writers and artists addressed to Breton. This explains the term 'Potlatch', included in this work, since Potlatch was originally defined by anthropologists as a system of exchanges (of gifts and counter-gifts) that characterizes various tribal and indigenous societies.
Every dedication is the sign of a close relationship between its author and its recipient. One can therefore observe in this book that Breton was connected to a very extensive network of artists and writers around the world. These dedications demonstrate in this sense the international nature of the surrealist movement. Thus, Breton dedicates some of his texts here to the American photographer Man Ray but also to the Romanian painter Victor Brauner.
In this way, he emphasized the fact that surrealism existed beyond borders and narrow national identities. In this perspective, surrealism was globalized more than half a century before the official beginning of globalization. It anticipated a transnational perspective on literature and art that predominates in contemporary culture.
What makes Henri Béhar's work particularly interesting is the fact that some of these dedications are addressed to and by personalities who were never official members of the surrealist movement. This is the case for both Maurice Blanchot and Julien Gracq, for example. This demonstrates that surrealism influenced many major writers of the 20th century and that Breton constituted for them an iconic figure and a kind of spiritual father.
In this regard, Blanchot wrote one of the most important critical essays ever devoted to surrealism, 'Le Demain joueur', which is included in his work L'Entretien infini. This essay was indisputably laudatory. It first defines the existential and philosophical meaning of the concept of community for the history of surrealism. It also emphasized the dominant role played by the playful spirit in the movement's aesthetics.
In many ways, surrealism continued to develop and express itself beyond surrealism. Such an assertion may seem paradoxical, but it nevertheless reflects the continuing fascination that André Breton's work was able to generate. The numerous dedications from personalities outside surrealism also illuminate the fact that the movement never ceased to exercise its cultural influence. It essentially served as a magnet for all artists and writers who desired to escape the strict laws of rationalism and who were attracted by the world of visions and the supernatural.
Many of them saw surrealism as a transgressive perspective on life and art. The power of such a perspective has somewhat weakened over the years. Nevertheless, it remains today one of the most original dimensions of the movement. Surrealism affirmed the need for a radical questioning of established moral values and modes of thinking in Western culture. This need has never really died out and is still valid for a critical approach to avant-garde literature and art in the 21st century.
Henri Béhar is the author, among others, of a reference work on André Breton entitled André Breton l'indésirable, which was first published in 1990 by Calmann-Lévy. This clearly indicated that surrealism originally constituted an attitude of revolt towards the social order and the literary tradition of realism. The undesirable, indeed, is the one whose opinions break with conventional schools of thought and who is therefore marginalized because of his original sensitivity.
The form of dedication is by nature concise and is moreover eminently subjective and sincere in its expression. It always stems in this sense from the affirmation of an I. In this regard, Breton often expressed his personal feelings for many writers and artists to whom he dedicated his works. These dedications thus became in many respects short instantaneous poems characterized by their absolute authenticity. They thus echoed the form of automatic writing, which defines Breton's unique perspective on poetic language.
One could thus identify these dedications as fragments of a poetic discourse. For Breton, indeed, poetry existed everywhere. It penetrated the domain of everyday life and the most trivial objects, as his novel Nadja demonstrates. From then on, it could also exist in the simplest messages, as Henri Béhar reminds us in the back cover of his book. These numerous dedications are often lyrical in their tone, which reinforces their emotional significance.
Just after the end of the Second World War, Breton published one of his most important poetic works, Ode to Charles Fourier. In this work, he expressed his deep respect and intellectual admiration for the 19th century utopian socialist thinker. The latter advocated a return to the natural world and a free way of life within communities known as "Phalansteries". This long poem can precisely be read and interpreted as a long posthumous dedication. In this specific case, the poetic dimension of the dedication was evident. It emphasized an intense dialogue between the poet and the thinker, in which Breton personally addressed Fourier in order to demonstrate the similar character of their perspective on life, language and society.
The dedications included in Henri Béhar's work are juxtaposed with short biographical passages concerning the writers and artists to whom they were addressed or who were themselves the authors of these dedications. These reinforce the work's informational power: these passages thus allow the reader to identify these writers and artists, since some of them are not necessarily famous.
Among these, one sometimes finds surprising figures that one does not necessarily associate with the history of surrealism. I think here in particular of Henri Jeanson, who is well known for his prolific work as a screenwriter in the French film industry. Henri Béhar thus reminds us that he was originally a member of the anarchist movement and that he participated in the founding of the Académie Alphonse Allais.
This particular case demonstrates the close links between Breton and the world of popular culture, from song to cinema. Such a world exists beyond the literary and artistic avant-garde. In this regard, it should not be forgotten that many modern French singers, including Léo Ferré, have adapted surrealist texts and poems and thus made them accessible to the general public.
Henri Béhar's work escapes the traditional categories of academic criticism. It is neither a classic monographic essay nor a collection of prose texts or poems. It pays attention to a literary form that is often neglected or seen as simply anecdotal. This constitutes the most striking aspect of his project. The number of dedications that are gathered in this book of more than 500 pages is also impressive.
Finally, it should be emphasized the importance of the word: 'gift' which is part of its title. Indeed, these dedications can be conceived as a set of personal gifts. By definition, the gift is neither premeditated nor planned. It must exist in the moment, as a spontaneous gesture that requires neither reward nor retribution. In this sense, it reflects the spirit of the avant-garde and surrealism in particular, since surrealism celebrated the essential role played by the instant and the unforeseen in art and life.
Breton conceived poetry as an essential gift from man to man. According to his perspective, the poet did not simply offer his words to the other, but also his body and soul. The form of dedication thus echoes Breton's personal thought on poetry. Moreover, the gift implies the need for total engagement of the subject, which surrealist poetry precisely required of its followers.
In conclusion, it is necessary here to praise the in-depth work that this book represents. It opens the way to new forms of academic research based on unknown or rare documents rather than canonical texts. It will also constitute a tool of great utility for future students of the movement, especially because of its encyclopedic perspective.
Pierre Taminiaux/Georgetown University