Dr. Seuss: The Quintessential Surrealist.
There are few individuals in history that are simultaneously as popular and obscure as Dr. Seuss. Born Theodor Seuss Geisel the man would become one of the most well read american authors ever, yet many of the people familiar with his work don’t even know his name. Frankly to the vast majority of the public he’s thought of as rather insignificant. Many people believe his role to be similar to that of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, in that he is most important to you when you are five years old, with a gradual decline in relevance as you grow older. While his books are certainly aimed at children, I would argue that he may have something to say to you long after you need help sounding out three letter words, you just have to see it the right way. Theodor Geisel was a surrealist, and not just a surrealist, he embodied the spirit of the movement in a way that few artists ever have. But before I go into detail on just how he did this, let me give a brief overview of exactly what Surrealism is and how it came to be.
Surrealism first made its appearance in 1917, when the term was coined by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire. However the man who is more often associated with spearheading the movement was Andre Breton, who defined the movement as, “Pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation,” in his 1924 literary work ‘Manifesto of Surrealism’. More than just the literal definition of the practice, surrealism was a rebellion against conventional-ism. Not just the idea that art had to have a meaning, but the idea that art had to appeal to a specific set of principles, the idea that art was aimed at a specific audience of a higher class. In short, Surrealism was a rebellion against the idea that art had to be limited. It was a movement in which the artist truly set themselves free from all their shackles and truly created whatever nonsensical piece that had the urge to create, with or without reason. As you may have expected, the movement was controversial to say the least. In fact to some it still is controversial, many art purists will simply never accept it. But regardless of your own personal feelings on the movement, its clear that it left a lasting imprint on the art world. And Dr. Seuss just happened to be in Europe, studying at Oxford, right around the time that surrealism was dominating the European art scene.
To those of you that have seen Seuss’ illustrations, the idea of him being a surrealist isn’t exactly groundbreaking. Look at any of his paintings or illustrations, none of them look like anything you have seen before. In fact they’re oftentimes a bit more out there than most surrealist artworks. The majority of them are filled with clashing colors, humanoid animals, and incredibly strange architecture. And these qualities aren’t exclusive to his lesser known paintings, go back and look at his books and you will find that the art may be even stranger than you remember. Regardless, his paintings and drawings do classify him as a surrealist, but nothing more. The works of Andre Breton or Salvador Dali certainly embody the movement just as well if not better than his do. Rather it’s in his writings that he truly takes the throne as the quintessential surrealist.
I’m sure that statement sounds a little bit insane at first, the idea of a children’s book author perfectly embodying the spirit of a rebellious French art movement, but I promise there’s some sense to it. It’s clear from the get-go that Seuss’ writings are surrealist in nature. ‘Green Eggs and Ham,’ ‘Cat in the Hat,’ all of his books make little to no sense with absolutely no sense of familiarity. Oftentimes his books will reject narrative altogether, instead simply becoming a collection of rhyming statements aimed at being funny. More to the point it isn’t simply that his books were meaningless, it’s why they were. Dr. Seuss was a very smart man, he spent 4 years at Dartmouth studying Literature before spending a few more overseas at Oxford. But unlike many academic men, Seuss never lost his youth. Hell, the pseudonym “Dr. Seuss” was born because Giesel was caught drinking Gin with his classmates in his dorm, and was then suspended from contributing to the newspaper as punishment. Say what you want about the man, but Seuss always lived with youth and freedom. Those same two ideals found a home in his books. His books were never meant to make sense, they were never meant to teach a kid morals or lessons, instead they were simply made for a kid to read them and have fun. Think back to your first time reading ‘Sam I am’ persistently coercing his friend into trying Green Eggs. What you’ll probably stumble upon is a moment of humor, a time in which you childishly chuckled and did so while reading, something that wasn’t entirely common. In reading Seuss’ work you turned your brain off for a while and just went on a ride, you allowed yourself to be young, you allowed yourself to be a child. While so many people tried to ensure that you were progressing fast enough, Dr. Seuss reminded you that while life may be obnoxious and cumbersome, it should still be ridiculous and fun.
Surrealism at its heart was rebellion. Rebellion against the strict and refined French art scene. Rebellion against the idea of limiting art to the art world alone. Rebellion against the idea that art had to be refined itself. It was expression in its purest form, bringing joy to the artist and hopefully the audience as well. Dr. Seuss never cared about the acclaim. The man had a degree in Literature from Dartmouth, yet he never wrote with the intention of obtaining the Pulitzer Prize. Instead he spent his time writing for children. Providing them with nonsensical adventures full of laughter and color. Dr. Seuss taught us rebellion, he taught us that books could be fun when many of us thought they couldn’t be. He taught us that it was okay to laugh when we were being told that we needed to act mature. He taught us that it was o.k. to stay young, and he managed to teach us all of these thing with rhyming children’s books that were made up of talking animals.
