REFUS
GLOBAL
We
are the offspring of modest French-Canadian families, working class or petit bourgeois,
French and Catholics from the day we set foot on these shores, steadfast out of
resistance to the conqueror, out of stubborn attachment to the past, out of sentimental
pleasure and pride, and other drives. As
early as 1760, this colony was cast behind slick walls of fear ( the normal refuge
of defeated people) and abandoned there, for the first time. Our leaders sailed
away, or sold themselves to the highest bidder, as they have done ever since,
whenever they had a chance. We
are a small and humble people clutching the skirts of priests who'ev become sole
guardians of faith, knowledge, truth and our national heritage; and we have been
shielded from the perilous evolution of thought going on all around us, by well
intended but misguided educators who distorted the great facts of history whenever
they found it impractical to keep us totally ignorant. To
hell with holy water and the French- Canadian tuque! Fear
of prejudice- of public opinion - of persecution- of general reprobation Fear
of being alone without God or a society that inevitably isolates us Fear
of ourselves- of our brothers- of poverty Fear
of established order- of absurd laws Fear
of fresh relations Fear
of the surrational Fear
of internal drives Fear
of opening the floodgates of our faith in man in the society of the future Fear
of anything that might trigger a transforming love Yellow
fear- blue fear- white fear: links in our chains Only
a stone man could have remained indifferent, faced with a pathetic nation resolutely
pretending to be happy in a cruelly extravagant psychological reflex- a cellophane
undershirt covering the poignant despair of our times. ( how could anyone not
scream, reading the news of that horrible collection of lamp shades made of tattoed
skin stripped from wretched prisoners at the request of an elegant lady; or stifle
a moan at the endless lists of concentration camp torments? Who would not be chilled
to the bone at descriptions of Spanish jails, gratuitous reprisals, cold- blooded
revenge?) In front of the cruel lucidity of science, how could anyone suppress
a shudder? And now,
after the reign of overpowering mental anguish comes the reign of nausea. We
must break with the conventions of society once and for all, and reject its utilitarian
spirit. We must refuse to function knowingly at less than our physical and mental
potential; refuse to close our eyes to vice and fraud perpetrated in the name
of knowledge or favors or due respect. We refuse to be confined to the barraks
of plastic arts - it's a fortress, but easy enough to avoid. We refuse to keep
silent. Do what you want with us, but you must hear us out. We will not accept
your fame or attendant honors. They are the stigmata of shame, silliness and servility.
We refuse to serve, or to be used for such purposes. We reject all forms of INTENTION,
the twoedged, perilous sword of REASON. Down with both of them, back they go!
MAKE WAY FOR MAGIC
! MAKE WAY FOR OBJECTIVE MYSTERIES! MAKE WAY FOR LOVE! MAKE WAY FOR INTERNAL
DRIVES ! We are forced
to accept the past along with our birth, but there is nothing sacred about it.
We don't owe the past a thing. Let
those moved by the spirit of this adventure join with us. Within
the forseeable future, men will cast off their useless chains. They will realize
their full, individual potential according to the unpredictable, necessary order
of spontaneity- in splendid anarchy. Until
then, we will not rest or falter. Hand in hand with others thirsting for a better
life, no matter how long it takes, regardless of support or persecution we will
joyfully respond to a savage need for liberation." Source:
Borduas, Paul-Emile, Refus Global. Trans. Ray Ellenwood. Toronto: Exile
Press, 1985. |