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The end of Dominguez has probably brought forth a spate of
in the Paris press on the demise of surrealism, which has been
at least once every year during the past two decades. But
im'nnrt"".
surrealism was to Oscar as a source of image and idea and even
form of love, he had a perfectly classical way of being an artist.
tried to establish a true relation between his life and his talent.
He
sisted that the only legitimate use of talent was to make one's
dreaming and waking,
fully
available)'
and if surrealism was the
Dominguez played, it was because surrealism seemed to him the
exact and adequate version of what his literary friends called "the
game," on which a man staked what he had. He made a point of
specting nothing
a priori)
but his respect for this was instinctive,
matter of course, never questioned. It was simply his respect for
* *
*
It seems to me that there is a sort of social equivalent of this
tude in the adherence of the French with their speech. Everything
change and go to pot, but language is the continuum in which
lives. So one must go back to the Middle Ages to find texts which
Frenchmen cannot read without a lexicon and a smattering of
and the educational system, if it achieves nothing else, is
make the language
available)
in all its resources, to everyone.
catastrophes are breaking over their heads, the French never stop
ing about the richness and precision of their speech.
This is an admirable thing. Although it cannot in itself
the continuing vigor of French civilization, the relation of the
to their language, and hence to their past, may have some .
consequences as France finally commits herself to the modern
of economic dynamism and mass culture.
For this is what is happening: 'Under the elaborate political
traption, which is less a system of government than a device for
venting important decisions of any kind, the country has been
going profound transformations. This might be less significant
in a country accustomed to change, but it must be remembered
th3t
French have sailed through the storms of recent history with
a ruffle in their vital statistics. The population remained
'>n"nrr,v"MIl
stable throughout the entire first half of the present century.
was practically no unemployment during the Great Depression.
As
the national product, it sagged during the Thirties, then after
disappearing during the war rose painfully until 1950 or
when it finally stood ... at the level of 1929! (To appreciate what
