I don't always agree with Merl, although mostly on degrees of emphasis and nuance rather than principle, but I thought that, at least on first reading, as I travelled through the wastes of South East London, this resonated with me very strongly. I did think it worth throwing in a few extra, possibly stray, thoughts on the subject.
Worth reading, if you don't know it, Jean Ferry's "Kafka, Or The Secret Society" which I know from the book "Custom-House Of Desire" edited by J.H. Matthews, but you can find it online here:
http://cafeirreal.alicewhittenburg.com/ferry.htm
Also, incidentally, nobody told me there was a book of Ferry's stories available in English: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jean-Ferry-Conductor-Other-Tales/dp/1939663016
Consider also the idea of the Egregore, found in esoteric traditions, but also in surrealism, through Pierre Mabille. Although this concept has been described in terms of a 'group mind', understandings of the idea are quite variable. Mabille's own understanding is expounded fully in his book "Egregores Ou la Vie Des Civilisations" which unfortunately has not been translated into English, but a brief explanation can be found in Michael Richardson's book on Bataille: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Pg9RxLKMOgQC&pg=PT41&lpg=PT41&dq=mabille+egregore&source=bl&ots=UJa0QYkCJy&sig=ACfU3U1bDZZmW5DCwtQHRPVoVh8MPJRvOQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipu6mQ8YfmAhWHSRUIHXK_AE8Q6AEwA3oECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=mabille%20egregore&f=false
One of the most important points for me in Merl's post was the opposition of the mass and the collective. It seems to me that this is often not understood and that many who would espouse individualism imagine that any collective effort must be opposed to individual freedom. But we are always, like it or not, social animals, and even our solitude is socially conditioned. In fact good social bonds can encourage individuality and personal freedom. Oddly enough, the very proponents of individualism are often the most conventional-minded, the most conformist and the least respectful of difference. Too often their doctrine is "you have a perfect right to be just like me!" Better to be like Thelonious Monk.
From what I see here, Stuart, you are a rather pretentious pseudo-intellectual with no real grasp of what surrealism is. You espouse a myriad of dogmatic notions in order to elevate yourself as some kind of self appointed authority on matters. You remind me of a person who not only is in love with the smell of their own farts, but, a person who enjoys quaffing them from a wine glass. I see no real understanding of surrealism or of anything else here either.
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