Investigating sex
Subtitle: surrealist research, 1928-1932
By: edited by José Pierre ; translated by Malcolm Imrie ; with an afterword by Dawn Ades.
Contributors: Pierre, José, 1927-
Publisher: Verso
Published: 1992
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 215
Subjects: Sex customs -- France -- Congresses; Surrealism -- France -- Congresses
Description: "'Are women's orgasms more intense than men's?' 'Would you let a woman see you with suspicious stains on your trousers?' 'When and how did you lose your virginity?' 'How many times can you come, without leaving the room?' 'Do you believe that there exists one woman who is your destiny?'" "In January 1928, long before Kinsey or Masters & Johnson began their clinical surveys, the surrealists initiated their own remarkable 'researches into sexuality'. These took the form of round-table interrogations, twelve in all, the last being held in 1932. Until recently, transcripts of only two had been published in France. The research spanned the most critical period for surrealism, a time of bitter political disputes, echoed in the intensity of these meetings and in the range of participants. Andre Breton was a permanent presence; Paul Eluard, Yves Tanguy, Benjamin Peret and Pierre Naville frequently attended, as did Raymond Queneau and Jacques Prevert, usually in an antagonistic role.

Louis Aragon, Max Ernst and Antonin Artaud made rare, memorable, appearances. And there were unusual 'guests': an amorous unfrocked Jesuit, a mysterious Madame Lena, stray militants from the Communist Party. Women attended only three sessions." "The surrealists' objectives had nothing in common with the adaptive pseudo-science of modern sexology. Though there's plenty of humour in the transcripts, and not all of it intentional, the participants were engaging in the most rigorous self-exploration, trying scrupulously to record every aspect of sexual love. Despite their cataloguing of positions, timings and quantities, this is no celebration of libertinism. For most participants, eroticism and love were inseparable - ideally, at least. 'I have never slept with a woman whom I did not believe I could love, ' said Breton. 'Naturally, I have often been mistaken.' Their views were hardly immune to the prejudices of their time, and surrealism's detractors will find plenty of ammunition here.

But there can be few people who have ever explored sexual desire with such honesty or such desperate hope." "This book is many things. A unique historical record of sexual practice and ethics. A fundamental text for understanding the surrealist movement. And, for all its idiosyncrasies, a document which retains an extraordinary vitality."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-215).
Translation of: Recherches sur la sexualité.