THE SURREALIST NOVEL: ITS PRINCIPLES AND STRUCTURES IN ANDRE BRETON'S NADJA, L'AMOUR FOU AND ARCANE 17

 by Carol Elizabeth Lang

"La liberte n fest pas, comme la liberation, la lutte contre la maladie, elle est la sante." 
Andre Breton Arcane 17

"Freedom is not like liberation, the fight against disease, it is health."

ABSTRACT
Surrealist principles and structures in Nadja, L TAmour fou and Arcane 17 reveal the continuing preoccupation of Andre Breton with the liberation of the unconscious and its communication to the reader. The purpose of this dissertation is to trace the evolution of such structures and to demonstrate the contribution of Breton’s early medical background to these works including the influence of J. Babinski.

In the Introduction the lack of interest in these works on the part of key critics is considered. Passages from Clair de terre, LesPas perdus and the Manifeste du Surrealisme are seen, on the other hand, to suggest the early concern of Breton with the potential of the Surrealist novel.

Each of the three works is then treated in depth. The explicit intentions of Breton are cited (except in the case of Arcane 17). N e x t , the physical structures of each work are examined. These are considered to be spatial indications of Breton’s thought. Primary and secondary divisions, paragraphing, sentence length and illustrated matter are discussed. 

Special attention is given to Breton’s continuing attempt to provide the work as a ’’glass house” to the reader. Physical structures are seen to be original, varied, uneven, open and groping in Nadja.

They are more even but more eclectic in L ’Amour fou. In Arcane 17 they
are structures capable of communicating Breton’s most mature, intense
expression.

Thematic structures are explored in detail. In Nadja these are many. Self-expression via the unconscious, surrealist space, attraction and repulsion, the four elements, the promenade, the encounter and liberty and creation receive attention. Particular study is made of the
principal themes of the unconscious, the promenade, the encounter and liberty. In L^Amour fou, Breton is seen to have gathered these loose thematic structures into a tighter framework. From the earlier themes of Nadja four principal notions are shown to have developed: objective chance, the encounter, mad love, and woman and child.

 The thematic intensity of Arcane 1 7 , finally, is seen to depend on the integration of
three structures, that of disintegration and reintegration, woman and the child and liberty and creation. Use of generative images to document and communicate these notions to the reader is noted.

In addition, lexical elements and syntactical structures are examined since they play a unique role in the Surrealist documentation of the unconscious in these works. Interplay of proper nouns, juxtaposition of psychological, scientific, poetic, casual and Biblical terms,
as well as an often utilized "springboard" technique are explored.

These elements, as well as the creative use of open-ended sentences,
italics and suspension points permit simultaneous documentation of objective and subjective realities.

In the Conclusion these principles and structures are found to provide for the liberation of the unconscious and the consequent evolution of the dream. At the same time they involve closely superimposed objective and subjective documentation of this process. Both aspects
must be considered characteristic of the Surrealist novel as envisioned by Breton.