Timothy Mathews is Professor in the French Department at University College London. He is the author of Reading Apollinaire: Theories of Poetic Language (1987) and co-editor of Violence, Théorie, Surréalisme (1994).

'… elegant and stimulating essays …'. Journal of European Studies

• Illustrations; Acknowledgements; Prologue: form and decay; 1. Looking and loving: Harlequins in Apollinaire and Picasso; 2. Signs and the imaginary: the pleasures of discontent in Roland Barthes; 3. Dreams, schemes and wordplay: the surrealism of Robert Desnos; 4. Sterility and power: on some paintings by René Magritte; 5. The offerings of decay: Jean Fautrier, Les Otages; 6. Clothed intimacy: theatre and sex in Marguerite Duras, Les Yeux Bleus Cheveux Noirs; 7. 'Des Milliers de Parisiens': conflict, community and collapse in Jean Genet, Les Paravents; Epilogue; List of works consulted; List of illustrations; Index.

Timothy Mathews is Professor in the French Department at University College London. He is the author of Reading Apollinaire: Theories of Poetic Language (1987) and co-editor of Violence, Théorie, Surréalisme (1994).

'… elegant and stimulating essays …'. Journal of European Studies

• Illustrations; Acknowledgements; Prologue: form and decay; 1. Looking and loving: Harlequins in Apollinaire and Picasso; 2. Signs and the imaginary: the pleasures of discontent in Roland Barthes; 3. Dreams, schemes and wordplay: the surrealism of Robert Desnos; 4. Sterility and power: on some paintings by René Magritte; 5. The offerings of decay: Jean Fautrier, Les Otages; 6. Clothed intimacy: theatre and sex in Marguerite Duras, Les Yeux Bleus Cheveux Noirs; 7. 'Des Milliers de Parisiens': conflict, community and collapse in Jean Genet, Les Paravents; Epilogue; List of works consulted; List of illustrations; Index.

Timothy Mathews is Professor in the French Department at University College London. He is the author of Reading Apollinaire: Theories of Poetic Language (1987) and co-editor of Violence, Théorie, Surréalisme (1994).

'… elegant and stimulating essays …'. Journal of European Studies

• Illustrations; Acknowledgements; Prologue: form and decay; 1. Looking and loving: Harlequins in Apollinaire and Picasso; 2. Signs and the imaginary: the pleasures of discontent in Roland Barthes; 3. Dreams, schemes and wordplay: the surrealism of Robert Desnos; 4. Sterility and power: on some paintings by René Magritte; 5. The offerings of decay: Jean Fautrier, Les Otages; 6. Clothed intimacy: theatre and sex in Marguerite Duras, Les Yeux Bleus Cheveux Noirs; 7. 'Des Milliers de Parisiens': conflict, community and collapse in Jean Genet, Les Paravents; Epilogue; List of works consulted; List of illustrations; Index.