Andreas Embirikos and his poetics as a pioneer of surrealism in modern Greek literature

Andreas Embirikos, a prominent figure of the Generation of 1930, pioneered both psychoanalysis and the surrealist movement in modern Greek literature. His intellectual development was profoundly shaped by his 1933 meeting with André Breton, surrealism's founder, and his psychoanalysis training in France. This encounter proved decisive in Embirikos's adoption of automatic writing and his introduction of surrealism to modern Greek literature. Surrealism, a philosophical stance that emerged with Breton's Surrealist Manifesto in 1924, draws from Freud's psychoanalytic theory and focuses on the unconscious, dreams, and freedom. The movement originated in France, quickly spread throughout Europe, and began appearing in modern Greek literature from 1935 onward. Andreas Embirikos's poems provided the first examples of this movement in Greece. He formally introduced surrealism to Greek intellectual circles at a 1935 Athens conference, creating a significant turning point for both his poetic career and modern Greek literature as a whole. Embirikos's poetry, where the subconscious flows unfiltered without recognizing rules or obstacles, and his poetics merit careful examination. His artistic approach, influenced by his psychoanalysis training, was seen not merely as literary innovation but as a process that liberated the human mind and soul. In his works, the freeing power of the unconscious became a vehicle for social transformation. This master's thesis examines the emergence of surrealism alongside Andreas Embirikos's poetic vision and selected works, while also addressing criticisms directed at the poet.