The word 'surrealist' (suggesting 'beyond reality') was coined by the French avant-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire in the preface to a play performed in 1917.

Why is surrealism called surrealism?

André Breton, who later founded the Surrealist movement, adopted the term for the Manifeste du surréalisme (1924), and his definition is translated as “pure psychic automatism, by which it is intended to express…the real process of thought.

What does Surrealism mean in history?

: the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations.