Dadaism in literature

When the twentieth century began, most people were deeply entrenched in the mindsets of the nineteenth century, which included economic ideals favoring the rich and powerful and emphasizing the importance of money and possessions. Another influential mindset was nationalism, or focusing on one’s own country, which often mounted to extreme levels such as xenophobia and militarism. Many new movements in art and literature arose to challenge these attitudes and traditions. One of the most extreme and surprising was Dadaism.

Background

In 1914, nationalist fervor throughout Europe led to World War I, the first major mechanized war. New inventions, such as tanks, planes, and poison gas, were created to kill and maim millions. By the time the war ended in 1918, survivors were scarred by its unspeakable horrors, which led to enormous waves of discontent with the traditional attitudes and beliefs that had made such a conflict possible.

The art world was wracked with disillusionment, depression, and despair, as artists sought to dissociate themselves from the artistic traditions of the past. Whereas the art of the nineteenth century largely honored realism, classical themes, and traditional lifestyles, the art of the early twentieth century reached in different directions. Art movements embraced the avant-garde, a highly experimental style of expression that avoided traditional rules and literal interpretations in favor of celebrating emotion and individuality. Many new art movements quickly branched from the avant-garde approach. They included Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, and Expressionism, each of which had a different approach to redefining reality.

In embracing avant-garde forms of art, many artists hoped not only to end the reverence for traditional ideals but also to show their disdain for the ways of the past. Many hoped to promote new, more personal, emotional, and humanistic ways of seeing the world and expressing thoughts and feelings. A small but notable subset of this new artistic movement, known as Dada, went even further than its contemporaries in its social critiques. Instead of using art to express the idea that ideological norms such as nationalism and materialism were irrational and harmful, this movement embraced the idea that practically everything in human society—including art itself—was absurd and worthy of mockery.

Overview

The Dada movement began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I. The origins of the name are debated. “Dada” might be derived from various terms in French, German, Romanian, or other languages, or it might be a randomly chosen nonsense word. One popular interpretation is that it refers to a French term for “hobbyhorse,” denoting “horseplay,” but this is disputed. This ambiguity at the very heart of the movement pleased many of its proponents, who felt that the name was suitably absurd, lighthearted, and applicable to almost any situation or interpretation.

By the end of the war and in its aftermath, Dadaism spread to Germany, France, Spain, and other regions, including North America. Practitioners of Dada, true to their anti-establishment beliefs, observed no artistic guidelines and produced large numbers of works of writing, photography, painting, collage, and sculpture. Much of their work was meant to surprise viewers, subvert expectations, and show irreverence to tradition and norms. Famous works of visual art included a print of the Mona Lisa that was defaced with a mustache and goatee and a urinal presented as a decorative fountain.

Although the most famous works of Dadaism are typically visual, Dadaists worked extensively in the literary arena as well. Determined to undermine the rules of society and even logic, Dadaists targeted the basis of much of human reason: language. Dadaist writers sought to create written works that jumbled or destroyed traditional words and eschewed or mocked all accepted rules of syntax. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar became some of the tools Dadaist writers used to create a wide array of abstract and experimental writing, including poetry and short stories. Dadaists also produced large numbers of puns and other forms of wordplay, often applied to posters and other graphical works.

Although inherently defying rules and classification, most Dadaist literature had some commonalities. One is the celebration of chaos, irrationality, and disorder as sources of creativity and freedom. Another is a sense of humor, often meant to highlight the absurdity of a piece or surprise viewers with a risqué joke or reference. Automatism, or writing spontaneously, was another hallmark popularized by French writer André Breton. He promoted the belief that creativity grows from the unconscious mind and his dreamlike writings helped inspire the Surrealist movement.

Some of the best-known Dadaist literature is broadly classified as the “sound poem,” which uses made-up words or non-word sounds such as whispers, hisses, and grunts. Two noted Dadaist sound-poets were Hugo Ball and Kurt Schwitters. These Dadaists often performed their poems in public. Ball was known to wear outlandish costumes and became physically intense during his performances. Schwitters, whose readings could last 40 minutes per poem, admitted that his writings seemed nonsensical at first but stated his hope that listeners would interpret them and find their own meaning within them.

Another common format in Dadaism is the collage. Some Dada collages include scraps of books, newspapers, or magazines that contain text. In this context, the text may or may not have meaning but may be considered a brief, highly visual form of Dada literature. One example is the collage titled Mz 299 by Schwitters, which features pieces of cut and torn paper in several shades of color, including several with printing. Words, which appear to be in the German language, are mostly fragmentary and may have come from newspapers, advertisements, or other sources.

Similarly, many Dadaist writers created new written works from fragmented pieces of existing works. One popular technique is known as “cut-up poetry.” In this method, a Dadaist might take a printed poem, perhaps even a famous and culturally cherished one, and cut it into small parts to isolate single words or short phrases. Then, the artist may reassemble them in a somewhat cohesive manner to create a new poem with unique meanings. One of the Dadaists best known for this practice was Romanian artist Tristan Tzara. Although cut-up poetry originated with Dadaism, it became better known from its use by later movements and artists, including musicians.

Considering the basic mission of Dadaism was to expose, mock, and sometimes celebrate absurdity, works written in Dada styles seldom have much discernible form or function. Dadaist writers might create word-based constructions that are actually intended to have no meaning at all to advance the theme of art’s ultimate meaninglessness. In the words of French abstract artist Albert Gleizes, “Never has a group gone to such lengths to reach the public and bring it nothing.”

Bibliography

“Dada.” National Galleries Scotland, www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/glossary-terms/dada. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023.

“Dadaism.” Poem Analysis, 2023, poemanalysis.com/movement/dadaism/. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023.

“Dada.” The Art Story, 2023, www.theartstory.org/movement/dada/. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023.

Otieno, Derrick. “Dadaism and Literature.” Medium, 14 June 2023, medium.com/@derrick.onlinewriter/dadaism-and-literature-dfa5f40a737e. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023.

“What Is Dadaism?” North Carolina Museum of Art, learn.ncartmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/What-is-Dadaism‗0.pdf. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023.

“Word Play.” The Museum of Modern Art, 2023, www.moma.org/collection/terms/dada/word-play. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023.

Young, Alan. Dada and After: Extremist Modernism and English Literature. Manchester University Press, 1983.