Anthology of Black Humor  

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-''[[Anthology of Black Humor]]'', first published in [[1940]] as ''Anthologie de l'humour noir'' (Paris, [[Éditions du Sagittaire]]) is an [[anthology]] of '[[black humor]]' texts edited and commented upon by [[André Breton]]. It is currently in print in a 1997 English translation on [[City Lights Books]] (ISBN 0872863212).+''[[Anthology of Black Humor]]'' (1940, '''Anthologie de l'humour noir''') is an [[anthology]] of '[[black humor]]' texts selected by and commented upon by [[André Breton]].
-== Featured authors ==+It is currently in print in a 1997 [[City Lights Bookstore]] with an English translation by [[Mark Polizzotti]].
-*[[Jonathan Swift]] +
-*[[Marquis de Sade|D.-A.-F.de Sade]] +
-*[[Georg Christoph Lichtenberg]] +
-*[[Charles Fourier]] +
-*[[Thomas De Quincey]] +
-*[[Pierre-François Lacenaire]] +
-*[[Christian Dietrich Grabbe]] +
-*[[Petrus Borel]] +
-*[[Edgar Allan Poe]] +
-*[[Xavier Forneret]] +
-*[[Charles Baudelaire]] +
-*[[Lewis Carroll]] +
-*[[Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam|Villiers de l'Isle-Adam]] +
-*[[Charles Cros]] +
-*[[Friedrich Nietzsche]] +
-*[[Comte de Lautréamont|Isidore Ducasse]] (Comte de Lautréamont) +
-*[[Joris-Karl Huysmans]] +
-*[[Tristan Corbière]] +
-*[[Germain Nouveau]] +
-*[[Arthur Rimbaud]] +
-*[[Alphonse Allais]] +
-*[[Jean-Pierre Brisset]] +
-*[[O. Henry]] +
-*[[André Gide]] +
-*[[John Millington Synge]] +
-*[[Alfred Jarry]] +
-*[[Raymond Roussel]] +
-*[[Francis Picabia]] +
-*[[Guillaume Apollinaire]] +
-*[[Pablo Picasso]] +
-*[[Arthur Cravan]] +
-*[[Franz Kafka]] +
-*[[Jakob van Hoddis]] +
-*[[Marcel Duchamp]] +
-*[[Hans Arp]] +
-*[[Alberto Savinio]] +
-*[[Jacques Vaché]] +
-*[[Benjamin Péret]] +
-*[[Jacques Rigaut]] +
-*[[Jacques Prévert]] +
-*[[Salvador Dali]] +
-*[[Jean Ferry]] +
-*[[Leonora Carrington]] +
-*[[Gisèle Prassinos]] +
-*[[Jean-Pierre Duprey]]+
 +Its original distribution was immediately banned by the [[Vichy France|Vichy goverment]]. It was reprinted in [[1947]] after Breton´s return from exile, with a few additions. In [[1966]], Breton, "''having resisted the temptation to add more names''", published the book again and this edition was called "the definitive" by the him.
 +The anthology not only introduced some until then almost [[unknown]] or [[forgotten]] writers, it also coined the term "[[black humor]]" (as Breton said, until then the term had meant nothing, unless someone imagined jokes about black people ). The term became globally used since then. The choice of authors was done entirely by Breton and according to his [[taste]] which he explains in the Foreword (called ''[[The Lightning Rod]]'', a term suggested by [[Lichtenberg]]), a work of great depth that starts with contemplating [[Rimbaud]]´s words "Emanations, explosions ..." from Rimbaud´s last poem ''[[The barrack-room of night : Dream]]''. The authors, each introduced by a preface by Breton and represented by a few pages from their writings, are sorted chronologically. The book is still in print. It was translated into several languages; into [[English]] by [[Mark Polizzotti]] in [[1997]].
 +==Publishing history==
 +Originally published by [[Éditions du Sagittaire]].
== Notes to the English translation == == Notes to the English translation ==
 +:This is the first publication in English of the anthology that contains Breton's definitive statement on [[black comedy|l'humour noir]], one of the seminal concepts of Surrealism, and his provocative assessments of the writers he most admired. While some of the authors featured in the ''Anthology of Black Humor'' are already well known to American readers-[[Swift]], [[Kafka]], [[Rimbaud]], [[Poe]], [[Lewis Carroll]], and [[Baudelaire]] among them (and even then, Breton's selections are often surprising)-many others are sure to come as a revelation.
-This is the first publication in English of the anthology that contains Breton's definitive statement on [[black comedy|l'humour noir]], one of the seminal concepts of Surrealism, and his provocative assessments of the writers he most admired. While some of the authors featured in the ''Anthology of Black Humor'' are already well known to American readers-Swift, Kafka, Rimbaud, Poe, Lewis Carroll, and Baudelaire among them (and even then, Breton's selections are often surprising)-many others are sure to come as a revelation.+:The entries range from the [[acerbic]] [[aphorism]]s of [[Swift]], [[Lichtenberg]], and [[Duchamp]] to the theatrical slapstick of [[Christian Dietrich Grabbe]], from the wry missives of Rimbaud and [[Jacques Vaché]] to the manic paranoia of [[Dali]], from the [[ferocious]] [[iconoclasm]] of [[Alfred Jarry]] and [[Arthur Cravan]] to the offhand hilarity of [[Apollinaire]] at his most spontaneous. For each of the forty-five authors included, Breton has provided an enlightening biographical and critical preface, situating both the writer and the work in the context of black humor-a partly [[macabre]], partly [[ironic]], and often [[absurd]] turn of spirit that Breton defined as "a superior revolt of the mind."
-The entries range from the [[acerbic]] [[aphorism]]s of Swift, Lichtenberg, and Duchamp to the theatrical slapstick of Christian Dietrich Grabbe, from the wry missives of Rimbaud and Jacques Vaché to the manic paranoia of Dali, from the [[ferocious]] [[iconoclasm]] of Alfred Jarry and Arthur Cravan to the offhand hilarity of Apollinaire at his most spontaneous. For each of the forty-five authors included, Breton has provided an enlightening biographical and critical preface, situating both the writer and the work in the context of black humor-a partly [[macabre]], partly [[ironic]], and often [[absurd]] turn of spirit that Breton defined as "a superior revolt of the mind."+:The translator [[Mark Polizzotti]] is the author of ''Revolution of the Mind: The Life of André Breton''. --from the publisher (ISBN 0872863212)
-The translator [[Mark Polizzotti]] is the author of ''Revolution of the Mind: The Life of André Breton''. --from the publisher+== Contents of the 1966 "definitive" edition ==
 +The anthology contains the following excerpts, each introduced by a commentary by Breton:
 +* [[Jonathan Swift]]: ''[[Directions to Servants]]'', ''[[A Modest Proposal]]'', ''[[A Meditation on a Broom-Stick]]''; a few aphorisms;
 +* [[Marquis de Sade|D.-A.-F.de Sade]]: ''[[Juliette (novel)|Juliette]]''
 +* [[Georg Christoph Lichtenberg]]: selected aphorisms.
 +* [[Charles Fourier]], five texts, two fragments from ''[[Theory of the Four Movements]]'' and one from ''[[Treatise of the Domestic-Agricultural Association]]'', ''[[The New Industrial and Societal World]]'' and ''[[Final Analogies]]''
 +* [[Thomas de Quincey]]
 +* [[Pierre-François Lacenaire]]
 +* [[Petrus Borel]]: ''[[Marchand et voleur est synonyme]]'', a section of ''[[Champavert, contes immoraux]]''
 +* [[Christian Dietrich Grabbe]]
 +* [[Edgar Allan Poe]]
 +* [[Xavier Forneret]]
 +* [[Charles Baudelaire]]
 +* [[Lewis Carroll]]
 +* [[Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam|Villiers de l'Isle-Adam]]
 +* [[Charles Cros]]
 +* [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]: ''[[Letter to Jacob Burckhardt]]'' (also published in ''[[The Portable Nietzsche]]'')
 +* [[Comte de Lautréamont|Isidore Ducasse]] (Comte de Lautréamont): excerpts from ''Maldor'' and ''Letters'' (Also published in ''Maldor and the Complete Works of the Comte de Lautreamont'')
 +* [[Joris-Karl Huysmans]]
 +* [[Tristan Corbière]]: ''The Litany of Sleep'' (also published in ''the Centenary Corbiere'')
 +* [[Germain Nouveau]]
 +* [[Arthur Rimbaud]]: excerpt from ''A Heart under a Cassok'' (also published in ''Completed Works, Selected Letters'')
 +* [[Alphonse Allais]]
 +* [[Jean-Pierre Brisset]]
 +* [[O. Henry]]: "[[While the Auto Waits]]"
 +* [[André Gide]]: ''Prometheus' Lecture'' (also published in ''Marshlands and Prometheus Misbound'')
 +* [[John Millington Synge]]
 +* [[Alfred Jarry]]: ''The Debraining Song''; and excerpts from ''Ubu Enchained'', Act I, Scene II ''Le Champ de Mars'' (also published in ''The Ubu Plays'')
 +* [[Raymond Roussel]]: excerpt from ''[[Impressions of Africa]]''
 +* [[Francis Picabia]]
 +* [[Guillaume Apollinaire]]: ''Dramaturgy'' and ''Meetings'' (from ''The Poet Assassinated and Other Stories'')
 +* [[Pablo Picasso]]
 +* [[Arthur Cravan]]
 +* [[Franz Kafka]]: excerpt from ''[[The Metamorphosis]]''
 +* [[Jakob van Hoddis]]
 +* [[Marcel Duchamp]]: aphorisms (also found in ''[[The Writings of Marchel Duchamp]]'')
 +* [[Hans Arp]]: ''[[Bestiary with no First Name]]''
 +* [[Alberto Savinio]]: ''[[Introduction to a Life of Mercury]]'' (from ''Le lives of the Gods'')
 +* [[Jacques Vaché]]
 +* [[Benjamin Péret]]: ''Death to the Pigs and other writings''
 +* [[Jacques Rigaut]]
 +* [[Jacques Prévert]]
 +* [[Salvador Dalí]]
 +* [[Jean Ferry]]
 +* [[Leonora Carrington]]: ''The Debutante''
 +* [[Gisèle Prassinos]]
 +* [[Jean-Pierre Duprey]]
 +Others works excerped include:
 +[[Louis Aragon]]'s 1928 ''[[Treatise on Style]]''. [[Freud]]'s 1928 ''[[Humor in Freud|Humor]]'' from ''[[International journal of psychoanalysis]]'' 9 1-6 (republished in ''Collected papers of Sigmung Freud'' vol.5).
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Anthology of Black Humor (1940, Anthologie de l'humour noir) is an anthology of 'black humor' texts selected by and commented upon by André Breton.

It is currently in print in a 1997 City Lights Bookstore with an English translation by Mark Polizzotti.

Its original distribution was immediately banned by the Vichy goverment. It was reprinted in 1947 after Breton´s return from exile, with a few additions. In 1966, Breton, "having resisted the temptation to add more names", published the book again and this edition was called "the definitive" by the him.

The anthology not only introduced some until then almost unknown or forgotten writers, it also coined the term "black humor" (as Breton said, until then the term had meant nothing, unless someone imagined jokes about black people ). The term became globally used since then. The choice of authors was done entirely by Breton and according to his taste which he explains in the Foreword (called The Lightning Rod, a term suggested by Lichtenberg), a work of great depth that starts with contemplating Rimbaud´s words "Emanations, explosions ..." from Rimbaud´s last poem The barrack-room of night : Dream. The authors, each introduced by a preface by Breton and represented by a few pages from their writings, are sorted chronologically. The book is still in print. It was translated into several languages; into English by Mark Polizzotti in 1997.

[edit]

Publishing history

Originally published by Éditions du Sagittaire.

[edit]

Notes to the English translation

This is the first publication in English of the anthology that contains Breton's definitive statement on l'humour noir, one of the seminal concepts of Surrealism, and his provocative assessments of the writers he most admired. While some of the authors featured in the Anthology of Black Humor are already well known to American readers-Swift, Kafka, Rimbaud, Poe, Lewis Carroll, and Baudelaire among them (and even then, Breton's selections are often surprising)-many others are sure to come as a revelation.
The entries range from the acerbic aphorisms of Swift, Lichtenberg, and Duchamp to the theatrical slapstick of Christian Dietrich Grabbe, from the wry missives of Rimbaud and Jacques Vaché to the manic paranoia of Dali, from the ferocious iconoclasm of Alfred Jarry and Arthur Cravan to the offhand hilarity of Apollinaire at his most spontaneous. For each of the forty-five authors included, Breton has provided an enlightening biographical and critical preface, situating both the writer and the work in the context of black humor-a partly macabre, partly ironic, and often absurd turn of spirit that Breton defined as "a superior revolt of the mind."
The translator Mark Polizzotti is the author of Revolution of the Mind: The Life of André Breton. --from the publisher (ISBN 0872863212)
[edit]

Contents of the 1966 "definitive" edition

The anthology contains the following excerpts, each introduced by a commentary by Breton:

Others works excerped include: Louis Aragon's 1928 Treatise on Style. Freud's 1928 Humor from International journal of psychoanalysis 9 1-6 (republished in Collected papers of Sigmung Freud vol.5).

Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Anthology of Black Humor" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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