Cahiers de Narratologie (Jan 2010)
« C’est alors que le Corsaire Sanglot… ». Le stéréotype romanesque dans les romans surréalistes des années vingt
Abstract
The use of novelistic stereotypes by surrealists during the 1920s permitted the composition of literary works while avoiding the problem of the realistic novel genre that André Breton denounced ; the obvious tricks of the popular novel work as “a secret of surrealist art” by structuring narration and avoiding the trap of psychology. However, this narratological and critical use is combined with the pleasure of novel reading and writing that links stereotypes to erotic fantasies. By playing, moreover, on novelistic improbabilities, surrealists demolish the realistic attitude towards the world and nourish the sense of fantasy that is necessary to the emergence of the surreal. Along with a playful use of stereotypes, surrealists fully exploit their fascinating possibilities.
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