A literary and artistic movement of the 1900s marked by strange imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter in an effort to represent the workings of the subconscious. 2. Works of literature or art developed in this manner. --www.dictionary.com Surrealism is the leading artistic movement that began in France in the early 20th century. Its focus was on exploring the boundaries between reality and imagination, with special attention paid to our dreams. As you may have guessed, artists and writers involved in this movement used fiction writing as a tool for exploration. Today, many people know surrealism from its popular image created by artists such as Salvador Dalí or Jean "Creation" Arp. Surrealist poems follow the same principles as other surrealist works: random images, unexpected connections, and metaphorical language. Many surrealists claim that true creativity only emerges when you're not thinking about what you're doing; instead, they say, just let your unconscious mind work its magic through metaphor, analogy, and other non-rational means.