Although it is un nouveau venu (a newcomer) to the crowded Hall of Fame of les fromages français (French cheeses), Camembert quickly rose to the lofty prominence of most popular cheese in France, and by far the most famous throughout the entire world: Now, wouldn’t you say that deserves some r-e-s-p-e-c-t for Monsieur Camembert?

According to his autobiographical “Secret Life”, the now iconic “Persistence of Memory” painting was suggested to early surrealism enthusiast Salvador Dalí by observing a Camembert cheese slowly melting under la chaleur (the heat) of a Summer day

One tenuous story claims that its ascension fulgurante (meteoric rise) traces its roots back to the shaky times of la Révolution française (French revolution), at the eponymous village of Camembert in Lower Normandie, dubbed “the largest small village in France.”

Marie Harel

In fact, the name Camembert can be broken into to parts: “Camp-Membert“, or “Membert field” (“camp” meaning “field” in Norman, which sounds close enough to the same French word, “champs“, as in “Champs-Élysées.”)

To this day, the village of Camembert proudly boasts a statue of the one woman officially credited as the mother of the soft creamy milk-based product: Madame Marie Harel.

“Dites fromage“ (“say cheese“)! Commercial for the French Cheese “PRÉSIDENT“—A feature that applies to all kinds of “Presidents” as well (Keep scrolling down, you’ll get it)

Camembert is famously tasty with a baguette de pain (bread.) It can be enjoyed with nuts or even fruits. Culinary connaisseurs advise that it is best savored at température de chambre (room temperature.)

“Ze Small Urge to Merge“:

 Notwithstanding la crise financière (the financial crisis) plaguing the whole Euro zone, French President Nicolas Sarkozy remains a “big” fan of les fusions et acquisitions (the corporate finance term in French for “mergers and acquisitions“), hence the widely spread rumor of him urging the two famous Camembert brands “Le Petit” and “Président” to merge their operations at once (With Nicolas, of course, making a perfect fit for the mascot of the thus newly-created milk-based food delicacy: “Le Petit Président“)

Despite the fact that it is relatively un nouveau venu (a newcomer) into the much older and super crowded scene of les fromages français (French cheeses), Camembert quickly emerged as the most popular cheese in France, and by far the most famous in the world: Wouldn’t you say that deserves some r-e-s-p-e-c-t ?

According to his autobiographical “Secret Life”, the now iconic “Persistence of Memory” painting of early surrealism enthusiast Salvador Dalí was suggested to him by observing a Camembert cheese slowly melting under the chaleur (heat) of a Summer day

One tenuous legend says that its ascension fulgurante (meteoric rise) traces its beginnings to the shaky times of la Révolution française (French revolution), at the eponymous village of Camembert in Lower Normandie, dubbed “the largest small village in France.”

Marie Harel

In fact, the name Camembert can be broken this way: “Camp-Membert“, or “Membert field” (“camp” meaning “field” in Norman, which sounds close enough to the same French word, “champs“, as in “Champs-Élysées.”)

To this day, the village of Camembert boasts a statue of the one woman credited as the mother of the soft creamy milk-based product: Madame Marie Harel.

“Dites fromage“ (say “cheese”)! Commercial for the French Cheese “PRÉSIDENT“—A feature that applies to other varieties of “Presidents” as well (take a look below)

Camembert is famously tasty with a baguette de pain (bread.) It can be enjoyed with nuts or even fruits, and culinary connaisseurs advise that it is best eaten at température de chambre (room temperature.)

“The urge to merge”: Notwithstanding la crise financière (the financial crisis), French President Nicolas Sarkozy remains a “big” fan of les fusions et acquisitions (the corporate finance French term for “mergers and acquisitions“), hence the rumor in high French business circles that he urged the two Camembert brands “Le Petit” and “Président” to merge their operations at once (With him, of course, making a perfect fit for the mascot of the newly created milk-based food delicacy: “Le Petit Président“)

Yesterday’s post, “Surréalisme of André Breton: “La chute libre dans le subconscient” (“The Free Fall into the Subconscious”)“, introduced a general idea of what “le surréalisme” is, and described the Surrealist call to give carte blanche (or “free rein”) to one’s subconscious, in the manner that was expressed by le chef de file (the leader) of this movement, the Frenchman André Breton, as well as many of his followers, such as the deliberately eccentric Salvador Dalí.

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Salvador Dalí was un adepte de la première heure (an early adept) of Surrealism.  According to his autobiographical “Secret Life”, his now iconic “Persistence of Memory” (picture above) was suggested to him by watching a Camembert cheese slowly melting in the chaleur (heat) of the Summer

Later, Dalí was formally “excommunicated” by Breton and the Surrealists, who accused him, among other charges, of excessive greed, and gave me him the unflattering nickname (based on an anagram of his name) of “Avida Dollars”—To be phonetically interpreted in French as “Avid For Dollar$”!

Another episode, less “colorful” this time, and still largely ignored, pertaining to the “Surrealist experience” of Dalí, is the one related to his alleged “exorcism” in France, shortly after WWII

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Today, you are invited to discover, dans le texte original (in the original text), together with the English translation offered by A.S. Klein, important excerpts of one of the two versions of the “Manifeste du Surréalisme” (“Surrealist Manifesto”), which can offer a better idea of Surrealism as a movement, which first appeared in Switzerland, France, and then spread everywhere else.

With that being said, the critique and avertissement (warning) related to this subject, also included in yesterday’s post, should also be pris en considération (taken into consideration.)

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* Secrets de l’art magique surréaliste (Secrets of the Magical Surrealist Art):

* Composition surréaliste écrite, ou premier et dernier jet (Written surrealist composition, or first and last draft)

- Faites-vous apporter de quoi écrire, après vous être établi en un lieu aussi favorable que possible à la concentration de votre esprit sur lui-même (Have writing materials brought, once you are settled in a place as favourable as possible for focusing the mind on itself.)

- Placez-vous dans l’état le plus passif, ou réceptif, que vous pourrez. Faites abstraction de votre génie, de vos talents et de ceux de tous les autres (Put yourself in the most passive, or receptive, state you can.Forget about your genius, your talents, and those of others.)

- Dites-vous bien que la littérature est un des plus tristes chemins qui mènent à tout. Écrivez vite sans sujet préconçu, assez vite pour ne pas retenir et ne pas être tenté de vous relire (Tell yourself repeatedly that literature is one of the saddest roads leading to everything. Write swiftly with no preconceived subject, swiftly enough that you cannot retain it, and are not tempted to re-read.)

- La première phrase viendra toute seule, tant il est vrai qu’à chaque seconde il est une phrase, étrangère à notre pensée consciente, qui ne demande qu’à s’extérioriser (The first sentence will arise spontaneously, it being the case in truth that each second there is a sentence, unknown to our conscious thought, which only asks to be externalised.)

- Il est assez difficile de se prononcer sur le cas de la phrase suivante ; elle participe sans doute à la fois de notre activité consciente et de l’autre, si l’on admet que le fait d’avoir écrit la première entraîne un minimum de perception (It is quite difficult to make pronouncements about the next sentence; it no doubt participates in both our conscious activity and the other kind, if you agree that the fact of having written the first entails a minimum of perception.)

- Peu doit vous importer, d’ailleurs; c’est en cela que réside, pour la plus grande part, l’intérêt du jeu surréaliste(That should matter little to you, however; and in that resides, to a large extent, the interest of the surrealist game.)

- Toujours est-il que la ponctuation s’oppose sans doute à la continuité absolue de la coulée qui nous occupe, bien qu’elle paraisse aussi nécessaire que la distribution des nœuds sur une corde vibrante. Continuez autant qu’il vous plaira (It is still the case that punctuation definitely runs counter to the absolute continuity of flow which concerns us, although it may seem as necessary as the distribution of nodes on a vibrating string. Continue for as long as you wish.

- Si le silence menace de s’établir pour peu que vous ayez commis une faute : une faute, peut-on dire, d’inattention, rompez sans hésiter avec une ligne trop claire (If silence threatens to establish itself, if you have committed an error: an error, let us say, of inattention, break off without hesitation with a more than obvious blank line.)

- À la suite du mot dont l’origine vous semble suspecte, posez une lettre quelconque, la lettre l par exemple, toujours la lettrel, et ramenez l’arbitraire en imposant cette lettre pour initiale au mot qui suivra (Following a word whose origin seems suspect to you, place some letter, the letter ‘l’ for example, the letter ‘l’ every time, and recall the arbitrary by making this letter the initial one of the very next word.)