This book offers a new perspective on a long-debated issue: the role of the occult in surrealism, in particular under the leadership of French writer André Breton. Based on thorough source analysis, this study details how our understanding of occultism and esotericism, as well as of their function in Bretonian surrealism, changed significantly over time from the early 1920s to the late 1950s.

Dr Tessel M. Bauduin is a historian of art and culture. She holds a PhD in the Arts from the University of Amsterdam, and is currently affiliated with the Radboud University, Nijmegen, as a post-doctoral researcher. Her research interests include the historical avant-garde, especially Surrealism; Modernism and occulture; Modernist medievalism.

Introduction[overview of the field. Analysis of other studies/works on this subject. Explanation of method. Definitions of occultism etc.]I. The time of slumbers [early 1920s. Spiritualism, mediumism, parapsychology. The "Sleeping Sessions". Breton: various essays]II. The period of reason[late 1920s. clairvoyance, seership. Rimbaudian alchemy. Breton: Nadja (1928)]III. The 'Golden Age'[the 1930s. The demand for "the occultation" (2nd Manifesto). Objective chance. Myth. Breton: Mad Love]IV. Intermezzo: Surrealism in arcanum: the war[1938-1945. SUR in the US. Christian heterodox throught. Myth and magic. Breton: Arcanum 17.]V. The international exposition of Surrealism, 1947[1947ff. The exhibition as display of SUR's occultation. Most occult period in SUR. Breton: L'Art Magique (1957). Alchemy. Petering out of SUR.]Conclusion