Poetry
Approximate Man
L'Homme approximatif
Tristan Tzara · 1931
Synopsis
A long poem in nineteen parts, without ordinary grammar or punctuation, in which words are linked first by sound. It opens with bells and with people who ring along with them for no reason, which critics have read as a figure of daily monotony. This approximate man is, according to Henri Béhar, a universal and permanent figure; solitude and revolt take the form of a wolf there, a shepherd of words orders language, and the poem follows a quest of being towards its full possession.
Context
Written from 1925 to 1930, the poem first appeared in fragments; the one that would become the last canto was published in La Révolution surréaliste in December 1929, the year the author was reconciled with Breton. The bookseller-publisher Fourcade brought out the volume in 1931, dedicated to Greta Knutson, the author's wife; ten copies carried an engraving by Paul Klee. Gallimard reissued it in 1968 with a preface by Hubert Juin.
Who it is for
A long poem in a single piece, written in French, to be read aloud; translated into English by Mary Ann and Peter Caws.
Prizes and reception
Britannica sees in it the beginning of its author's mature work; Literariness compares it to Whitman and to The Waste Land.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.