Paz, Apollinaire et le surréalisme: relecture croisée du « Poema circulatorio » et de « Lettre-Océan »

This article analyzes the links between two major figures of Surrealism: the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, whom André Breton considers to be one of the movement’s main sources of inspiration, and the Mexican poet Octavio Paz, who remains one of Surrealism’s most fervent supporters and promoters in Latin America. The argument is based on a cross-reading of Apollinaire’s calligram «Lettre-Océan» (1914) and Paz’s «Poema circulatorio» (1973). These two poems, written more than fifty years apart, establish a trans-Atlantic dialogue revealing the mutual fascination of Europe for Mexico and Mexico for Europe, with surrealist poetry and avant-garde experimentation as a common thread.