Robert Delaunay - le poète Philippe Soupault

Philippe Soupault (2 August 1897 – 12 March 1990) was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in

Dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

and later was instrumental in founding the

Surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

movement with

André Breton André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...

.Philippe Soupault in the Encyclopædia Britannica
/ref> Soupault initiated the periodical ''

Littérature ''Littérature'' was a literary and surrealistic magazine edited by André Breton, Philippe Soupault, and Louis Aragon. Its first issue was published on March 19, 1919. Dwindling circulation would prompt Breton to terminate publication after the A ...

'' together with writers Breton and

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He ...

in Paris in 1919, which, for many, marks the beginnings of Surrealism. The first book of

automatic writing Automatic writing, also called psychography, is a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. Practitioners engage in automatic writing by holding a writing instrument and allowing alleged spir ...

, '' Les Champs magnétiques'' (1920), was co-authored by Soupault and Breton.

Biography

In 1922 he was asked to reinvent the literary magazine ''

Les Écrits nouveaux ''Les Écrits nouveaux'' was a literary magazine founded in 1917 and published until 1922. ''Les Écrits nouveaux'' was edited by Émile-Paul and , the cousin of Roger Martin du Gard, while the editorial board was made up of Edmond Jaloux, Vale ...

'', for which he also created an editorial board. In 1927 Soupault, with the help of his then wife Marie-Louise, translated

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

's ''

Songs of Innocence and Experience ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' is a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases: a few first copies were printed and illuminated by Blake himself in 1789; five years later, he bound these poems with a ...

'' into French. The next year, Soupault authored a monograph on Blake, arguing the poet was a "genius" whose work anticipated the Surrealist movement in literature. In 1933 at a reception at the Soviet Embassy in Paris, he met Ré Richter, and they decided to do some travel reportage together. Ré Richter's photographs, taken with her 6x6

Rolleiflex Rolleiflex is the name of a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werke. History The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's premier ...

, were to be published alongside Philippe Soupault's literary texts. In the following years, the two of them continued in the same vein, travelling to Germany, Switzerland, England, Scandinavia and Tunisia. They married in 1937 and separated after the end of the war; he moved back to Europe, and she remained in New York for some time.bauhaus 100
/ref> Soupault directed

Radio Tunis Radio Tunis called Tunisian National Radio ( ar, الإذاعة الوطنية التونسية) or Radio of Tunisia (), founded in October 1938, is the primary radio station of Tunisia whose offices are located at Tunis. History Backgroun ...

from 1937 until 1940, when he was arrested by the pro-Vichy regime. After imprisonment by the Nazis in Tunis during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he and his wife fled to

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. From there, they traveled to the United States. He took a teaching position at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

, but returned subsequently to France in October 1945.Keith Aspley, "Soupault, Philippe", in ''Historical dictionary of surrealism.'' Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2010. (pp. 446–48) His works include large volumes of poetry such as ''Aquarium'' (1917) and ''Rose des vents'' (Compass Card) (1920), and the novel ''Les Dernières Nuits de Paris'' (1928; tr. Last Nights of Paris, 1929). In 1957, he wrote the libretto for Germaine Tailleferre's opera ''La Petite Sirène'', based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale "

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a ...

". The work was broadcast by French Radio National in 1959.

Legacy

In 1990, the year Soupault died,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n rock band

Bjesovi Bjesovi ( sr-cyr, Бјесови; trans. ''The Demons'') are a Serbian alternative rock band formed in Gornji Milanovac in 1989. The band was one of the most notable acts of the 1990s Rock music in Serbia, Serbian rock scene. Formed in 1989 by voc ...

recorded their version of his poem ''Georgia'' in Serbian. Soupault's short story "Death of Nick Carter" was translated by Robin Walz in 2007, and published in issue 24 of the ''

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to ...

Quarterly''. In 2016,

City Lights Bookstore City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected ti ...

published a book of his essays entitled ''Lost Profiles: Memoirs of Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism'' as translated by

Alan Bernheimer Alan Bernheimer (born 1948 in New York City) is an American poet, often associated with the San Francisco Language poets. Biography He attended Horace Mann School, and graduated in 1970 from Yale College, where he became friends with poets Steve ...

Works

* ''Aquarium'' (1917) * ''Rose des vents'' (1919) * '' Les Champs magnétiques'', (1919, in association with A. Breton) * ''L’Invitation au suicide'' (1921) * ''Westwego'' (1922) * ''Le Bon Apôtre'' (1923, novel) * ''Les Frères Durandeau'' (1924, novel) * ''Georgia'' (1926) * ''Le Nègre'' (1927, novel) * ''Les Dernières Nuits de Paris'' (1928, novel). * ''Le Grand Homme'' (1929, novel) * ''Les Moribonds'' (1934, autobiographical novel) * ''Il y a un océan'' (1936) * ''Odes à Londres bombardée'' (1944) * ''Le Temps des assassins'' (1945, sequel of autobiography) * ''Odes'' (1946) * ''L’Arme secrète'' (1946) * ''Message de l'île déserte'' (1947) * ''Chansons'' (1949) * ''Sans phrases'' (1953) * ''Profils perdus'' (1963) ** ''Lost Profiles: Memoirs of Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism. Translated from the French by Alan Bernheimer'' (City Lights Publishers), 2016 * ''Arc-en-ciel'' (1979) * ''Mémoires de l’oubli'' (1981, autobiography) * ''Poèmes retrouvés'' (1982)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soupault, Philippe 1897 births 1990 deaths People from Chaville Dada French surrealist writers Surrealist poets 20th-century French poets 20th-century French novelists French critics French opera librettists Swarthmore College faculty French male poets French male novelists French male short story writers French short story writers French male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights 20th-century short story writers 20th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers