« Hop­là, hop­là, telle est notre devise » (le surréalisme belge en littérature)
“Hop one, hop one, this is our motto” (Belgian Surrealism in Literature)

Summary/Abstract: The article reviews the history of literary surrealism in Belgium, previous of the French surrealism, and presents its features, its variants and its most important representatives, from its point of departure in the 1920’s until its exhaustion in the 1960’s. The two centers of surrealism activity, both independent, are Brussels and Haine-Saint-Paul and La Louvière, in Hainaut. The main feature of the literary creation of the surrealists is their concise and lapidary character. Dominate the short forms, especially the aphorism andthe calambour, the lyrical impressions, written in verse or in prose. They tease their readers by the interruption of the narrative, the disruption of narrative logic and causal connections, the reduction to the absurd, the unexpected conclusions and the confusing points. The erotic accents, especially the junction of the motive of love and death, are very powerful. Surrealism continues in various forms, for example in the group Cobra (1948-1951), which we willnot discuss here, as it deserves a separate study.

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