'Subject', André Breton

Abstract

To Jean Paulhan, May I, with the help of God, become hardened one day. I have been kept in such a fearful state for months! Can it be that sustaining one man like this usurps universal attention? Capable of the most selfless actions, I was undoubtedly chosen for this by the experimenter. This very day, if am persuaded to do so, I will perhaps sacrifice my reason to humankind. But I don't know the purpose of your manoeuvring. Apparently, no cost is too great for your success. I no longer assume anything, given the scale of your stage-play. It's war, you proclaim, and the illusion is maintained by the issue of official notices and calls to the trains. The station 'extras' limit their gestures to what appear simulacra of farewells, though from the moment I step away from the performance I would wager that they return to their homes. What an emulation of command: a rousing spectacle that hasn't taken place – Jaurès might appear to me and I wouldn't take him for a ghost. There is indeed great peril for Paris. Hearing nothing from the moment they want me to grasp the hint, I surely astound them with my calmness. The daily papers seem at pains to secure my wholehearted involvement. It is a sight to see how their bulletins go to extremes of ingenuity to rouse my passions.