Chapter 41 II Departure from Montparnasse to join the war (2) Comrades

Our activities began in March 1919 with our first meetings with Subo and Aragon.It was initially embodied in the field of literature, and later developed explosively in the Dada movement, and reached its peak during the Surrealist movement. André Breton The hospital performed trephine surgery on Apollinaire's head.After the operation, he remained in the hospital in a hospital gown, with a bandage on his head and his head shaved, but he was fine, but emotionally unstable, easily irritated, and often tired.He was, however, perfectly capable of receiving friends, and still had the same eloquence of speech, and the same generosity and magnanimity of his dealings.

Pierre Albert Biro discovered a large number of Apollinaire's manuscripts not long ago, so he came to the hospital and asked the author of the manuscript to cooperate with him to write a manuscript for his magazine.In fact, Apollinaire had already sent a poem to SIC when he was still on the front line of the war, entitled The Future, which was published in the fourth issue of the magazine.He promised Albert Biro to resume writing regularly for the magazine.He kept his word and never broke his word: for more than a year, he often sent his works to the magazine continuously.Soon after, the two co-published The Breast of Tirias.Apollinaire also made a preface to "Thirty-one Pocket Poems" later published by "SIC" Publishing House.After Apollinaire left the hospital, he punctually attended the meeting held by the president every Saturday at his home, and also invited his friends Serge Ferrat, Pierre Levedi, Max Jacob , Bryce Sandras, Rock Gray and others.In this way, a large number of contributors have greatly enriched the content of the magazine, so the reputation of the magazine has been greatly improved, and its influence has also expanded.Although sometimes Pierre Albert Biro played a childish temper with him, Apollinaire did not care about him, always loyally supported the work of the magazine, and was always a loyal friend of Albert Biro.The president of the magazine took advantage of this advantage to develop his "cosmopolitanism" theory in his magazine for a long time.It is an art that demands cosmopolitanism, universalism as a priority in poetry, painting, and drama, yet this theory has not been echoed by many.

The relationship between Pierre Albert-Biro and Chara is much more complicated than that with other people. Tristan Tzara, the father of the Dada movement, mailed his magazine around the world from Zurich.Later, he discovered "SIC", so he sent Pierre Albert-Biro to send his poems by mail.Then, he discovered that another magazine, "North and South", had been born.Chara puts her whole heart and soul into what she does.He made every effort to establish contacts with all the avant-garde artists of war-torn Europe and recommend his newspapers and magazines to them.Sandras, Levedi, Max Jacobs and Apollinaire naturally became his contributors.Apollinaire agreed later because his physical recovery took time. In 1916, the "Voltaire Tavern" magazine published one of his poems without his approval, and Apollinaire was not particularly angry.However, he was a little worried: Is it appropriate to publish in a magazine strictly banned by the Swiss authorities?Wouldn't the country's neutral position be shaken by the fact that more than half the country's population speaks German, in favor of defending the German position?

Apollinaire is hesitating, and Chara is also hesitating.The former finally decided to write back to Chala.In two letters, written in December 1916 and January 1917, he criticized Chara for not fighting vigorously to defend France in the face of frenzied German aggression, and he criticized the editor of the Tavern Voltaire The Ministry "was composed of persons of various nationalities", "several of whom had distinctly pro-Germanic tendencies".He ended his letters with several slogans: "Long live French Cubism! Long live France! Long live Romania!" The Beast Tamer of the Acrobatic Troupe - Tristan Chara. ]

Chara erected a statue of the Defender of the Fatherland for Apollinaire at the location of the second branch of Dada. Apollinaire was very grateful for this, but he still insisted on his position. He wrote back to Chara on February 6, 1918 as follows : I think that in the present complex war situation, no matter how valuable its spirit, cooperating with a magazine with a German partner will inevitably cause me to suffer sooner or later. [Excerpt from Apollinaire's letter to Tristan Chara, January 14, 1917, quoted from Mark Darcy's "Acrobatic Beast Trainer-Tristan Chara"]

Aside from his extreme patriotic feelings, is Apollinaire afraid of the bad behavior of the Swiss news inspection department to dismantle mail from or to foreign countries? In any case, Apollinaire, who was extremely hostile to the Germans, still had conflicts with Levedi and became the source of conflicts.In fact, Levedi asked Chara to join North and South magazine long ago.However, some gossip about the Romanian circulated in society: people suspected that he was included in the "blacklist" of German spies.When people heard that the Swiss police had questioned Chara about his dealings with German-Bolshevik troublemakers, there was naturally a lot of interest...

Although Apollinaire did not believe in the Dada movement, he once again - albeit indirectly - acted as a link between the circle of the "Voltaire Tavern" magazine and the future Surrealists.This view was confirmed by André Breton's discovery of the first and second issues of the La Voltaire magazine at the residence of Guillaume Apollinaire at 202 rue Saint-Germain. Breton and Apollinaire met for the first time on May 10, 1916.The location is at the Valdegrass Military Hospital in Paris where Apollinaire had just undergone a trepanation operation.Apollinaire is older, 36 years old; Breton is younger than him, just turned 20 years old.Breton is a very handsome young man: green eyes, round face, regular facial features... A year ago, he wrote a letter to this "very great person" whom he admired from the bottom of his heart, and luckily was allowed to visit him.

Breton joined the army in February 1915.After spending three years in the 17th Artillery Regiment, he was transferred to the Nantes army as a nurse because of his medical diploma.He chose medicine not because he had a talent for working in this field, but because he applied the "law of exclusion".Because he felt that "only the profession of a doctor can allow him to engage in some other intellectual activities, such as engaging in his writing work." [Excerpts from André Breton's "Conversation with Madeleine Chapsal", July 1962, and "The Writer", published in "UGE" in 1973]

Andre Breton met Jacques Vache (1896-1919), a French writer and Dadaist, by chance in the military hospital in Nantes.and was greatly influenced by this ephemeral figure.No one really knew Vache.He died young, dying of a drug overdose in 1919 at the age of just 22.Breton was overwhelmed by Vache's pursuit of absolute freedom in such a harsh era, his frank words and deeds, and his rebellious spirit of never going along with others.He never shook hands with anyone.He often wanders the Avenue Nantes in a uniform that can be changed at any time—sometimes hussars, sometimes aviation.Whenever he met an acquaintance, he pointed to Breton and said, "Please let me introduce you to Andre Breton." Because Breton did not have the high reputation of Salmon at that time.

Vache has only one thing in common with Apollinaire: he admires Jarry very much.In other respects, the two of them have nothing in common.Breton himself has a close relationship with his Nantes comrade, Vache, but Vache's often gunpowder-flavored rhetoric makes Breton, a poet and artilleryman, unbearable.After spending three weeks on the front lines of the Meuse massacre, Vache considers the war the cruelest of all.Like the deft fencers of the surrealist future Louis Aragon, Paul Éluard, Benjamin-Peret and Philippe Soupeau, he used to resent him for spending his youth under the banner of war Nianhua, and out of the same considerations as the other four, resolutely left the army.They agreed that only a complete revolution in all fields can wash away this barbaric practice and truly realize a pure human civilization.It is for this reason that they feel that Dadaism is one of the few possible ways to save human civilization.This approach is closer to Vache's thought, but a little distance from Apollinaire's thought.In addition, Breton later admitted that he had transferred all the hopes he had placed on his Nantes friend, Jacques Vache, to Tristan Chara.

But when he saw Apollinaire, facing the lofty spiritual realm of this great man, all his differences with everyone were wiped away. Apollinaire was a great poet at that time, and he admired Kuang Breton, sometimes Rimbaud and Lautreamont, and sometimes Merimee. Finally, because of Apollinaire's charm, influence, rich cultural knowledge and vision He prostrated himself at his feet, claiming that knowing Apollinaire was God's "rare gift" to Breton. The reason why Apollinaire was able to conquer me was because he always looked for the source of his creation among the people on the street, and he could quickly organize the materials, even some fragmented fragments of casual chats, and write them into poems. [Excerpt from André Breton's "Conversation with Madeleine Chapsal", July 1962] It was only in June 1917, when "The Breasts of Tirias" was staged, that these differences came to light again: Vacheron, who was in the theater at the time, finally opened his eyes to Breton, and finally saw clearly the The deep difference between the two people around him, he made his final choice-Vache, and left Apollinaire far away. It was Apollinaire who introduced one of his admirers, Philip Supo, to Breton. Apollinaire once helped him publish a poem in SIC.Soon, the two discover that they have a lot in common.Su Bo is the son of a doctor, a well-dressed playboy.Although he also served in the army, he had never seen a trench.Like many others, he was used as a guinea pig, but many of them died, but he survived because he had been vaccinated against typhoid before going to the front.He spent months in the hospital due to being poisoned as a test product. Like many others, Su Bo also has an infinite hatred for this endless war.How to express the strong indignation in his heart?Only pick up the pen in your hand and make a knife and gun.He wrote and wrote like crazy.One day, when he was drinking in a tavern, he had a sudden inspiration. He immediately asked the waiter for a pen, and wrote a poem without any distractions around him.He was an advocate of improvisation and co-authored "Magnetic Field" with Breton. The third of the Surrealist Three Musketeers was also a medical student. He was still a college student and was taking classes at Waldgrass Hospital.He is one year older than Breton, with a mustache, and looks like Breton's brother.His father, Louis Andrieux, was a member of the National Assembly, police chief, ambassador and member of the Senate, and was a lawyer by profession.His son does not have his last name.In addition, there was nothing, at least in terms of civil procedures such as household registration, to prove that he was Andrieux's son.Because when Marguerite Tuca-Macillon, 33 years younger than him, gave birth to the child, the mayor took it upon himself to name him Louis Aragon at the birth registry, The parents' names were not registered, making him Anonymous.Why did you take Aragorn?It is said that it is because the family name of a Spanish mistress of his father is Aragon. Such a serious mistake must be kept strictly confidential not only to the household registration office, but also to the neighbors.So they taught little Aragon to call his grandmother and mother, and said she was just a foster mother, because they thought triple protection was more prudent and safer than double protection.His biological father was introduced alternately as his godfather and guardian, while his own biological mother became his older sister.Such a cautious approach, so many tricks played, such a clever change of identity, appeared to be reliable and safe on the surface.But it was these insurance measures that allowed Louis Aragon Jr. to pursue his studies in Neuilly with peace of mind, and was admitted to the university's physical chemistry major. In 1917, the mayor asked Louis' mother to explain to her son that she was not his sister, and his biological father was not his godfather, because if the young man went to join the army, he might die in the war.He has the right to know who his real parents are before he dies... Aragorn participated in the war, and he was very brave in order to obtain the war medal.He was unharmed and luckily saved his life.When he met André Breton, the two were in very similar situations: they were both fighting for a while, studying medicine for a while, then fighting again, going back to school, and so on. Fan and place alternately. At Waldgrass Hospital, they were comrades-in-arms who lived in the same dormitory, and discovered each other's delicate feelings and their common hobbies.They used to talk about Picasso, Derain, Matisse, Max Jacob, Alfred Jarry, Mallarmé, Rimbaud, and Lautreamont.Aragon first discovered the first of these people in the catalog card of a small bookstore (now a very large bookstore) at No. 7 Odeon Street. What impressed Breton the most about this college student studying medicine was his extensive cultural knowledge.He was well-read and knowledgeable, like a shining pearl among the young people at that time, he was outstanding.From the way he speaks and dresses, it can be seen that he has the desire to attract people's attention.He dressed in fashion, behaved elegantly, and when he talked to those who flattered him or admired him very much, he spoke richly and wittily, sometimes with enthusiasm and sometimes with sarcasm. After they left Waldgrass Hospital and the soldiers who had been tortured by the war to become neurotic, Aragon and Breton often met in the small bookstore at No. 7 Odeon Street.There they can buy books, borrow books, listen to some authors read aloud their works, and browse some avant-garde magazines such as "SIC", "North and South" and "Dada".A rising generation of writers and poets have since collaborated with and written for these magazines.On the back cover of the magazine "North and South", one can see two subscription addresses: Pierre Levedi's residence (12 Corto Street) and the bookstore at 7 Street Odeon.This friend bookstore opened in 1915 and played a huge role in spreading the culture of the 1920s.The owner of the bookstore is Adrienne Meunier, a small woman with silvery hair, a ruddy complexion, and a slightly fat body.