Anthology of Black Humour - Andre Breton

This is Breton's definitive statement on l'humour noir, one of the seminal concepts of Surrealism.

In his provocative anthology of the writers he most admires, Breton discusses the acerbic aphorisms of Swift, Lichtenberg and Duchamp, the theatrical slapstick of Christian Dietrich Grabbe, the wry missives of Rimbaud, the manic paranoia of Dali, the ferocious iconoclasm of Alfred Jarry and the offhand hilarity of Apollinaire.

For each of the authors included, Breton provides an enlightening preface, situating both the writer and the work in the context of black humour - a partly macabre, partly ironic, and often absurd turn of spirit that Breton defined as 'a superior revolt of the mind'.

This edition includes Breton's foreword to the 1966 French edition, and Breton's essay, Lightning Rod, first published with the 1939 edition. This book comes with an introduction from translator Mark Polizzotti written in 1996.

ISBN: 9781846590740

Pages: 415

Paperback

Telegram, 2009

Good condition; Cover has some small creases at the corners

B05