Total Refusal

work by Borduas

Also known as: “Refus global”

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 16, 2026

Quick Summary

Total Refusal was a revolutionary manifesto published in 1948 by the Canadian artist Paul-Émile Borduas and other members of the radical abstract group Les Automatistes. The manifesto repudiated Quebec's past, particularly its Jansenist religious and cultural traditions, advocating for artistic and social liberation. Borduas, trained as a church decorator, was influenced by Surrealism and began creating "automatic" paintings, a technique aimed at expressing the unconscious mind. Les Automatistes, founded around 1946, embraced automatism as a creative method. This movement sought to strip away artifice and unlock basic creative instincts.123

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

5 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Canadian literature
World War II and the postwar period, 1935–60
…revolutionary manifesto Refus global (1948; Total Refusal). Poet and playwright Claude Gauvreau, one of the signatories of the manifesto, transposed the group’s principles to the written word, while poet and engraver Roland Giguère began writing poetry inspired by both Surrealism and Quebec nationalism. On the political front, in 1950 Pierre…
Read More
…revolutionary manifesto Refus global (1948; Total Refusal). Poet and playwright Claude Gauvreau, one of the signatories of the manifesto, transposed the group’s principles to the written word, while poet and engraver Roland Giguère began writing poetry inspired by both Surrealism and Quebec nationalism. On the political front, in 1950 Pierre…
Read More