Ūrkhān Muyassar’s pioneering role in translating surrealism into Arabic

Surrealism was introduced in Syria in the Forties and surprisingly it had no apparent link with either the Parisian centre or the contemporary surrealist experiences elsewhere in the Arab world (Egypt, Lebanon). The appearance of surrealism in Syria would seem unexpected only if we maintained the image of a narrow-minded country, not as open to foreign influences as other countries were, such as Egypt and Lebanon. In fact, the long cultural tradition of the city of Aleppo, the proximity to Turkey and Lebanon and the introduction of French language and culture during the mandate help to explain how a number of Syrian intellectuals managed to establish contacts with the European culture overseas. This was coupled with the efforts of a polished, curious and eclectic intellectual from Aleppo, Ūrḫān Muyassar, who was unquestionably the introducer of surrealism not only in Syria but also to a large part of Arab readers. Being Muyassar a free thinker, he did not introduced a mere copy of French surrealism. On the contrary, he elaborated his personal version of it, even challenging Breton’s view in some respects. After a portrait of Muyassar’s life, education and thought, this contribution is focused on the features of the surrealism he introduced in Syria through two main channels: 1) the collection of poetry Suryāl (1947), written together with the poet ‘Alī al-Nāṣir and introduced by a fundamental essay on surrealism by Muyassar himself; 2) a number of essays published on the review “al-Ḥadīṯ”. In conclusion, the contribution considers the influence Muyassar had on his contemporaries and on the new generation of Arab poets.