Rudolf Fabry’s Uťaté ruky (Severed hands) in the Context of the Slovak Variant of Surrealism, Nadrealism

Abstract

Rudolf Fabry’s first collection of poems, Uťaté ruky (Severed hands, 1935) was the first book published in the Aligátor series – one of the most distinct projects that accompanied the formation of the Nadrealist movement, the Slovak variant of Surrealism. Owing to the Aligátor series and other activities and products of the actors experimenting with Surrealist poetics, Nadrealism markedly shaped Slovak literature, visual arts, typography, and other forms of art. In result, it became an important movement in Slovak poetry, introducing new poetics which was not, however, met with understanding. The critical reception of Fabry’s debut testifies to that. The debate concerning the new and the old – experiment and tradition – showed that it is crucial to recognise the degree to which Slovak Nadrealism was inspired by foreign authors and literatures (G. Apollinaire, Czech and French Surrealism). This article attempts at conceptualising Nadrealism in its objective contexts without which it cannot be adequately grasped.

Keywords

• nadrealism
• experiment
• tradition
• playfulness
• rudolf fabry