Tessel Bauduin: Ph.D. Research Project

C'est un Objet Surréaliste: Reception of Esoteric Sources in the Surrealist Discourse in Paris, 1925-1938, and Relation to the Surrealist Object

Objet Surréaliste is a research project dedicated to investigating the relationship between certain esoteric sources and early surrealism in Paris. It will focus specifically on the reception of esoteric sources in surrealist written primary sources, such as the surrealist magazines La Révolution Surréaliste, DOCUMENTS, Le surréalisme au service de la Révolution and Minotaure. As it is expected that the sources are widely diverging, and include occultist, alchemical, magical and spiritist sources, the broad umbrella-term ‘esoteric’ is used. It is assumed that these sources are very specifically selected by the surrealists, and this research project will not only look into the specifics and context of the reference, but will investigate the relationship between the source and the so-called ‘surrealistic object’. This is understood as an actual object which has been surrealistically conceived, is surrealistic in itself, and acts surrealistically. By making the actual esoteric sources and the nature of the referral evident, this research project will foster better understanding of the reception of western esotericism in early surrealism in Paris between 1925 and 1938.