INDEX AND CONCORDANCES OF ANDRÉ BRETON'S COMPLETE WORKS

January 1, 2004

For my personal use, I have digitized André Breton's complete works, including the pagination from the Pléiade edition. Since this collection is under copyright, I cannot make my transcription available to everyone. However, nothing prevents me from providing an alphabetical index, or a hierarchical index of the vocabulary used by the author, in order to compare it with the usage of other writers, starting with Paul Eluard, whose indexes can be found on this site. In the same way, one will therefore find here, covering the totality of works published by André Breton (including Perspective cavalière, edited by Marguerite Bonnet):

[double-click on images to display PDFs and right-click to download]

[TRANSCRIPTION IN PROGRESS, to be continued...]

Concordance A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z – Concordance (one line of text for each occurrence) in alphabetical order. Note that the transcription has not eliminated the citations made by Breton, which explains why the indexes end with the form "zutre," proposed by Alfred Jarry. I warmly thank Aube Elléouët-Breton for her agreement and Michel Bernard (University Paris III) for his unfailing support. HB

Posted online on November 8, 2020 by Sophie Béhar. Editor Henri Béhar.

Notice: user information Index, concordances of André Breton's complete works Please read carefully the entirety of this notice before using the indexes and concordances provided in the SURREALIST DIGITAL LIBRARY.

Keep or download this notice, you may need to reread it. If you have other questions, if you have any doubt, ask us for more information by sending an email to Henri Béhar: hbehar[at]sfr.fr

Corpus The Complete Works of André Breton result from a digital transcription of works published by André Breton during his lifetime, to which we have added the posthumous collection Perspective cavalière.

Concretely, and for practical reasons (the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade books lend themselves poorly to automatic digitization) we have transcribed the texts from the original editions, which we have compiled and reviewed by inserting the Pléiade pagination, for the excellent reason that these books, accessible in most public libraries, are not subject to constant reprints with pagination changes, as is the case for pocket format books. Moreover, this very carefully prepared edition offers a reliable, irrevocable text. However, we have not transcribed the annex texts, published under the heading "Surroundings."

In the case of re-editions by the author himself, we have retained the last edition revised by him. List of digitized works In alphabetical order: Amour fou 1937 Anthologie de l'humour noir 1950 Arcane 17 1944 Arcane 17 1947 Art magique, L' 1957 Champs magnétiques, Les 1920 Clé des champs, La (19 Constellations (19 Anthologie de l'humour noir 1940 Entretiens 1952 Farouche à quatre feuilles (194 70 Flagrant délit 1949 Immaculée Conception L'. 1930 Introduction au discours… 1927 Lampe dans l'horloge La 1948 Manifeste du surréalisme 1924 Manifeste du surréalisme 1929 Manifestes du surréalisme 1962 Martinique charmeuse de serpents 1948 Mont de Piété 1919 Nadja 1928 Ode à Charles Fourier 1947 Poèmes 1948 Point du jour 1934 Position politique du surréalisme 1935 Revolver à cheveux blancs, Le 1932 Second Manifeste du surréalisme 1930 Surréalisme et la peinture;Le 1928 Trajectoire du rêve 1938 Union libre, L' 1931 Vases communicants, Les (1932/1955) Or in chronological order: Mont de Piété 1919 Champs magnétiques, Les 1920 Manifeste du surréalisme 1924 Immaculée Conception L' 1930 Second Manifeste du surréalisme 1930 Union libre, L' 1931 Revolver à cheveux blancs, Le 1932 Point du jour 1934 Position politique du surréalisme 1935 Amour fou 1937 Trajectoire du rêve 1938 Anthologie de l'humour noir 1945 Arcane 17 1947 Farouche à quatre feuilles 1947 Ode à Charles Fourier 1947 Lampe dans l'horloge La 1948 Martinique charmeuse de serpents 1948 Poèmes 1948 Anthologie de l'humour noir 1950 Entretiens 1952 Clé des champs, La 1953 Vases communicants, Les 1932/1955) 1955 Art magique, L' 1957 Constellations 1959 Manifestes du surréalisme 1962 Nadja (1928/1963) 1963 Surréalisme et la peinture (1928/1965) 1965 Observations on the transcription Certain texts were written by two hands, such as Les Champs magnétiques (Breton-Soupault) or L'Immaculée Conception (Breton-Eluard) or even the second edition of Surréalisme et la peinture (Breton-José Pierre). We have transcribed the entire book, without distinguishing each collaborator's share, which can distort certain lexical or statistical observations. However, we have retained only Breton's contribution in Farouche à quatre feuilles.

We have indicated the initial publication date of certain works that were subsequently integrated into a collective collection, for example the Ode à Charles Fourier, taken up in a collection of Poems and, finally, in the Pléiade. By principle, according to the usage of our masters in matters of critical edition, we have retained the last publication revised by the author.

When a text has undergone serious modifications from one edition to another, it is the last version that has been transcribed: thus for Nadja. A regrettable fact, certainly, that the user must keep in mind before drawing any lesson whatsoever.

As indicated on the site, we cannot provide this transcription to the public. It is known that the fault lies with Walt Disney, or more exactly with his heirs, who imposed a 70-year delay after the author's death for the work to enter the public domain. A measure to which France rallied, which nevertheless remains questionable! It is all the more so in the case of André Breton, since he himself indicated the 50-year post-mortem delay for what concerned his own correspondence!

This transcription was carried out in double blind, which guarantees the reliability of our digital text. That said, we are never safe from an error, and we ask the user to report it to us.

Textometry It is no longer time to debate the virtues of computer-assisted textual analysis or its defects. Our concern is to provide the user with automatic text processing, allowing a somewhat more scientific approach.

We have therefore submitted the entirety of André Breton's Complete Works to different treatments, which allow us to offer the reader an alphabetical index, a hierarchical index, a concordance or even contexts, on demand.

Any word processor provides basic indications, as well as lexicometry software:

File size = 4.24 MB; Number of pages = 1,240 Number of paragraphs = 17,030 Number of lines = 71,555 Number of words = 761,065 Number of characters (including spaces) = 3,667,117

These indications will first interest editors or printers. What is generally more useful for the reader is the index of cited names (which should accompany any work), or even the general index.

Global alphabetical index It presents all the "forms" of the complete corpus, in alphabetical order, accompanied by the number of occurrences. For readability, we have eliminated dates and, of course, page numbering, which belongs to metatext. This file contains 41,000 lines, as many non-lemmatized words. This index allows rapid identification of sought forms, present or absent. Thus, the public asks the question: Did André Breton write Breton? The answer is simple: apart from rare geographical indications, one does not find forms immediately responding to the query, except for douet, which designates the washhouse in Gallo country, but nothing of what characterizes Breton culture. No ankou, no korrigans. But I will be careful not to draw a conclusion on this subject!

Knowing that the author lived five years in the United States, one could, in the same way, search for American words in this list. However, we know the answer he gave to a young interlocutor who asked him why he refused to speak English: "to keep the purity of my language." And, indeed, his text is devoid of anglicisms. On the other hand, one will find a certain number of Germanic occurrences, due to secondary education, and especially to the domination of philosophy by German authors in the 20th century.

In truth, this initial list is only a rudimentary approach to the lexicon. Current textology tools (formerly called lexicometry) allow us to automatically locate each occurrence, in the form of an output called Index with title and page references in the Pléiade volumes, the volume in Roman numerals, the page in Arabic numerals. The immediate use consists in locating the vocabulary that interests us. However, various studies concerning the distance of words in the complete work, or their proximity, their frequency over time, are then possible. It is up to the user to be concerned about this!

Hierarchical index Following on from the alphabetical index, the user can appropriate the hierarchical index which, as its name indicates, classifies forms according to their frequency, from the highest to unity. Do not print if you are at all ecological, as it occupies 303 pages. We could have stopped at frequency 2, that is at page 184, since the rest consists of hapax, that is to say words used only once in Breton's work. However, the list is very instructive, and should arouse many remarks.

Contrary to what one imagines when studying surrealist vocabulary, this table is not fundamentally different from those that, for example, Hubert de Phalèse treated for the agrégation program. The word man is indeed at the head of the lexical vocabulary (which does not make the work a humanist theory), while woman has only 47 occurrences.

Here now is a small table illustrating Breton's motto. Where statistics confirm the poet's definitive program:

rank form Freq. 137th Love 551 329th Liberty 221 224th Poetry 308 Concordance The concordance, that is to say the publication of each of the terms used by André Breton as a pivot at the center of a line of text constitutes a very voluminous document, overall about 15,000 pages. Like the hierarchical index, we provide it in full. Practically, the user will save time if he downloads the PDF file. He will thus be able to situate each use in its context, and especially to disambiguate the different meanings of a vocabulary. Thus, the user who wants to know what the azure, a passéist term, is doing in surrealist poetry, can quickly get an idea by going to the page recording this term (p. 2189)

AZURE

A.H.N., III0970 beautiful Claire Lenoir, behind enormous "azure spectacles." This clairvoyance wanted at all costs (at

A.H.N., III0986 of divine blood. This cloaca is all kneaded with azure... We must, we say, find again

A.M., IV0244 of Jupiter in the famous Aix canvas: the black azure of sovereign Will ready to bend, to

A.M., IV0259 of Chinese geomantic paintings, where "the azure dragon and the white tiger" redistribute through trees and

CDT, I0162, formed at the edge of roads with azure spools and the telegraph, answer for your safety. There

CDT, I0171 follows don't pay attention to it. It's azure. You have nothing to fear from azure

CDT, I0171 azure. You have nothing to fear from azure. There will be a great blond vase in a

CDT, I0181 wings of legs of fins Suffices for renown Azure condenses precious vapors Marine monkeys

Suspended

Ent., III0426? – Eyes would reflect the followed ascension Under fresh azure, in murmured light... – No rather

MDP, I0006 your hair More beautiful, to envy only monotonous azure, I evoke you, anxious about a power

MDP, I0006 – Eyes would reflect the followed ascension Under fresh azure, in murmured light... – No rather

MDP, I0007 you are distant to me and that your eyes, Azure, your shadow jewels and dawn stars

MDP, I0008 on the sand, O pines, you limit the indispensable azure And sunset preludes to your reddened peaks!

P.C., IV0949 entirely pierced with the unknown, pierced in azure? Accession to 1." Variations on the

S.P., IV0669 they would have had to arm themselves with "patience in azure." A very great fortune of fate wanted that

By contextualizing each of these uses, according to the volume in which it appears: anthology, poems, aesthetic essay, one clearly sees the poetic value that Breton ensures to the vocabulary that he will enjoy varying, as the continuation of the table shows.

But these analyses, covering the totality of the work, seem to crush the diversity of genres. Subsequently, without too much delay, we will display similar analyses covering poetry books, narratives, finally essays.

These tables represent heavy work, complicated by the diversity of computer tools, which are still far from the standardization accepted by the electrical system. We have privileged PDF files, in principle non-modifiable, which are accessible on PC, Mac and even Android, so that they are accessible to truly all users.

We hope for an immoderate use of our outputs, and the production of beautiful studies of all kinds, putting the founder of surrealism in his rightful place.

And one is surprised that no American, German, Russian or Chinese laboratory has devoted itself to it until now. I affirm this all the more easily since I have directed researchers of these nationalities in my CNRS team (the Chinese since the first Gaullist program, in 1964!).

It is up to the user to make his profit from it and to communicate his work to the Mélusine site, which will be pleased to publish it.

Henri Béhar

BRETON TO SIMONE KHAN Thematic and reasoned index of André Breton's letters to Simone Khan published by Gallimard editions in 2016.