Reimagining Life : Philosophical Pessimism and the Revolution of Surrealism

Philosophical pessimism and "The new spirit" -- Revolution of the mind -- Plurality and unity -- From vitalism to epivitalism -- The defense of infinity.;The innovative, wide-ranging study deftly traverses fields of art, politics, philosophy, psychology, and literature. Reimagining Life redefines Surrealism's place in modern intellectual history and offers a new vision of how Surrealist discourse can be connected to contemporary debates in cultural, critical, and theoretical studies. In Reimagining Life , Raihan Kadri presents a pioneering critical history of the epistemological and theoretical origins of the Surrealist movement and its subsequent legacy. The book contains extensive examination and new interpretations of the oft-neglected theoretical writing of Surrealists such as Louis Aragon, Antonin Artaud, Andr Breton, and Salvador Dal, in order to demonstrate how Surrealism embodied a sensibility connected to a broader lineage of philosophical pessimism--involving such figures as Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, and Arthur Rimbaud--which Kadri argues represents a particular strain of modernism aimed at breaking human thought away from the constraint of various forms of idealism, expanding the possibilities for knowledge and human freedom. This innovative, wide-ranging study deftly traverses fields of art, politics, philosophy, psychology, and literature. Reimagining Life redefines Surrealism's place in modern intellectual history and offers a new vision of how Surrealist discourse can be connected to contemporary debates in cultural, critical, and theoretical studies. In Reimagining Life, Raihan Kadri presents a pioneering critical history of the epistemological and theoretical origins of the Surrealist movement and its subsequent legacy. The book contains extensive examination and new interpretations of the oft-neglected theoretical writing of Surrealists such as André Breton, Louis Aragon, Antonin Artaud, and Salvador Dalí, in order to demonstrate how Surrealism is connected to a broader lineage of philiosophical pessimism-involving such figures as Fredrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, and Arthur Rimbaud-which Kadri argues represents a particular strain of modernism aimed at breaking human thought away from the constraints of religion and other forms of idealism in order to expand the possibilities for knowledge and human freedom. The innovative, wide-ranging study deftly traverses fields of art, politics, philosophy, psychology, and literature. Reimagining Life redefines Surrealism's place in modern intellectual history and offers a new vision of how Surrealist discourse can be connected to contemporary debates in cultural, critical, and theoretical studies. The author presents a critical history of the epistemological and theoretical origins of the Surrealist movement and its subsequent legacy. The book contains examination and interpretations of the oft-neglected theoretical writing of Surrealists such as Louis Aragon, Antonin Artaud, Andre Breton and Salvador Dali in order to demonstrate how Surrealism embodied a sensibility connected to a broader lineage of philosophical pessimism - involving such figures as Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx and Arthur Timbaud - which the author argues represents a particular strain of modernism aimed at breaking human thought away from the constraint of various forms of idealism, expanding the possibilities for knowledge and human freedom