Crevel, RenA[a-A (1900-35). French Surrealist who initiated experiments with hypnotic sleep. His greatest contribution to the movement, however, was to demonstrate that Surrealism and the novel could be reconciled. Whether texts such as DA[a-Atours (1924), La Mort difficile (1926), Babylone (1927), Etes-vous fous? (1929), and Les Pieds dans le plat (1933) are called romans' or fictions', the role of language itself in their elaboration is arguably the key element. Mon corps et moi (1925) is a confessional monologue and L'Esprit contre la raison (1927) is his Surrealist manifesto. For him, suic...