Balkanistik Dil ve Edebiyat Dergisi

Abstract

Surrealism, which emerged during the final phase of World War I and took form within the context of French literature, stands as one of the most influential art movements of the 20th century, grounded in the conceptual framework of representing the unconscious mind through artistic expression. This movement gained widespread influence in Western literature, particularly by shaping various literary traditions across Europe and contributing to the development of new artistic and intellectual perspectives. The aim of this study is to examine the development of the Surrealist movement in Modern Greek Literature, whose theoretical framework was established by Andreas Embeirikos in Greece. His poetry collection İpsikaminos, in which Embeirikos systematically and deliberately introduced the surrealist aesthetic into Greek literary production for the first time, has been analyzed in terms of surrealist techniques, stream of consciousness, and the experimental use of language. It is observed that the poet employs the automatic writing technique, deliberately disrupts conventional meaning relationships, and guides the reader toward an intuitive perception process. Influenced by Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis, Embeirikos is noted for incorporating subconscious associations into his work, simultaneously emphasizing both individual and collective freedom through artistic expression. In this respect, İpsikaminos is regarded as a significant example not only within the realm of Modern Greek Literature but also within the broader framework of European modernism, as it demonstrates how surrealism was transformed and reinterpreted within a local context.