zodiac21 Jun 2005

I've never heard that definition of surrealism. It strikes me as kind of a misunderstanding on Thomas' part. Anyway, surely most surrealists would have agreed with his idea - that there is a mediating influence. As in the most famous surrealist exercise, the Exquisite Corpse, you always have at least of bit of line showing to guide you. For another example, Lewis Carroll didn't completely randomize his word coinage in "Jabberwocky", he just made up a consistent language that didn't make any sense. If brillig, slithy troves, wabe, borogroves, mome raths, and so on were real English words, the poem would have made perfect sense. As things stand, it only makes dream-sense.

Bankrupt_Word_Clerk, Carroll IS formal nonsense poetry. So are a bunch of others from his time. It was kind of an industry.