This article is part of a more detailed study of “pictopoetry” as a phenomenon, where we define its place in the genre system of surrealism on the example of Paul Eluard and Man Ray collection “Les Mains libres” (“Free Hands”). The activities of the surrealists expanded the artistic vision of the world to previously unknown boundaries. In particular, we observe these innovative achievements in the field of poetry, where A. Breton, W. Browner, P. Eluard and other representatives of this trend continued to search for new poetic intermediate forms, genre paradigms. The genre repertoire of surrealists is characterized by unusual diversity, exploratory nature and freedom from restrictions, and the short existence of new genres that did not mature in time, complicates the study of the genre system of this art direction, so it remains an unexplored field in literature. Forms and genres of poetry created within the framework of surrealism did not acquire a broad enough scientific understanding that would allow them to be systematized. Among contemporary French literary critics, more and more scientists turn to P. Eluard`s creative heritage, but some of them focus on the specifics of his collection “Free Hands”. In particular, in the few works of French scientists (S. Caron, J.-L. Benoit, M.F. Leudet, C. Leconte) considered only some aspects of the nature of the synthesis of graphic and textual components of the collection “Free Hands”, and the problem of P. Eluard and Man Ray pictopoetry’s poetics as a phenomenon significant for genre researches of surrealists is not staged at all. As for the specifics of the poetics of P. Eluard`s “pictopoetry”, it remains almost unexplored today. In the works of I. Ehrenburg and S. Velykovsky, the main attention is focused on the general analysis of P. Eluard`s poetry, his experience in the use of free verse and automatic writing. P. Eluard’s contribution to the development of visual poetry and the intermediate nature of his works are only partially considered by T. Balashova, Y. Dovga, I. Medvedeva, and the experience of poet’s work in tandem with illustrators became the subject of E. Miroshnikova special analysis. In Ukrainian Eluard`s studies, the attention of scinetists is focused on the study of biography, some techniques of the poet, for example, the use of free verse and automatic writing (O. Benina, V. Soloveychik), but not on the pictpoetry’s poetics as important sign of poetry of surrealism and it’s genre innovations. This fact necessitates the filling of the gaps that currently exist in the study of surrealist poetry in its innovative, revolutionary forms, including the “pictopoetry” of the master of surrealism – the French poet Paul Eluard. “Pictopoetry” as a concept developed theoretically by W. Brauner and revealed by P. Eluard in the collection “Free Hands” (created in collaboration with the artist Man Ray), embodies the intermedia research for surrealists of the twentieth century in general, as well as the unique experience of co-creation of two surrealist artists on a fundamentally new level, which goes far beyond the traditional collaboration of poet and illustrator. Therefore, P. Eluard`s “pictopoetry” is understood as an innovative form of surrealist poetry, built on the principle of synthesis of arts, on the intermediality. It seems relevant both in terms of understanding the work of surrealist poets, and in the context of Eluard’s studies, where the figure of the poet as an innovator, the practice of intermedia art, still remains insufficiently revealed. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify the originality of the poetics of Paul Eluard’s “pictopoetry” in the collection “Free Hands”. The article analyzes both literary and psycholinguistic means of expressing the double code in the collection on the example of duopoems. It is determined that the intermedia research method of the boundary state image, in which surreal images are intertwined at the level of poetic word and image, creating new meanings, defines the poetics of “Free Hands” as a collection created “in four hands”. This fact will allow us to analyze more thoroughly both the phenomenon of “pictopoetry” in particular and the contribution of the poet and artist in its development.
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Feb 1, 2023
Jan Baetens 
Open Access