When reading through the poems
presented in Richter’s text, Arp’s “The Guest Expulsed” stood out to me as a
piece that might defy some of the expectations of Dada, which is why I chose it
as the poem to examine in relation to what Tzara says in his “7 Dada
Manifestos”. One of the leading examples of this defiance is the apparent
structure and conventionality of the poem. “The Guest Expulsed” appears from
first glance to be very structured with its even stanzas, and upon reading it,
the rhyme scheme resembles that of many common poems. This goes against Tzara’s
explanation that “[Dada’s] lack of garters that make it stoop down
systematically reminds us of the famous lack of system that never existed”
(94). From this statement, Tzara is saying that not only does Dada lack a
system, but a system that could have been in place cannot be conceived.
Therefore, Arp’s assumed use of systematic decisions to create his poem does
not clearly comply with what Tzara says.
Apart from what Tzara explicitly
says, Arp’s poem has similarities to Tzara’s manifestos in regards to
characteristics of the writing itself. Although Arp uses quite a strong
structure, the contents of the poem are essentially impossible to understand
based on word choice and continuity. For example, Arp uses the nonsense term
“Dadadado”. This term may be made up simply to fit the rhyme scheme, but it
seems to be no mistake that we see “Dada” at its beginning and middle. Nonsense
words, especially ones with repeating syllables, are also found within Tzara’s
manifestos (even as early as the first page of the first manifesto with the
term “HoHiHoHo Bang” [75]). Although both author’s motivation by using such
terminology cannot be determined, it seems like they are motivated by the need
to convey nonsense, and this is something they have in common.
The two pieces are also similar
with their heavy reliance on object-based images. Arp introduces a new
(tangible) noun in almost every line of his poem and describes it with an
adjective, often a color or texture (e.g. line 1 “Their rubber hammer strikes
the sea”). Likewise, Tzara introduces a varied bag of images in “3.
Proclamation without Pretension” by introducing images of musicians smashing
instruments, blind men, syringes, and art, all within five lines (82), or in “4.
Manifesto of the mr. aa the anti-philosopher” where he mentions so many objects
that it would be too long to quote here.
Overall, Arp’s poem relates to
Tzara’s manifestos in that they “do what he does, not what he says”. However,
not even Tzara completely follows his own advice as to what Dada is or should
be, therefore a similarity in character might be an even stronger resemblance
than an attempt to fit under the manifestos’ instruction.
As Nicole said, Arp’s “The Guest Expulsed” does defy some of what some may consider the typical expectations of Dada; it has strong similarities to more traditional forms of artistic expression like its strong rhyme scheme, something Tzara’s manifestoes seem to condemn. However, it is important to note that the many artists that comprised the Dadaist movement maintained their independence completely, an idea that is heavily emphasized in various explanations of Dada from Tzara, his contemporaries, and historians. While some writers, such as the poems by Tzara and Ribemont-Dessaignes found on pages 54-56 of the Richter text do not follow the conventions established by more traditional poetry, Arp’s “The Guest Expulsed” and Schwitters’s “Anna Blume” do. While all of the Dada poetry we have experienced thus far incorporate similar techniques of surreal, disjointed imagery among others discussed in the Dadaist Manifestoes, the contrast between the techniques used between authors seem to feed into the conflict that fuels Dada.
ReplyDeleteSurrealism, such as Andre Breton’s Nadja, is distinct from Dada in a number of ways, but it is still strongly connected to it. Surrealism seems to take a more scientific approach to the principles brought up by Dada. Breton, like many Dadaist authors, uses strong imagery throughout his work, imagery that, while still clearly describing the scenes and events at hand, often can reach into the absurd. However, while Dada often takes a very emotionally charged form, emphasizing a chaos and defiance of traditional structure that is best illustrated in Dadaist performances (some of which ended in rioting), surrealism seems to take a more scientific and subjective approach. Surrealism places a lot of emphasis on the then-new field of psychoanalysis, focusing on the motivations and unconscious ideas behind one’s perception. Instead of Tzara’s idea of the Dada artist creating a new world with their art, the surrealist seems to seek understanding about one’s own world.