Journal of Surrealism and the Americas (JSA)
The Journal of Surrealism and the Americas focuses on the subject of modern European and American intellectuals’ obsession with the “New World.” This obsession—the very heart of Surrealism—extended not only to North American sites, but also to Latin America, the Caribbean, and to the numerous indigenous cultures located there. The journal invites essays that examine aspects of the actual and fantasized travel of these European and American intellectuals throughout the Americas, and their creative response to indigenous art and culture, including their anthropological and collecting activities, and their interpretations of the various geographic, political, and cultural landscapes of the Americas. We furthermore intend to investigate the interventions / negotiations / repudiations of European/American or other Surrealisms, by indigenous as well as other artists, writers and filmmakers. Original publication is available at: Journal of Surrealism and the Americas
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- Creators: Modeen, Mary
Twenty years ago, Cherokee artist Jimmie Durham described idea of “opposites” from a child’s point of view. For him, the normative take on opposites is laughably irrelevant to his childhood self, who conceived of “birds as the opposite of snakes.” His witty anecdote moves the terms of understanding away from conventional opposition, by stepping outside mainstream assumptions. Without opposites, for example, iconic images may be more fluid and simultaneous, dream-like and less fixed to singular pre-determined interpretation. So, too, the prose poems of Lautréamont and the visual and literary works of the Surrealist avant –garde employed startling juxtapositions that defied rational understanding and challenged conventional assumptions. “Outsider” status was preferable to “insider” here thanks to the power of idiosyncratic symbols and the appeal to a richer hermeneutic. Durham’s “search for virginity” in terms that reject the notion that authenticity and dishonesty are polar oppositions reprises the artistic practice of many Surrealists.