
Pulp Surrealism
Insolent Popular Culture in Early Twentieth-Century Paris
Robin Walz(Author)
University of California Press
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 5. April 2000
Book
Hardback
218 pages
978-0-520-21619-8 (ISBN)
Description
In addition to its more well known literary and artistic origins, the French surrealist movement drew inspiration from currents of psychological anxiety and rebellion running through a shadowy side of mass culture, specifically in fantastic popular fiction and sensationalistic journalism. The provocative nature of this insolent mass culture resonated with the intellectual and political preoccupations of the surrealists, as Robin Walz demonstrates in this fascinating study. "Pulp Surrealism" weaves an interpretative history of the intersection between mass print culture and surrealism, re-evaluating both our understanding of mass culture in early twentieth-century Paris and the revolutionary aims of the surrealist movement. "Pulp Surrealism" presents four case studies, each exploring the out-of the-way and impertinent elements which inspired the surrealists. Walz discusses Louis Aragon's "Le paysan de Paris", one of the great surrealist novels of Paris. He goes on to consider the popular series of "Fantomes" crime novels; the Parisan press coverage of the arrest, trial, and execution of mass-murderer Landru; and the surrealist inquiry 'Is Suicide a Solution?'
, which Walz juxtaposes with reprints of actual suicide faits divers (sensationalist newspaper blurbs). Although surrealist interest in sensationalist popular culture eventually waned, this exploration of mass print culture as one of the cultural milieux from which surrealism emerged ultimately calls into question assumptions about the avant-garde origins of modernism itself.
, which Walz juxtaposes with reprints of actual suicide faits divers (sensationalist newspaper blurbs). Although surrealist interest in sensationalist popular culture eventually waned, this exploration of mass print culture as one of the cultural milieux from which surrealism emerged ultimately calls into question assumptions about the avant-garde origins of modernism itself.
More details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
8 b-w photographs. 3 tables
Dimensions
Height: 237 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
485 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-21619-8 (9780520216198)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2020
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€28.99
Available for download
Person
Robin Walz is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Alaska Southeast.