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Emmy Picabia’s Introduction: the Céline Gabrielle Juliette Hannah a The

of

1.

2. . .

6. .

Contents Preface List Index Bibliography Notes

Acknowledgments

arts—

the

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Manufactured www.sc.edu/uscpress 2423222120191817 Kamenish,

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TheProblemwith Dada

f all forms of twentieth-century avant-garde, Dada is the most international in its adherents, the most interdisciplinary in its mediums, and for its short Oduration the most widely spread geographically.Nevertheless, despite its per vasive and diverse nature, it remains incomprehensible and unappetizing to most palates. For many, Dada is a bad taste in the mouth, a goalless, nihilist revolt situated among many avant-garde “-isms.”For some, however, Dada stands as a captivating marker in the history of literature and art. Although there are some variations in the recorded history of the genesis of the Dada movement with conflicting stories about how the movement got its name, it began in earnest in 1916 and flourished in Western Europe through 1924. Thefirst group called“Dada”formed in Zurich at Emmy Hennings and Hugo Ball’s Cabaret Voltaire in February 1916. During the war-ravaged years, Dadaists pro claimed to seek authentic reality through the abolition of traditional culture and aesthetic forms. Stephen C.Foster has summarized the commonly accepted goals of the Dadaists: “Mounted out of a setting that no one could measure and that defied conventional contextualization—World War I, the ‘war of wars’—Dada committed itself to the deconstruction of lethal culture and its reconstruction according to more humane principles. Its success was constituted in the intensity

k 2 Introduction TheProblemwith Dada 3

and scope of its critique. Its efforts to organize and network itself were designed had crossed over into a realm that defied the reliable rules of decorum, logic, and to guarantee, as best Dada could, the dissemination of its critique.” order. Dada’smethod of deconstruction took the form of provocative acts of rebel Theseantiaesthetic, antiform, antibourgeois artists and war protesters spread lion through theater, dance, poetry recitations, and musical performances with the rebellious spirit of Dada as they left Zurich after the war. Eventually Dada elaborate stage settings and costumes, as well as paintings, sculptures, drawings, groups formed in Berlin, Cologne, Hannover, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, puppets, collages,and an array of poetry journals, flyers, posters, and manifestos. Prague, the Netherlands, and beyond during the early years of the twentieth cen tury. Eachlocation cultivated its own flavor despite often sharing its participants TheWarOrphan with Dada groups in other places. At the beginning of the twentieth century, nations were redefining their borders Berliner Dada formed with a certain anarchical flare driven by Huelsenbeck, in Europe and in their colonies. Living in close proximity to their adversaries, Richter, Raoul Hausmann, Johannes Baader, George Grosz, John Heartfield, Europeans were dramatically touched by the conflicts that arose and were fought Wieland Herzfelde, and Otto Dix, among others. The group was known for the on their soil. During a war that ultimately left ten million dead and some twenty political radicalism of its publications, the militant satire of its paintings or col million wounded or mutilated, the expatriate group who settled in Zurich in 1915 lages, and events of brutal monstrosity such as the First International Dada Fair and 1916 was composed of young writers and artists, both male and female. They of 1920, which included a suspended effigy of a “Prussian Archangel” set against came from an assortment of national, linguistic, economic, and cultural back Hoch’s photomontages featuring the faces of actual government and military grounds, driven by a strong urge to revolt and to create. leaders clipped from the daily newspapers.3 Dada had some early manifestations in NewYorkbefore 1915 with Duchamp, The CologneDada group was inspired by the less acerbic spirit of Arp, coming Picabia, Man Ray,and the Arensberg circle. (Duchamp’sfirst ready-made Bicycle from Zurich to meet at the home of the more radicalized Heinrich and Angelika Wheeldates from 1913). Yet the movement was a child of pure European blood, Hoerle with “Dadamax” Max Ernst and Communist activist Johannes Theodor born of Germanic-Latin ancestry. Its supporters sought an escape from the mili Baargeld.At the same time, Hannover Dada gathered around Schwitters, known tary, political, or societal restrictions of their European homes, and New York for his sound poetry and Merzbau assemblages. Both groups interacted heavily offered this freedom to those who could afford the voyage. Others found the neu with the Berliner Dadaists and excelledat producing collagepieces of political and trality of a Swiss wartime refuge necessary, and so they formed the first official cultural critique. Dada center in Zurich, featuring a lively cabaret, gallery, and literary journal. Meanwhile Parisian Dada, held firmly together by poets, was a literary Dada. This 1914—16 immigration caused great personal and financial loss for many Keyfigures (wholater favored Surrealism) were André Breton, Philippe Soupault, in the generation born during the 189os. One can only admire their initiative Louis Aragon, Paul Eluard, Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, and Arnauld. When and resolve to desert the familiarity of one’scountry at a time of war and strong Tzara and Picabia united the group under an umbrella of proliferating journals, nationalistic sentiment to establish a new home in a “neutral land.” Thisuproot Dada exploded in iconoclastic displays of exhibitions, stage shows of music and ing of intense young artists and writers, combined with the disappointment and drama, competing manifestos, and new poetry publications. Dada soirees fea disillusionment of their generation, inspired acts of revolt against the established tured such absurdist plays as Tzara’s Gas Heart with actors playing the roles of authority and set the stage for Dada events. Eye, Mouth, Nose, Ear, Neck, and Eyebrow and audience members calling the TheDadaists of Zurich’sCabaret Voltaire expressed their angst as wellas their police. periodic joie de vivre through evenings of cabaret performances that incorporated Individual Dadaists were constantly on the move in wartime Europe, form their varied talents in music, dance, singing, and acting. Hennings, a noted Ger ing subgroups in Barcelona and New York. Dada proved portable and adaptable. man singer and diseuse, and Ball, a reputable German dramaturge, were joined It traveled light, going on tour in the Netherlands and Czechoslovakia. It bor in their performances by Tzara, Hans Arp, Tauber, MarcelJanco, Huelsenbeck, rowed whatever elements it desired from other forms of the avant-garde (such as AdyaVan Rees Dutilh, and Otto Van Rees. On a typical evening crazed audiences Cubism, Expressionism, Constructivism, and Futurism) and transformed them protested the loud jangling of piano keys; marionettes and hats recited poems; according to its needs and perspective. It was open, inviting, and nondogmatic. performers screamed simultaneous verses to the beat of a kettledrum; dancers Dada by definition was an experiment, unstable, without rules, and constantly demonstrated endless gymnastic exercises; chairs with words attached to them reshaping itself. Having survived the war, Dada followed more individualized were arranged and rearranged to form static, visual poems.2 Artistic expression paths to MERZor De Stijl4or was transforming into other movements such as Surrealism by 1924. 4 Introduction TheProblemwithDodo 5

When studying the origins of Dada, some scholars emphasize the historical Huelsenbeck (coachman): The sky is bursting open into little scraps of cotton period and the significance of Zurich as a geographical crossroads. The prevail wool. Thetrees are walking about with swollen bellies. ing opinion on the genesis of the movement implies that Dada activities began Tzara (swallow): Because the first edition of the Doda Review comes out on in Zurich because it became the meeting place of artists with a common senti 1 August 1916. Cost ‘Fr. Editorial and administration: Spiegelgasse i, Zurich. ment against World War I. It is true that without the attitude of revolt against It has nothing to do with the war and is an attempt at a modern international rising militarism and against the bourgeois values the war represented, there activity hi hi hi hi. would have been no spark to ignite the Dada movement. The atmosphere of Zurich in 1916 certainly did create a politically neutral haven that encouraged a Huelsenbeck (coachman): Oh yes, I saw that... Dada emerged from the body nonconformist display of artistic expression through its cabaret and gallery life. of a horse as a basket of flowers. Dada bust like a boil from the chimney of a

However,one must question how a supposedly antiwar protest movement could skyscraper, oh yes, I saw Dada. . . as the embryo of the purple crocodile flew outlive the actual military conflict by at least four years. his cinnabar tail.8 Therewas at work a broader revolt against a wayof life, a form of government, and the sustaining values of the dominant classes. A generation’s exasperation What, then, is the definition Dada? Is it what makes the spring arrive? Is it a new was brewing against society at large. It took the form of behaviors that shocked international experiment organized by a coachman and a swallowwith acute lin and sometimes provoked riots. Its creative products were labeled irreverent, dan guistic challenges? Does it have more to do with fanciful flowers, skyscrapers, and gerous, and degenerate. Although Hamid Dabashi refers to the recent protests a purple crocodilethan it does with the cold reality of a world war? of Aliaa Magda Elmahdy and Golshifteh Farahani,5his 2012 description of such Bylooking at the products of the Dadaists it is clear that the distinctive artis defiance equally defines Dadaist acts of rebellion when he points out the “staged tic qualities of Dada—the irreverent, provocative, nonsensical language and formal destruction that disrupts the ‘normality’ of socializing norms for a delib images evidenced in the movement’s multidisciplinary manifestations—result erate pause!’6Theremust be a public platform, a tangible display forced on the eye from something other than just the political neutrality of its birthplace. Dada’s of society in order to startle and affect the viewer. Zurich performances of non birth, shaping, and reshaping are indebted to the outrageously inventive imagina sensical sound poems emitted from anonymously masked faces and punctuated tions of the individual men and women who conceived, nurtured, and sustained by heavy drums accompanying incomprehensible dance movements challenged the movement in a tumultuous world climate. The particular talents offered by the eye, the ear, and (for some) the stomach. Revulsion is a response, and physi the members of the ever-expanding group and the mixture of their personalities cal reaction forces the mind’s attention. Just because the frustration results in made possible the spontaneous and varied forms of Dada expression. “art,” the element of danger in the political and cultural protest is not reduced. When taking a stand against a regime that espouses the mechanized consumer TheHole in the Middle of Dada ism of war and uses the bodies of the young as its currency, the transgression of In their unifying goal to tear down a “lethal culture” that was found lacking and the rebellious act necessarily exposes and attacks the governing culture. More create a platform on which to test the accumulating and competing voices of the than any previous manifestation of the avant-garde, Dada remained offensively avant-garde, Dadaists relied on their unique abilities and followed their personal antagonistic to society, and that was enough to draw condemnation or attempts inclinations. Some painted and exhibited, others wrote, danced, acted, made col at obliteration.7 lages, or music. Each talent contributed to Dada’sobjectives. But clearly Dada relied on more than hostile acts to voice its war protests Involved in these endeavors were the most recognizable participants: and political stances. Its identifiable sarcastic tone is built on the humor, irony, audacity, and youth of its participants, who nourished each other’s imaginations. Tristan Tzara Man Ray One outlandish joke in “DADA—DialogueBetween a Coachman and a Swallow,” Hugo Ball Richard Huelsenbeck mocks the entire enterprise while it simultaneously advertises one of its publica Raoul Hausmann Marcel Janco tions. In the dialogue Huelsenbeck (the German-speaking coachman) and Tzara Paul Dermée Christian Schad (the French-speaking swallow) feed off each other’s words to poke fun at those Paul Eluard Hans Richter who would nail down a definition of Dada: Arthur Cravan Marcel Duchamp is

in is

to

at

to

of

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names

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predictable:

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of participants, or

is incorrectly the

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et whom

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their journals,

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names (Loy),

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easily spelled

female

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literary histories but

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position

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retrievable

existence.9

daring

counterparts. Misspelling

Jean

a

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other

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contemporary

contemporary journal

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through

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Zurich

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list a the spelled misspelled leading recall perhaps ated recently talents of link compiling dies

their Applied art ment of While Dadas

r

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Buffet

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Oppenheim

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Chrusecz

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Delaunay

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Loy

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van

Baargeld

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Bergmann

Ribemont-Dessaignes

Brugman

Picabia

Grosz

Semer

Breton

Kathe Ella

Suzanne Arp Kate Mabel Gala Isadora Emmy Kathe Germaine

Florine Margaret Germaine Schwitter Erika Dix Adya Maya Meret Liubov Til Louise Angelika Marguerite

Mina Varvara Sonia Nelly Djuna

Lissitzky

includes

El

Francis Kurt Hans Johannes George Otto

Walter Georges Johannes

André

contributors

Rhoades

Arensberg

Meyer

Monaco

known

Dreier

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Rees

Hoerle

di Herzfelde

Soupault Monnier

Buffet

Hoch Henri

Roche

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Mehring Schlichter

less Tour-Donas

Abbott

Goncharova

Tauber Scholz

Stevens

Dunan

dArezzo

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Knutson Aragon Walther Heartfield Laurencin

Arnauld

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Bailly

Wigman

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Tice

of

Naj

list

Otto

Wieland Philippe Walter

Jean Rudolf John Max Georg Heinrich Louis

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Claire Hannah

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Natalia

generous

Introduction

A

6 9

a

But

Dada

both

com

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artists

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act.

its

be

to

exasperated,

performances

to

exhibitions,

single

seduced

declaration

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a

Dada interactive

live

would

by

via

offered

shocked,

spontaneous

most

unified

Dada

caused

a

gradually

subversive

of was

the

and

Dada

structured

directed

creating

and

goals

and

that

of

to

spirit

nor

quick

its

a

theater,

strictly

expressing

the

ways

public

colleagues.

and

theory,

and

enforce

more

attracted

new

provocative

in

to

their

paroxysm,

to

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was

curious

manifesto

a

cabaret

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strategy,

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steeped

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times

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example,

reached at

dominant

clear

in

nature

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a

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for

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members

of

visual

collaborative Richter

do their

their

present

analyzed Henri

published

war

with then

Paris

affairs. the

a art

the

Dadaists

Holland.

the Relying

of photomontages to founding

on Buffet

in of

with

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and

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to

four “Ich for uncover

contradictory

was

mark

personal

a between Meliring,

by

it

the

the

period

presence;

years way

Perrottet,

and to

appearing

the to

the

of

contributors

state rebuild against

debuted

Perhaps

and by

details contributions

least

the of

history.

through to

Dada

dances

from

to

its

Breton,

drawings

only

at

tapestry

eight

of defining

Roche;

the Dada. form Dada,

Richter,

accounts

Brugman

Dada contacts

revolt

objects

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testimony

that

and

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to and

of by Suzanne published

their

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and For seductive

story

were

parties.

the biased

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closing

Tzara, enriched and fact

of declarations

in

all

and the

and and

keys

hard

Berlin,

dimension not has

themselves

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histories down,

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mention

there

was through spread codes.

of is

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confirm

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Hoch

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and do

picture.

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products, paintings irreverent confrontational

the voice new that Chrusecz,

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and

holds the

tear

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Huelsenbeck,

one

a

1917,

of

perspectives. its

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the Dada of the

the

that and

to

with

to and

i,

published

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events

to

Duchamp,

publication

usually

expressed add Maya Dadaist.

Huelsenbeck, 1916,

products

led

that theories marionettes half of

their

intentional

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by

texts

5, and

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Suzanne

men

June deal

activities but of

deciphered.

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and Ball,

that Hennings’s

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Huelsenbeck. years

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only

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profusion on

Delaunay

from

their

female

question,

perspective.

of

to

a the on it emblematic

In what great moral

a

Wigman,

by

surge

and Among than

Dada and to

easily a

is

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Dada. briefly,

and

Dada

group’s

at a

behind

narrations Dada

movement by February

and

Hennings’s

of

alongside

period of reveals

finds

relied

methods Hoch;

the Mary

for

the

on more

testimony

more owed

it

goals: Dada

Tzara,

of

Rigaud. and

the existing

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male-authored

of

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discourses

be Picabia

merely

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record competitive

the

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contributors

women’s

Ball, Dada

inclusive

and

their

memoir,

publication.

of

school,

collaborated

will

manifesto

at

was Arp,

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arts,

Voltaire

by

to

Zurich

Jeanne

and it

The

Dada

Tauber’s

networking

Introduction female Looking ing example,

document ret Zurich’s 1918 tos

Dada

look

recording history authored

story accurate Dada account

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by and marionettes

Dada and

ling true geoisie,

8 FromCabaretSingerto theFirstMamaofDada 11

Dadaists, such as Ball,Arp, Perrottet, and Huelsenbeck, who bore witness to her avant-garde performances and lifestyle.

TheLure of the Cabaret Emma Cordsen was born in Flensburg, on the German border with Denmark, on January 17, i88. Her German-Danish parents, Ernst Friedrich Matthias and Anna Dorothea, were fifty and forty-two years old when their only child wasborn. Her father had been a helmsman on a sailing ship but later worked as a wharf-side rig maker. From his daughter’s memoir it is known that he used to build model boats in his free time and that young Emmy used to hem the sails. Theimagery of ships and of the wandering life at sea recurs in Hennings’s writing and seems to prophesy the instability of her itinerant life.

I love the white, loose Likesun, sea and wind, 1. Emmy Hennings Because to the homeless They’resisters and angels1

From Cabaret Singer to the Ich liebe die Weifien,losen First Mama of Dada Wie Sonne, Meer und Wind, Weil sieder Heimatlosen Schwestern und Engel sind...

Emmy became one of these “homeless” early in her life. She left her parents’ household and, at the age of fifteen, began to earn her living as a maid, kitchen been acknowledgedby mast revisionist schol mmy Hennings (1885—1948) has helper, and washwoman. At the same time, she made her first amateur stage ars today as cofounder of Dada’sfirst home: the Cabaret Voltaire. But it the appearances. At age seventeen she married a typesetter named Josef Paul Hen accomplishment and her further nurturing of Dada Eis important to see this nings and gave birth to a son. Leaving the baby with her mother in Flensburg, in a larger context. To understand Hennings and her involvement with Zurich Hennings joined an itinerant theater troupe and traveled alongside her husband, one caused her to Dada, one must first recognize her paradoxical nature, that who abandoned her after a few weeks. Soon afterward, she learned of the death of pious. Hennings vacillate between two contradictory lives: the criminal and the her child and that she was again pregnant. She chose not to look for her husband, she showed unease was forced to see herself as both sinner and penitent, and but to go instead with a theater troupe to Schlesien,where her daughter, Annema with both roles. She wasthe ultimate nightclub performer, spending half her life ne, was born in Penzig. Once again Hennings left the baby with her mother and in smoke-filled cabarets, captivating male audiences both on and off stage with returned to the theater, where, according to her daughter’s memoir, Hennings her body and her voice. But her later autobiographical records of her earlier years felt in her element.2 By age twenty-three she had become a cabaret performer are so deeply imprinted with her religious conversion that catching a glimpse (Vortragskunstlerin), usually singing ballads and songs on request from seven in of Hennings during the Dada period can be challenging. For a true portrait of the evening to three in the morning. A stanza of her poem “Nach dem Kabarett” the Dadaist Hennings, researchers must rely on a combination of sources and (Afterthe Cabaret) describes how she saw her life at the time: read behind her writings. Clues to her bohemian life appear in her early poetry; the chilling prose piece Gefangnis (Prison), which describes her stay in prison; I go home in the early morning. her autobiographical Ruf and Echo (Call and Echo); and the accounts of other Theclockstrikes five,it’s already brightening,

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actual

that

often

Dada, the

I

similar

the

this

events

in

and

that

Ball

She

she

und

life.

the

of

her

of

war,

the face

its

Echo,

to

to

artistic

life

Hennings,

as

mother

intentionally

on more

of

distance “The

and

importance.

and

Hennings

the

In

on

like

Ruf

responsibility

to

the

und perspective

and

my

to effusive

and

later

years Zurich

the

Although

the

she

role

made

in

of

Singer

into

poetry.

the

be

just

little

of

took

period,

Ruf

chaotic

Orion,

any

Ball

her

times.

ret

choice,

art

her

portrait

Ball.

stance.

in

understanding—and

event

effort

Dada

away,

Periodically

to

a incidents

the

Hesse’s

of

no

The

armor also

truly

melancholic

Countenance,

Cobo

it

elaborated:

advent

an

with according

looked

the

insight

of

Dadaist,

to

the

with

writers’

longer

transformation

in

role

and

have

relatively the

period

initiation

life

faults.

of

special

She

art,

must

From recognized

I

face

no

push

antiwar

uncertain

life

a

specific

described

autobiography,

it

the

its

provided the

life

knight’s

is

events to

constellation

other

Zurich puzzling.

she

their

poetic

With

Hennings

career

significant. her

of valuable the

Sorrowful

her to addition

between

a Dada

of her

had she

write,

serious

her

of

also

the the

contradictory

I

in

and

of

and

and

his

earnest

personal as

the

novel,

a

the

of

or

“there

wants to

despite

and

a

upY25

recalling

of

Thus

kind

truth,

She of

wrote

his

impressions her frightening.

life

Ball, is

a

reflects

what

was

devoted

by

such

one

era,

provided

it

the

Mars on

because

she

morally

Hennings

discussion

history,

else.

considered

her her

memoir which

and

and

its

she

times.

personality:

from

of

writing

chapter

wore

a

down

Knight as reaction

abysmally disturbing

intermediary

Just

in

of

more

her

recorded,

merely

a

Her

she

time

decides

her

today the

her

not

an

telling

the

this

and

“He

about

as

husband

into

pages

because

Overall

were

The

of

Ball. the

she

native

of

to

who

am

of

recorded

a

him.”23

viewed

narrow,

of

tumult

excerpts

praise

her

At

nevertheless

concentrate

“I

witness

somewhere

me.

monstrous

that

down

accomplishments

politics.

known

one

them

between

Dadaists

recording

details

to

she

to

created

is

she

and

medium,

anyone

imagines

assigned aspect

symbol

of

long,

with

the

and

work,

choice.”2

episodes

a

number

addition

Up

painted

was

that

a

resemble

his

haunts

one

Echo

Lautgedichte: life

Hennings

truthful

become

memoir:

not task art

Zurich

In

including

have

the

a

stopover

him

and

his

have

like photographs converted

slight

revealing

to

principally

information. theological

und

preferred or

exchanged

past

of

her

band’s the I’m

that

spiritual

the

as

have

ing

another

astonish

purely experiences

the

Dada

madness

world.

had

a

a

a

as

is

he

it

of

in

Ruf

her

in

the

but said

side

and

in

She It

and

sur with

made

title

influ

and

anni

third.

in

worth

he

her

respon

Decem

turned herself

mother,

part

and

rich arrived prevent

when

while

partner

her

served

role.

together

life to

the

poem

Romanian.

hope.

come

be household

for

out

my

and

attract

conscience.

which

and

suicidal

to

and

she

revealed

finds

have

or her

Nonetheless

to

painful

the

These

the

narration

daily

that

others:

that

Corpse),

art

goes

in entry

she

even but

coming

she

to

a

moral

and

skirt,

its

of

pronoun,

Although

text.

undoubtedly

bohemian

emotional

voluntarily

soirees

stanza or

and

others

according

her

tasks.

desire

fire

homesick

in

out

self-preservation (Farewell,

self-doubt

her

sacred-sounding

Dadthsts.

ones diary

1917,

direction

her

her

from

a

the

1917.

her

which

of

feeling

first

the

for

questioned

in

thorny

dies Dada

activities

his

seems

a

biblical

and

of

quoted.

père”

in

obligations

pyramid

holy

on

young

and

female

give

the

in

in

connected

fellow

a

ominous

or

obscure

hardships

dilemmas

and

With

of

of

example,

that

face

first-person

(Letter

when

Tzara

threatened

ways

an

Though

mon

for

between

Hennings’s

feelings

her

the

stars tone

instinct

artistic

worth,

spring

through

For

the

Her

of

of

hymn

by

and

light

of

no

lies

situation

a

of

any concerns,

the

connects

symbol

remains

lies

reveal

adieu,

previously

personal

traditional

mention

always

errant

Leiche”

impression

hesitated

a

concern

Ball

in

participant

form

unwillingly

Zurich).

serious

the

like

confession.

story

has

use

that

unforgettable

corpse’s

still

mistaken

as

the poetic

history.

of

stanza.

her

she

where

in

be

have

poem

or

often

the

also

her mere;

einer

those

in

with

stimulating

the

the

his

perceived

and of

the

causally

reminder

to

way financial

her

but

much

seen

lack

singular

a

final

the

ma

in

Dada

longer

that

embodies

the

a

was

tension

takes

founding

lure

Hennings’s

tells

be

not

that

noted

from

Dada

prayer

“Brief

period

Tzara,

found

no

her

the

in

generally made

meeting

a

about

darkness

Arp

is

seems

that

she

to

the

the

be

in

begins

can

much

Zurich,

Ball

it

her

in

this

made she

rhyme,

“Adieu,

continues

has

was

part

narrator’s

only

poem

household to

in

She

way.”22

of

can

obstacles

to

“talks

how

Galerie

he

imagery

represents:

faces

that

that

wrote

intimate

she

the

poem

not

frustration

this

poem

the hearth

it

noticeably

emigrants

fuller

she

the arrival

and

herself

stanza

described

an

suggesting

between

servitude

she

a she

confined,

the

poems

are

Her

hearth.

(or

was

of

The

performer.

allusion

constant

notice

father),

Mentioning

what

ways,

resorting

choices

finds

dynamism

poem

wall,

humorless

eyewitness

French

even

conclude

to

differs

her

poetry

letter

dark/light

Tzara’s

selves,

Ball.

her.

second

Again

my

taking

opening

form

which

stanza,

to

and

and

in

the

his

The

1917.

the

domestic

destination,

Hennings

her

secular

cabaret

the some

for

The

in

the

of

Hennings

with

Echo,

her

Hennings

21,

poem

Hennings’s

from

fire

speaker

cultural

first

crossroads In

the

valuable

their

a

isolated,

more

Later

farewell,

recited

a

und

sible

enced

that

mordantly

to

domestic

ship ber

lessness.

complete

motherhood,

type

her fireside

the

the

important

lamenting

toward

lead

hearth.

is

The

vival.

at begins

at

a

hilation,

takes

and

imagery

This

Emmy 22

25

I

a

of

to

in

of

or

be

“es

for

the

as

her

felt

sta

glad

help

with

Dada

your time

fully

for

love.

good

Neue

more

water

noted as

nutri

by full

by

of

is

him

be

Richter

she

is

in

himself

Joseph.

theories

got

kinds

basis,

this

scripture

February

him

I

laughing

Hennings

excursion

und

Ball

police

and

to

along

reason,

ready

Hennings’s

all

such poor

a

some

unergrund

and

empfinde

on

shoulder

‘Why

Mama

child

seemed

on

drawn

streetlamp

always

19.

Zurich

the

was

said

“Alte

die 1917,

her

and

a

my

us

followed

distance

Ball

biblical “Ich

(reason,

wished

Around

first

demonic

poems

nearby

said, dress,

for

will

on

of

disturbingly

to

on

need

she

naïve

to

I

experienced

phrases

collapsed.

from

the

she

is

and statement,

angel

and

discussed

the

selbst

giving

and

to

under

read

in

two

Dada.

Hardekopf

look

said

fancy

in

bad-timbered

Hennings,

“and

have

lifestyle,

do)

soiree

the

us,

“Grund”

had

wrote

daughter

the

needed

and in

gently

letter

a

February;,

letter

and

She

rephrasing we

Singer

hope

with

financial

second

Grund

But

post

can

smiled

Bahnhofstraie

in

little

and

she

separated

her

waiting

flee,’

On

the

they

I

Galerie

and

of

The

me

Tzara, comfortably

at

was

again

dandyistic,

game

so

around

this

she

In

self-described

What

to

in

silly

their

abyss.

the

station:

and

and

“a

Cabaret

he

were that

unhealthy dieser

and

loss

In

letter

a

Ball

thing

can.”

at

heavy)

translated was

first-aid

an

the

a

health.

collapse.

faces

meetings

said

an

sei

Corray We

sea.32

home

or

that

From

and

were

In

like

heavy

magic.

police

she

She

the

1917

at

only

her staggered,

participated

only

she

romantic,

mother

of

or

felt

way

to

the

woman

on

sleep,

Hennings

the

that

herself,

bragging)

street.

Dadaists

the

peacefully

later.

a

his

important, fruitful

Galerie

Grund,

do,”

June

wall, in

the

of

her

Ball

storm

land

soiree.

again

of

(difficult

toll

so

as

for

and

the endlessness).

Dadaism

(it’s

frame

Hennings’s By

a

the

policemen’s

her

ground,

and

the

den

you

days

On

the

Tzara

other the

if

something

in

lack

more

at

scene

to

melancholy,

the

to

perhaps

to

take

place

much

carried

way

the

private

resting

child

feel

hair.

kann”

group, a

stable

suche

to

diary

“schwer”

and,

of synthesis

Hennings

(I

against we

“as

worried

several

the

(and topics.

a

from

fainted

ich

the

was

no

weather

for

wrote

strange

Egypt,

his

recounted

it

century?”3° und

infanticide.”3’

fourth

Dada

A

blond

and

live

exhibition yearning,

to

1917,

some

began

in

unfathomable words

not

was

she

seven

head

contributed

to

leaned

fallen

the

her

found

her.

‘“Take

12,

or

“Emmy

political fled

looked

the

opening,

and

the

activities

responsibilities,

Dada behind

schwer

reporting

She

bitter.”29

Zurich

could

there

little

she

six

asking

in

right

Hennings

performance

the

and

and

May

lifestyle

so einzige,

Ball,

with

Bethlehem

Dada,”

And

nineteenth

diary:

picture

diary:

the

Unendliclikeit”

passers-by,

Her are

a

of

that

probably

and on

Joseph

public

reason

stroking was

a

carrying

etwas

tram.

On

From

Family

das

the

Zurich,

his 1917,

his

You

this change

self-effacement

mir

Kunst

than liche played ground):

Ball stock? of boat luck 1st Janco,

the engaged 6, from like

and mouth tion in

from tion. literary Ascona. in

first chaotic love And

was bed,

in

of

so

a

He

her

and

1917

few and

is

by

so

not

were

time

the

the

fur

They

a

end

am Hugo

com Dada

more

inevi

taken

time

some

He

anni

was

chaos

should

I

on with

out,

but

was organiz

this

Financial

of

so

were

fashion,

the

to

Magadino

group,

was

was

in

echoed

suspended

a was

artist;

them

reflect

one

ephemeral.

desperation

January

‘flight.”28

to

truly

By

1916

it

it

art,

destruction,

as

worn

on

where

impetus. form

success,

There

became

do

yet stayed

matter.

the

Dada

Emmy,

funds.

was

fl

as

pushed

leads

During

my

Dada

the

and

that

its

yet

city.

of

unpeaceful

of

success

the

joined

not going

Dada

act

the

out.

took

for

the

was

Dada

an

the

and

little

and

soon

by

of

clearly

lack

he

impulsive

The

Zurich

soul

was

whim

thunder,

in

dies

gallery.

that

chaotic

As

a much in

it

Hennings

and time

suspended,

with

before

of completely

war

for

such

dear

the

performance

employment.

so the

there,

spontaneous

everything

with

in

heart Dada

group

stay

on

in

Hennings

duties

poet

the

stay

“Dadaism

commercialized

of

when

to

lives.

were

me

Vira-Magadino

“My

nature

the

the

mold,

was

seek

spontaneous

to

cannons

the

him

asserted

a

a

It

dealings initial

Dadaism

went

recognized.

to

its

against

to

Where

new

Zurich,

of

running

their

her:

as

order

should

‘outmoded.’

heart

from

his

by

countryside

village

into

in

call

helped

from

of

to

the

in

time

Avant-garde

Where

left

in

Bern

meaning:

perpetrators

to

beginning

Annemarie.

manifestations

was and

voice

publicized.

the

response

center,

was

Dada

world.

became

as

to

rest

have

back

violence

it

Swiss

Hennings

Dadaists. overwhelming

its in

necessary

with

it

of

taken

the

and

himself

soul.

been

The

wrote

the

well

manifestations

the

genuine.”26

later

eyes,

the

in

out,

stamped

you

the the

be the

began

the live

Picabia.

and

willingly

Everything

that

to

went

were

he

of

the

Zurich,

to

and

have

to

form

for

by

by

the

still

public

He

daughter,

will

period,

of

notion

desperate that

get

in

least

and war

to

task

resulting

Ball

Ball

voice,

artistic intermediary

created.

mean

lacked

the at

was

distanced

to

only

heart

became

the

pointed

The

plans

and

the

and

the his

it

Ball

be this

moved

couple

disillusioned

and

space

it

he

years

original

upset

and

to

while

on

not

the

they

Ball’s

meantime

movement.

on

don’t

calculated

Dada,

his

exhausted the

and here

their

Ball

violation

that

wants

Hennings,

revulsion.

its

I

as

times.

was

when

Hennings’s

in

art

and

Dada

the

cannot

press before

he

am

namely

take

the

events,

became

her

and

for

I

provocative

lost

an

Hennings

the

longer

if

In

Ascona

track;

peace

to

Hennings

because

gone.

to

instead

the

it

with

Tzara

of

see

early

served

in plagued

Ball

no

of

responded

right

abandon

spontaneous,

and

reflections

that

his

into if

by

physically

further,

is

Zurich

we

to

later.

work, instinctive

the

renowned,

off

harmony

and

loss

her

Dadaists,

“Dada”

desperation

he

seemed

Hennings

to

in and

already

and

an

I-Jennings the

became

When Tessin)

make

asked

longer

possible.”27

yet

In

the

November,

daughter

problems

forced

she

Hennings

he

mentioned

(in thankful

weeks

ism ing

no but

truly

as

not

table, had

seriously

ther how

widespread,

Nevertheless,

other mon

uncertainty

irreverent

to

necessary,

not

much

reigns,

hilation,

thrown when

peace

Emmy

24 I From Cabaret Singerto the First Mama ofDada 27 26 EmmyMennings 1914—15. is work in it makes it clear that she longed to take place during the winter of Gefangnis an important that to see you, as much as I am able to.” Her letter it underlines her feeling of represents some of Hennings’s most personal and tonally richest writing. It also return to Zurich and take part in Dada events, while countryside. marks the cabaret performer’s first public success as a writer. helplessness, loss, confusion, and isolation in the wrote to Hennings’s text begins by revealing the confusion the narrator feels with the Vira-Magadino on May 19, 1917, Hennings again Prom the village of still Dada and its manifestations. unsettling statement that “in the meantime three months passed” and she the “Tzara-Dada”and reaffirmed her allegiance to picture and the czar pup has not received a summons for a trial.35Readers immediately seek a time frame mentioned that she would send Tzara a delicate silk She concern for the action of this in medias res tale and thereby share her doubts and uncer he requested had been promised to Hugo. Her pets, because the others assumes Munich) and that have your soiree, and I wish you tainty. She reveals that she has returned to “M”(one for and support of Dada are clear; “Tonight you and sorrow will be well she dares not take a job abroad. She worries about the effect of a jall sentence on and that our beloved gallery, our child of joy much luck, her ability to find work and about who would bother to ask after her if she were I must, I will come.”33Hennings treated and entrusted to you to the end, And if Dada. There is a maternal to disappear. Although she continues to receive compliments on her voice and showed more than a passing interest in the Galerie gallery to Tzara, almost as if acclaimfor her performances, she feels a lack of personal, human connection. She possessiveness in her words, but she entrusted the saddened that she could not take dwells on her uncertain future, on being misunderstood and alone. she were leaving a child in his care. She seems Vira-Magadinowith Ball.She The text then offers a flashback to explain that when she wanted to accept a part in the events, perhaps feeling obliged to stay in Hennings-Dada), again asserting four-weekjob in Paris, she wrote a letter, requesting to krow if she couldhave her signed the letter, “Ihre Hennings-Dada” (Your her fondness for Tzara. court appearance scheduled in the next few days or after her return from France. her membership in the group, while demonstrating him to retire permanently from Themessage is politely phrased but clearlymakes the assumption that she is free When Ball’spoor health finally influenced Hennings at the end of May 1917 to travel. Dada activities and lead a calmer life, he sent financial accounts with Tzara. In As a result of this short straightforward note, new problems arise, and a to collecthis belongings from Zurich and settle for paying debts and packing nightmarish plot begins, to unfold. There is a knock on her door one morning June he sent her a letter with detailed instructions my darling, and a thousand around eight o’clock.When she does not answer, a man enters. He announces his personal effects. He signed it, “I send my love, Ballmoved to Bern, he is from the police and that she should appear for questioning at ten o’clock. thanks for your true help, your Hugo.”34In September 1917, two years. He and Hennings At the police station she is kept waiting by a man writing at a desk. Finally he he worked for Die Freie Zeitung for more than where addresses her with one question, “Isthis your letter?” When she answers yes, he married in Bern nearly three years later. with Dada events was coming studies her file, claps it shut, makes a quick phone call, and then ignores her for By this time the couple’s direct involvement centers of Dada in Germany and more than twenty minutes. The ominous mood of the text conveys her growing to an end, and Zurich was giving birth to new April 11, 1919, “Radical Artists’ discomfort. France. Hennings’s name still appears on the Richter, Arp, Janco, and others. Suddenly a huge guard enters, startling her. The desk man declares, “Also Manifesto,” suggesting that she signed alongside their Dada years were their Sie sind verhaftet” (Well,you are arrested). She protests, claiming there must be Nevertheless what remained for Hennings and Ballof their continued contact some mistake and asking where this is guard taking her. She receives no reply. memories (to be recorded later, in the case of Hennings), influence of their cabaret years, Finallyshe is told she is being arrested for “Fluchverdacht,”contemplating flight. and friendship with Dadaist colleagues, and the their growing religious zeal. She complains that she is being done an injustice, that she came of her own free an influence that they often tried to veil beneath beginning with Gefangnis will and that now they want to arrest her. She cries and tries to run to the cor Hennings’s spiritual struggle played out in her works, battle between the lure of ner of the officebut is led down endless corridors and through doorways, sand (Prison). For the rest of her life she was engaged in a and peaceful, though wichedbetween the guard and the police officerwho appeared earlier in her room. the artist’s world of rebellion and the striving for a pious Finally,she writes, “Istay still... I cannot breathe. What is wrong? Now I know, I perhaps less stimulating, existence. know forever; There is no space, there is no time, there is no air.”36 Thusbegins Hennings’s story of hopeless imprisonment. Thenovella records A Memoir of Prison her first major prose work, daily routines, conversations with characters who move through the text with During the hectic days of 1917, Hennings was readying publication. Under two hun out offering hope, and the narrator’s methods of counting the seemingly endless the autobiographical novella Gefangnis for its 1919 parts; from her arrest to her days. Theprose is direct, unencumbered, and honest in tone. Through her barely dred pages in length, the text is divided into two The events she recounted concealednarrator, Hennings captured her own self-doubt and vulnerability. trial and her subsequent prison sentence and release.

IL

20

is It

of

as

as

as

or

the

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the

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her

her

puz

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a

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Though charnel

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career,

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an Zurich,

with

talents,

beginning

unfamiliar

the

experience

its

reveals

Hennings’s

constraints

The

reached

characteris

affected

her

of

Such

capitulation,

Mama

in

in

younger

colleagues,

in

of

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Her

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was yet

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both

glows

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character

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physical

crushed.

his

First

cabaret

imprisoned.

aloof.

woman,

years

not

years

observations that

fear. be

wits,

the

candidly

anxiety

the

the

physical

herself

Her

what

enduring.

certainly

or

gray

deprivation

and

her

shows

similar

hands

to

deprivations

“People

opinion

no knows

will ten

haven’t

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without her

not

protectiveness.

received

of

“woman-child,”

I

Dada

jail

It

But

memoirs

who

and

Ball

initial

into

by

these

across the

unjustly

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of

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who

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Singer

many

unpretentious

of

time

affirmed

one-third

people

gentle

it

causes

features.

bars.

to

expresses

she

their

feels

hardy

excerpt:

the

walks living

lifetime

indifferent

this the

and

those

sense

spent

throughout texts

reflects

‘modern

be

survivor.

honesty.”41

child,

iron it

a

others character

dark

happiness.

Cabaret

to

heroine

recorded

time

who

demanding

She

book it

but

a

and

withstand

is to

a

Hennings

at

from the

of

members

limited

her

entire

battered,

pixielike

the

disintegrates

to

of

itself

reference

only the

From

in

Ball

The

city

Nor

out

a

calls out

revealing

be

precise

Every

sympathetic,

among

challenge,

alone,

her

Hennings

who

will

else

a

prison.

replanted

proved

depicts

the

its

economical,

narrator

Family

lies

Munich.

‘One-third

nearly

will

gnawing

After

1919,

her

the

wide in

around

recurs

the

Ball.

writing in

critic

that

feels

consummate

her

through

she

and

stands

,

in

those

depiction

up

and

during

verbose.

by

has

from

her

she

that

Gefangnis.

young

spirit the

by

arms

with

small,

impressions

press

those

or

precise,

writer.

reviews

walk

writes:

this

reaching

book

Berlin

Gefangnis

took June

everything

petite,

is

who

my her

filing

recommence

in

that months

his

critic

well-being.

A and

the

the

yet

of

element

Again

uprooted

her.

to

this

always

six

unshakable

but

imposed

of

text,

Emmy’s

on

Hennings

career,

not

of

journal

which

is

solitary

marriage

for

Hennings

spread

life

favorable

the

bewildered

in

was

frame

believe

It inspire

entry

I

the

to

stereotyped

a

her literary

of

fears

Hennings

that

compare

Although

human

physical

Although

Gefangnis

incessant

gazes

her

flamboyant,

The

a

to

to

effect

hold

in

about

of

and

She

people.”4°

me.

tiny

sufferings.

an

of

these

and author

us

can

and

and

diary Munich

a

often

describes

consistently

the

traits.

its

lofty,

A

early

sees the

during

prison.

that

and naive

might

his

lasting

interested

was

compared

leads

seemed

a

remark

with

Certainly

of

and as

as

a was

observing

and

charms.

survival?

archetypal

Nevertheless

description

In Throughout

Among

one

compromise,

be

never

emotional

Ball, critic tics. suits nings

physical had

Gefangnis no well the

circumstances, stylistically ing ance is

to house’ ruby,

anticipation confusions tion She age

city, and written well her Hunger.

No outstretched. future her

perfectly gamin,

zling

to

the

she

she

she

her

one.

the

of

let

and

she

and

text

its

not

look

wan

bal

image

try

is

need

of

cool.

itself,

felt,

no

main

vision,

I

short I

and

to

out,

unas spoke?

and

becomes

but

tone an

The

lifetime.

Trial),

will

focused

remains

authority.

are

image,

cell

a

it

she

an her

let

results

her

on

appeared

seduce

pass

scene that

This

her,

safety

mental

I

(The

and

You

know

for

of

What

compensate

to

the

be

that

imposing

iron

bars

of picture.

psychological will

prisoner’s

senses.

that

the

This

gate

to

merciful

book

by

will

And

me.

dreamlike

its

will

about

“Slowly

imprisonment

you.’

she

accusatory focused

the

iron the

loss

Be

glass

self

steady to

citizens.

with

power

Proze[.

her

by

soul’s

iron

memorable

of

one

foreign

to

echo.

from

she

an

partner:

a

seems

love

its

The

cares

Hennings

that

is alone.

eyes

helplessness

the

no

my

will.

In

an

Der from

true

psychological

peace:

In

black

of

high progress

since

so

past

of

raped

gradual

in

her

a

remain

for

my

reality

narrator’s

and

a

that

lover

walls.

sooner

the

appeals

and

it,

gate.

am

curve.

‘Stay

to

evokes

to

guilt,

quietly,

I

text,

love

for

affected

images

the

inscrutable

experiences

on

field,

someone

the

Freedom

the matter.

us:

that

of

weakest comforting

harsh

before

that

innocent.

and

traumatic

secret

little

in

a

life

and before

not

poetry

strives

that

with

reflection

the

the

novella

Submit

which

shines.

quietly,

hear

move

the

her

confusion Kafka’s

technological

of

this

stand

her

words

beyond

reconstructed on

goes

captures

before

the

to

does

her

released.

of incarceration

reconstruction

feel.”39

in

“I

will

stand

lips

the language

creates

eyes.

you,

I

full

compensate

it

Be

about

her

snow

is

feeling

her

she

begins

that

her

age themselves

narrator

the

accusation

to

snow-covered

despair,

My

one

my

power

she

conveys

are

becomes

the

love

stands

she

of

The

trial, must freer

impersonal

of

you.

I

regime

mouth

the

no Proze$:

reworked

in precise

new

the

and

return

indebted

cell,

wide

sooner

order

cold!

text

the

in now

the explanation

so

it

a

section

and tale believe

to

my under

The

glass,

somehow

cell,

describes

the

long:

in

statement

a many

not Gefangnis

arrest,

or

hope

to

the

go,

the

and

illustrates

lay

i,

I

Kafka,

who

that

brilliantly But

Kafka’s

jail

who

of

cold

them

beginning

dominate

prison

her

“I

of

over

across

is

I frightened.

how

arrest

back,

that

some

Kafka’s loneliness

smooth

like strong

her

part

whisper,

freedom

the and

it

reason

sets

Clearly her way.

part

narrator

is

work

a

get

authority.

those

of

witness longer

her

in

asks

of after

Be

lines

writing

smooth

in

until

undertake

her

know

wonders

her

moves

and

on

bars

of control

the

from

so

1925.

she

difficult:

me.

speak,

of

“The to

seeks

opinion

Sound

don’t

you

bear make

of

final

she

scene

I

is

As

I

it

must

in second

without

weeks

All

iron

Alone

a

to

to

readers

mind

Hennings,

she

wartime the

foreshadowing

story

startling

spealdngT’37

loss

The

its

In

echo. Six

I

And

The

Hennings realized home:

glass

accompanying

her.

All

finds

unsure

seduce

Hennings’s

its

The

darker.

of

1919,

protagonist

is

relinquishes

demands

With

present,

open.”38

again

its

dering

begins

most

master.

with

for

has

Was

your

me

disappoint

still.

The

ance.

but

character

incarceration

autobiographical

authority

for

sailable

insights

in

published

reminds

Emmy

20 I C.,

33

of

air,

Dada

just

May

with

of

or

deter

In

year

height.

Ball

Pram,

had

Munich.

Benziger

Germany

year

Hennings

Sorengo,

but

his

light

Mama

in

to

luck.

the

Switzerland

same

and

Emmy

by

one

daughter,

Love)

of

point

tired

first

Museum

little

a

and

to

that

Photograph

camera.

her

while

the

one

a

adequate

to

had

the

and

dwarfed

Way

At

Hugo

1926.

courtesy Einsiedeln,

with

Annemarie,

Archjv

for

taken

Frankfurt,

she

Ball

and

unhealthy.

Singer

(The

approximately

before

but

Hesse.

without

his

pale

for

joy

room

returned

Liebe

Cabaret

Stuttgart,

no

write

photograph

thin,

Italy

zur

to

a

A

ceramics,

towards

From

Hermann

sleeping

Berlin,

Gang

express

Hennings

tilted

shows

in

and

artists’

friend

southern

Der

and

tendency

in sell

office

Switzerland.

close

his

money,

to

slightly

book

to

Sorengo

perform

his

serious

stayed

their

in

her

to

little

about

body

trying

a

found

that

her

appear

from

returned

earn

she

invited

Rome,

her

worried

Hennings

to

to

Annemarie

to

was

that

she

support couple

subjects

and

trip

Hennings,

order

she

with

a

the

wrote

Ball

In

three

work,

of

reporting

financial made 1926 them

Ball

mined

when

All

I

on

to in

of.

the

in

the

to

am

in

The

left

than

write

was

of

that,

“I

one.

labor

pub

Emmy

letter.

Helte

gentle

instead

other.

seeking

Milan,

research

during

to

methods

often Dadaists

was

together

work.

speak

hungry,

exorcism.

thing

This

she

managed

her

adequate

worked

match

the

more

is

It

and

Ball: this

enough

(October

of

his

to

prison.

not

and

on

traveled

and

each

which

bed

Song),

Ball,

for

poems,

in

get

Christentum, settled

Ball

not

that

for

darkness

Zurich

send like glow

to

Hugo

and

to

words

were

work

words,

from residence

space

reluctance

without and

cleaning.

exchanged I’ll

remembered the

Munich

time

a

important Hennings

research.

desire

if

thinking

dark

his

my we

would

Eternal cannot

Florence, in

mention

in

his

by

went Albori,

would

her

I

apart,

A

imagine

her

former

so,

his

excerpts

it

went

for

“I in

and

funds

written

most

not

Agnuzzo take

she

know

(The

calm

Pisa,

live

for

According

that

for mood

Rome

also

spent husband

in daughter

a

establish

Byzantinisches

shows

Even

topic:

them.

the

did

to

will

often

where

their

out

in

fire

to

Lied

her

can

her respected

noted,

to

religious-inspired

don’t

his

Hugo’s

completely

he

despair

paid

a

Her

they

Ball

research

independently

see

I

summer

rest,

collecting

visited

she

library

inspiration.

of

letter

she

to

for

she

and

for

a

and

One

her waves

she

like

left

near

found

that

hot

Ewige

she

inclined

relaxing.

work

some

little

and

haunting

that

“Maybe

Her

or

wasn’t she unpublished.

often

Catholicism.

home.

the

though

a

he

money.

or

near exhausted

city.

I

to

want

the

felt

letter

attempted

Dos

did

thing

to

about

Ball,

and

energy

reading

be

that

collection

the

try

main

then

only had

Vietri-Marina,

reveal

Although

come

months

hungered

Ball

time,

of

more

Florence,

they

part,

don’t

Hennings

support

When

same

Italy

to

flame.”51

to

of

remains

from

I

motives:

see

the

in During

but

1922

and

reading,

could for

and

they

helpmate,

this

him.

my

letters

to

intense

level

the

beautiful

and

like

Hennings

trip.

letters

when

dearly

twelve and

recurring

at

beginning

from

was

her

committed

away

Ball

in

a their

for

other’s

Haus”

his

room

Arno

village

with

her

them.

wanted

or

peace,

1923—24,

the

the

she

The

asking a

on

Even

while

writing,

them

would months

book words

of

devoted

work the

time

that

And

more

that wrote

each

I

includes

“we

Hennings

burning

for

graue

not

writing

in

a

so

for time

six

Italian

her

for

visited

Night)

fearing

new

she

love

novel

it

that

pursued

your

and

during

rented theories

for

Ball’s

I

here

that

described

1924

a

Echo ultimate

opportunities

“Das

derZeit

winter

to

been

time

except

became after

1922)

same

Ball

presence.

Hugo,

on

her

separation.

of

waves.”50

the

und

was

thirst

She

aus

tired,

any

letter,

the

throw

During

Tauber

second

of

wrote

admit

But

the

have

to

1923.

that

a

lodging

little

southern

not

Ruf

unseen.

I’ll

husband,

October

years,

one

convinced

to

Hennings

At

very

(Luminous

in discussing

and

addicted

words,

or

She

In

Ftucht

Hennings

physical

scolded

time

her

the

In

Rome.

her

hardly

working

life.”49

her

could

Hennings

During

draft

four

am

and

Hennings

his

in Arp

days.”52

peace,

have in

seemed

task.

to his

I

your

supporting people

Maybe

tired,

manuscript

to

left

Ball when her

food

this

our and

I wasn’t

Italy.

She lished

Nacht

also

and

1921—October

Agnuzzo

for

Emmy

32 I 34 EmmyHennings FromCabaretSingertotheFirstMamaofDada 35 been published. Thework is Hennings’s record of her Italian trip. Meanwhile her This extensive list of accomplishments does not mention her many Expres daughter came down with typhus, and Hennings was anxious for news of her sionist and Dadaist performances in dance, music, and poetic recitations—all welfare. Bailtold Hennings that she should stay in Berlin, because in Sorengo she ephemeral arts, unrecorded and easily overlooked. Hennings’s contributions to could do nothing but wait for Annemarie’s recovery: “we must realize, Emmy, the avant-garde and specificallyto Dada were many and varied, as were her tal that the child is in God’shands. So, you can stay calm.”53When she received the ents. Moreover, her courage, persistence, and attractive presence were essential letter, Hennings ignored Bail’sadvice and rushed to Tessin, obeying her maternal to the founding and success of Zurich Dada. In honor of her work, the Museo instincts, which told her she should be with her ailing daughter rather than on Hermann Hesse at Montagnola, Switzerland, hosted the retrospective Ichbin da. stage. Pardon (I’mhere. Excuseme) from April i to September io, 2006. Theexhibition In May 1927 Ballwrote in his diary a list of plans for the year, which included featured three months of cultural and educational activities and the catalogEmmy Hennings’s returning to work in Germany, Ball’swriting the exorcism book, Ball-Hennings:Musa, Diseuse, Poetessa. Two Annemarie’s attending art school in Zurich, Ball and Hennings’s moving to Hei biographies of Emmy Hennings have come out in German: René Gass’s delberg or Freiburg, and later their taking a trip to Paris. All these plans were 1998 Emmy Ball-Hennings: Wegeund Umwegsum Paradies (Emmy Ball-Hennings: abandoned when Ballwas diagnosed with stomach cancer and underwent surgery Paths and Detours to Paradise) and journalist Barbel Reetz’s 2001 Emmy Ball in Zurich on July 2, 1927. The couple moved instead to the village of Sant’Abbon Hennings: Leben im Vielleicht(Emmy Ball-Hennings: Life in Perhaps). Although dio, thirty minutes from Hesse’sresidence, for Bail’sconvalescence, but he died both works shed light on Hennings’s life, neither studies Hennings in one of her on September 14. most important roles in literary and art history—as the mother of the Dadamove Afterward Emmy traveled to Rome, Assisi, Paris, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, ment, as an instigator of Dada performance, or as a model for the group through Cologne, Berlin, and Zurich, while she wrote and published poetry, biographical her stage talent and sometimes disreputable lifestyle. What Hennings witnessed works about Ball,and novels. She professed one of her goals in the foreword to and recorded in her autobiographical writings about this era outlasts her initial and her 1940 Fluthtige Spiel (Fleeting Play): “Alreadyfor many years I’ve followed a ephemeral theatrical contributions to Dada. Her antibourgeois perspective is plan to lay down a written confession of my life.”54Although Ruf undEcho partially historically significant because it provides another glimpse of early Dada and its fulfilled this goal, not many details are known about Hennings’s later years. She proponents from a female participant and observer whose background and life eventually settled in Tessin, rented out rooms to vacationers, did factory work, experiences differed remarkably from those of the other women featured in this and continued a devoted friendship with Hesse. Her Briefe an Hermann Hesse, study. published in 1956, indudes letters from 1920 until the month before her death. Becauseof her initiative and support, Hennings was a motivating forcebehind Theyremain the only readily available autobiographical records of her later years. the founding and success of Zurich Dada. She was an experienced and seductive She died of pneumonia on August io, 1948, in the Clinica S. Anna at Sorengo/ actor and singer who drew clients to the cabaret. Without an audience, who would Lugano and was buried in Sant’Abbondio beside her husband. notice the Dadaists’ antics? Nevertheless her intense involvement in Dada events The number of published works by Hennings illustrates how consistently lasted only a few years, primarily because of her relationship with Ball,who drew her committed she was to writing throughout her life.While her earlypoems allude to away from her central Dadaist contribution: performance. One can see that her her bohemian lifestyle, her later works appear as acts of penance and affirmations preoccupation with the avant-garde seemed to wane soon after Ball distanced of her faith. Her books include the poetry collection Die Letzte Freude (1913); the himself from Dada activities in favor of the more scholarly life of a writer. novella Gefangnis (1919); the autobiographical Das Brandmal (1920), which Ball As her involvement with the outlandish behavior of Zurich Dada diminished, mentioned by name in his journal; the poetry collection Helle Nacht (1922); the Hennings’s poetry became more traditional in rhyme, phrasing, and imagery. Her dark prose work Das EwigeLied (1923); the prose work Der Gang zur Liebe (1926); the doubts, so closely linked to her years of prostitution, illness, drug use, prison, biographies Hugo Ball: Sein Leben in Briefen und Gedichten (1929) and Hugo Balls and nightclub work were replaced with declarations of faith. Her prose continued Wegzu Gott (1931); the prose work Blume und Flamme: Geschkhte einer Jugend, to retain her early candor, but became increasingly influenced by reli gious with a foreword by Hesse (1938); the volume ofpoetryDerKranz (1939); the prose thought. Even so, her impact on the members of the Dada group was deep and lasting. work Das Fluchtige Spiel: Wegeund Umwegeeiner Frau (1940); tales Marchen am As the only entertainer with cabaret experience, she modeled a rebel lious Kamin (1943); and short stories Das Irdische Paradies und andere Legenden (1945). lifestyle in her choice of profession. In fact she was one of the few partici pants Finished just before her death, the posthumously published Ruf und Echo:Mein who had truly lived the daring bohemian life of the itinerant artist instead of a comfortable Lebenmit HugoBall (1953) recounts her life but chieflyin relation to Ball’s. and stable middle-class existence that was conveniently shed to

L

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controversial

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writings

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poet,

artistic

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and

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relationship

prose

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foregrounds

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to

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puppet

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an

his

that

she

nurturer

mother

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fact

for

religion,

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in

career

editing

and

devotion

choice

co-Dadaists.

dancer,

herself.

letters,

paradox

and

on

the

the

by

life

appropriate

When

reexamination

evidence

her

him her

her

Hugo

to

a

is

her

Zurich.

publications—at

and

was

and

sacrifice

on

muse

within

singer,

life,

and

Ball.

of

in

women.

was

to

of

Hennings’s

memoirs,

and

merely who

there

with

affected

remarkable

life

made

witness

Ball’s

rest

on

with

had

years

writings

not

concentration

as

stages

she

Her

the

most

she

poetry,

Hennings

enigmatic

was

energy

stimulating

the role

incongruous

for

on

the

Hennings

Hennings,

it

influence

she

intense

couple’s

compatible

and

and

death—are

most

of

performances

the

woman

partnership

guarded

effect

and

a

biographical

the

his

a

expression.

Ball’s

through made

impressions

memoirist.

case

uncover

remained

as

her

active

clearly

many

her

for

she

the

self-effacing

in

after

and

the

she

will

suggested,

right.

her

discover

during

was

moved

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artistic

In

personality,

isolation

her

to

herself

one

in

avant-garde’s

from

own

have

she

when

tremendous

through deeply

Hennings

of

through

partner,

a

Nevertheless

as

Ball’s

the

novelist,

her

family.

of

even

result, presence

read

her

beyond

alive wishes

performance her

relinquish

a

part

dating in

tionship.

might

especially

writings,

had

self ist,

indulge

Emmy 36

Jun

The

Mir Sub

most

1994

edi

co]

art,

Rudolf

Melzer

Mirror•

its

Hubert,

and

and

Hossli

Levitt, Rosemont

Bloemink,

(noon

and

Caws,

Riese

merged

Suleiman,

(‘887—1948)

(1985)

Pioneering

Gradiva

Annabefle

Ann

Dada

Judith

Barbara

Zeitung

Penelope

2012).

ideas,

Shandlen

Renée

sculptures

of Susan

IrrationalModernism.

10,

Mary

Brown,

Meyer,

Movement

Schwitters

Dada

(198;);

views

create

(1994);

(1991);

Berliner

Naumann’s

(1998);

Jones,

Sanoufilet,

Annette

to

Ann

M.

Kurt

(1990);

January some

Neue

(2002).

Raimund Surrealist

by

Women

Amelia

Betty

(1998);

objects

artist

insightful

Hugnet,

Francis

the

Partnership

TaeuberAry

and

and

and

as

(accessed

History

(2004).

and

and

found

Avant-garde

Bolliger

provide

Sophie influenced

137.

or

(1995);

focus

Painting.”

Self-Represen0

the Dada.

Anthotoy

Hannov

Dada

(2000);

in

andArt

Hans

Artists

Faucherau,

Surrealism

and

by

and

York

York

Surrealism,

MonsterDadaghow

Spirit

discarded

New

Lanchner,

Literature,

Women

New

Dachy,

Stettheimer

movement

Bergius,

of

of

Raaberg

to

Politics,

Surrealism

of

geographical

International

Surrealism,

Dada

Magnaguagno,

by

Women, of

Surrealism,

use

“Grosse

Sti)]

An

brine

spearheaded

3.

same

F

Carolyn

Gwen

Hanne

review

“The

its

De

1915—1923

Gende

History

of

Chadwick,

Guido

Women,

and

the

Handbook

for

and

Women,

Genders

1920,

manifestations.

volumes

A

on

Women:

and

6,

Dada,

Dutch

Foster,

Schrott,

Intent:

example

and Hugnet,

andArt

nearly

begun

C.

kno

Whitney

CohnWiener

York

July

The

is

Images:

for

Kuenzli

Life

See

Harmon,

Excellent

Raoul

Steiner,

Neurasthenric

publicized

See

ror

versive

8.

best

Genres

MagnifyingMjo5. Surrealist

Reflections

This

New

See

The

A

1.

Steven

Georges

Ernst

2.

tion),

3.

MERZ,

is

lages.

4.

5.

6.

1.

2.

3.

Notes

4.

Preface

Introduction

F

I

it

out

got

rela

they

col

one

Dada

with

pain

sacri

frida

artists

social

access

female

insepa

sisters,

writing,

of “Now

women.

Dadaists’

they that

construc

of individual

on

Moreover

paintings,

traditional

made

entire

joined

competitive

linking male

pointed

equal

perhaps

fact

excellent

about

their

Tanning,

one-upmanship

the

social

Dadaist

less

works violence

has

attack

women

the

their

with painting,

more

hand,

tendency:

with

of

of

and

of

were

the

the

in

the

to

The

certainly

women

drawings,

Futurists.

their

light—once

and

self-portraits

Koos

this

to

fact,

other

and

of

unified

spite

Dorothea

another, generation

There

possible

talent

In

a

their

in

the

of

other

equal,

Europe

in

in

allowed

journals,

“reverted

their

onto

on

Leonard

not their

contrast

made

persistence,

appreciation

development

recording

it

of

confirmed each

sexuality

least

not,

overtones.”21

footsteps

and

antifeminist

In

works

across

fact

at

the

with

the

women

readily

has

Dada,

the

publishing.

In

the

with

or

than

of

projected

in

contributions.

to

further,

and

more

woman’s

women. undaunted

inheritor,

activities

avant-garde,

paintings

not

perceptions

and virulently

often

of

collaborations

step

portrayed

misogynistic

Chadwick

the

women

their

were

tolerance.

the

self,

favorable,

music,

Dada—make

Dada

followed

held

and

Dada’s

networking

on

a

more

one

primarily

of

Dadaists

understanding

of

reality

The

with

the

did

in

they

skills—combined

go

who

work,

influence

was

for

Dadaists

Whitney

acting,

level

goals

often

group,

impact

than

role.”22

supported

male-generated

their

commonly

often

against

male

Referring

the

textile

the

because

same

writings

to colleagues.

personal

productions

of

the

of

who

essential

transnational

physiological

and

as

Surrealism,

painting,

women, but

the

many

Surrealism

immense

compose

other

of

feminine

in

of

Oppenheim,

These

in

the

directed

and

painters

female

(Picabia),

an

Dadaist

or

fought

them

women

resistant

enjoy

of

music,

her

and

and

women

members

norms.

though from

had

and

of

poets.

mistreatment.

The

not

women

Woman

create

know

violence

enterprise.

contributions

dance,

interpretations

and

tionships

evidenced nature

were

They

fices

izing

tion

male

rable

Kahlo,

is

Surrealist and

figurations

that,

did

the

to

to

poems,

exception

entirely

laborations

The 168 110 Notes to Pages 5—15 Notes to Pages 16—24 171 architecture, and design. Its best-known artists are Theo Van Doesburg, Piet Mon 9. “Weiit Du eigentlich, dag Hardekopf in Paris lebt und franzosischer drian, Gerrit Rietveld, and Vilmos Huszár. den 1st? Das ist aber Royalist gewor nichts gegen den Fall Emmy Hennings, die Egyptian Aliaa Magda Elmahdy and Iranian Golshifteh Farahani have both staged auf den aus Liebe für thn 5. Strich ging und auf semen bestahl.” bodies to the public. Rat die Kunden Qtd. in a letter feminist protests to their respective regimes by baring their Siegfried Jacobsohn to Kurt from Tuchoisky May 26 1926. Reprinted from In comparing early-twentieth-century artistic protest with these manifestations of Jacobsohn. Bnefe an Kurt Tuchotk Siegfried 1915—1926, in Emmy Ball Hennings 1885_;948, Islamic women’s protest in the twenty-first century, we can see the provocations of 10. Journal entry by Erich 88. Muhsam reprinted in Emmy Ball Hennings 1885_1948, Dada as protests against a society and its values. The political climate of World War 11. “Hugound ich jedoch traumten 86. bi5weilen so eindrucksvoll, dal der eine dern andern I and following, with its air of revolution followed by rising fascist activity, finds an oftmals semen Traum erzahlte, wieeben zwei Menschen, die einander nahestehen echo in the second decade of the twenty-first century with the specter of Islamic sich ;hre Erlebnisse mitteilen Ball-Hennings Ruf und Echo,75. revolution being met by religious fundamentalist backlash. 12. Huelsenbeck Memoirs of a Dada Drummer 10. 6. Hamid Dabashi, “LaVita Nuda: Baring Bodies, Bearing Witness.” Aijazeera, January 13. The Laban method of free, expressi dance as an art form in itself was formulated 23, 2012; http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2o;2/ol/2o1212111238688792 by Austro-Hungarian choreographer Rudolf von Laban. By 1913 one of his .html (accessed January 28, 2012). dance many schools was located in Monte Verità, Nazi overlooking Ascona, Switzerland, and According to Irmell Hautamäki, German culture was affected by the persecu by 1915 he had opened the School . of Movement Art in Zurich. Thedancers from the tion and expulsion of avant-garde artists until the 19605. It was only then that Ger school regularly attended and contributed to Dada events, for a further discussion man theoreticians began to refer to the avant-garde, which they had preferred to of Laban’s role in modern dance, see PartschBergsohn Modern Dance in label as “Modernism.” See Hautamaki’s Avantgarden alkupera, Modernin estetiikkaa and the Germany United States: Crosscurrents and Influences Baudelairesta Worholiin(Origin of Avant-garde: Modern Aesthetics from Baudelaire ‘4. Arp, “Dadaland,” in Arp on Arp: Poems, Essay, Memories 234. to Warhol), 2003. 15. Zeller, ed., Hermann Hesse in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten 90. The Reader:A CriticalAnthology, 28. i6. 8. Qtd. in Dawn Ades, ed., Dada Huelsenbeck Memoirs of a Dada Drummer ;6. 9. I was contacted by a researcher from the University of Southern California who was 17. “Ich hatte so etwas noch nie gesehen und war sofort gewonnen fur die understandably confused by the error at a now-defunct website: http://members; Dadaisten Emmy Hennings.. . stand da, angeklejdet mit einem Rohr aus Karton, uber .chello.nlf-.m.woestenburg/dada/alphabet/dermee.html (accessed June 19, 2002). den Kopf his an die Fuge, das Gesicht war eine gragliche Maske, der Mund offen, I notified the webmaster of the true identity of Arnauld, after which the site became die Nase auf die Seite gedruckt, die Arme in dunnen Kartonrohren verlangert, mit inactive. stilisierten langen Fingern. Das einzige Lebendige, was man gesehen hat, waren die Fuge, nackt, ganz allein für sich da Hennings unten, das war so pragnant und eindrucksvofl, Chapter i: Emily So hat sie getanzt. Sie konnte nichts anderes machen als mit den 297. (Unless otherwise indi Fugen klappern i. Qtd. in Emmy Ball-Hennings, Briefe an Herman Hesse, oder das Ganze wie einen Kamin neigen, und dabei hat sie noch geredet hie und da, cated, all translations are my own.) aber man hat es niclit verstanden, man hat es gespurt, und manchmal hat sie einen 2. Schutt-Hennings, introduction to Emmy Ball-Hennings, Ruf und Echo: Mein Leben Schrei ausgestofen, einen Schrei Qtd. in Schrott, Dada 15/25, 5;. mit Hugo Ball, 9—10. ;8. Huelsensbeck’s “Dada Lives”of 1936 is quoted by John Elderfield in his afterword to . The poem “Nach dem Kabarett,” on page i of her ii collection Die Letzte Freude, Ball’sflight Out of Time, 246. is reprinted in its entirety as “Nach dem Cabaret” in EmmyBall Hennings 1885—1948, 19. BalI,Flight Out of Time, 112. “Ichbin so vielfach : Texte, Bilder Dokumente, 70. 20. Ibid., io6. differing punctuation in Emmy Ball Hennings 1885—1948,67. The 21. . Reprinted with BaIl-I-Jennings,Helle Nacht, 21. poem (without title) appears on page 6 of Die Letzte Freude. 22. Ball,Flight Out of Time, Elderfield, introduction to Hugo Ball, Flight Out of Time:A Dada Diary, ,acvii. 23. “Ertrug deine Art Ritterrustung . aus blauem Glanzpapier und sein langes, schmales, 6. The poem appears on page of Die Letzte Freude. abgrundig ernstes Gesicht ; war auch sonst dem sines Don Quijote recht ahnlich, “Ich weig es im voraus. Es kann fur die Rolle niemand sonst in Frage kommen. Nur wie man sich den . Ritter von der traurigen Gestalt vorstelit, und wie ihn Sie, Sie sind es.” in Ball-Hennings, Ruf und Echo, etwa Goya Qtd. gemalt hatte.” Ball-Hennings, Ruf und Echo, 8. “Sie spricht, als habe sie gar keine elgenen Worte, wiederholt auch oft die Worte des 24. “Ich schreibe keinen Roman, es muI zu sehr mein Leben sein, das ich preisgebe Mannes, was aber nicht monoton wirkt. Es ist wie Ruf und Echo. Ware das Echo und das mir nachgeht. Je mehr man davon wegzustogen meint, um so mehr strömt nicht da, wurde der Mann seine einsame Stimme kaum hOren. Es ist, als vernehme einem zu. lch bestimme nicht, was ich schreibe, es bleibt mir keine die Frau, strömt sein Wort ihm begluckend zuruck. Emma1 Wahi, und ich er sich erst durch und so mochte gerne einmal wahlen durfen.” Ibid., ist es dann wie Musik in stiller Nacht. Das Spiel des Mannes geht in das der Frau 25. ‘esgibt keine Perspektiven mehr in der moralischen Welt. Oben 1stunten und unten uber, die Melodie der beiden wesen strömt ineinander, als umarme em Klang den ist oben.” Ibid., andern, und der harmonische Em- und Ausklang des Stuckes ist namenlos schon.” 26. “Der Künstler, der ohne Ruhe nicht schaffen kann, wenn er ins Zentrum, ans Herz Ibid., 43. der Dinge dringen will, wird aus seiner Balm herausgeschleudert der Raum wird

.4 112 Notes to Pages 24—31 Notes to Pages 31—40 113 ihm entzogen. In solch unruhvoller Zeit 1st er nicht mehr das Herz der Welt, in 48. Ball,Flight Out of Time, 196. der es auf die Zerstarung, die Vernichtung des Geistes abgesehen ist. Wo Kanonen 49. “Wir wollten einmal versuchen, unabhangig voneinander zu arbeiten. Hier mug donnern, wo das Chaos herrstht, kann nicht mehr harrnonisth gestaltet werden, die ich freilich fur mein klein Teil zugeben, daB ich in jener Zeit nicht allzusehr ans Stimme des Dichters muE verstummen. Es war so viel Verzweiflung beim Dadais Arbeiten gedacht habe, nicht immer restlos davon uberzeugt war, daBdie Arbeit die mus, wenigstens im Beginn, da er noch keine Modeangelegenheit, noch nicht durch Hauptaufgahe oder das nahezu Wichtigste in unserem Leben ist.” Ball-Hennings, gesetzt, also ganz echt gemeint war.”Ibid. Rufund Echo, 173. 27. “Der Dadaismus wurde geschoben und welter geschoben, nicht nur von den Dada 50. “Mude bin ich, sehr mude, und ich mochte nach Hause. Oh ich den Brief fortsch isten selbst. Er war da und frgendwie auch schon verloren, urn nicht zu sagen ‘uher icke, weiBich noch nicht. Vielleicht werfe ich ihn in den Arno und dann nehmen die bolt,’ sobald er von der Presse und vom Publikum emsthaft anerkannt wurde. Der Wellen meine Worte auf, die sachten, trägen Wellen.”Ibid., 193. Erfolg war unvermeidlich, und gerade vor der Abstempelung, vor dem Erfoig hatte si. “Ich mochte ungesehen zu den Menschen sprechen. Ich liebe sie und will sie nicht Hugo einem instinktiven Abscheu. Er straubte sich, begann den Dadaismus als sehen. Eine Dunkel Glut is oft in Deinen Worten, Hugo, em versengend Schones und Laune zu bezeichnen, aus dem man keine Kunstrichtung machen durfe. AllesmuCte 1stwie em Brand, von dem ich nie genug bekommen kann. Ich bin wort- und flam schwebend bleiben, so schwebend als moglich.” Ibid., 98. mensuchtig nach Dir.”Ibid., 194. 28. “Meingeliebtes Emmylein, ich danke Dir so sehr, da ich hier bin und dalI Du mir so 52. “Vielleicht suchten wir in Rom nicht den Frieden, nicht den Ietzten Frieden, nur gut zur ‘Flucht’verholfen hast.” Qtd. in ibid., eine kleine Rast, eine Rube in der Dunkelheit der Tage.”Ibid., 216. 29. BaIl,Plight Out of Time, 96. 53. “Wir mussen wissen, Emmy, daB das Kind in Gottes Hand ist. Dann kannst Du auch 30. Ibid., 117. ruhig bleiben.” Qtd. in ibid., 258. 31. Ibid., ii8. 54. “Schon vor vielen Jahren trug ich mich mit dem Plan, em Schrifiliches Bekenntnis 32. The March 17, 1917, letter is reprinted in its entirety in Schrott, Dada 15/25, 90. meines Lebens abzulegen.” Ibid., . 33. “Heute Abend habt ihr Soirée, und aller Erfolg mOgemit euch sein, und dalI ihr die Chapter Gobrielle geliebte Galerie, unser Preuden- und Sorgenkind, recht behandelt und betreut bis : Buffet and Germaine Everling zum ScMuB,und wenn es sein mulI, komme ich.”Qtd. in ibid., 137. 1. Lbeil cacodylate translates literally as “the cacodylic eye,” or the eye affected by a 34. “Seiherzlich gekulIt, mein Liebling, und tausend Dank für deine treue Hilfe, dein poison of the organo-arsenic family that causes respiratory tract, skin, and eye irri Hugo.”Qtd. in ibid., 139. tation. The unusual use of the word cacodylate in the title of the painting is clarified “Inzwischen sind drei Monate vergangen.” Ball-Hennings, Gefangnis, . in part by Germaine Everling’suse of the same term to describe Dada in her chapter 36. “Ich stehe still. .. ich kann nitht atem. Was ist los? Jetzt weilI ich, weilI fur immer: “Dada périclite” in LAnneau de Saturne: “Pourtant convenons qu’il servit de piqüre

Es gibt keinen Raurn, es gibt keine Zeit, es gibt keine Luft.” Ibid., de cacodylate a une époque anémiée par une assimilation difficile. .. .“ (Aslong as it 37. “Ich lege meinen Mund in diese Meine Rundung. Kuhl ist die Eiseneinfassung. Das served as an injection of cacodylate to an era made anemic by its difficult assimila Glas, wie glatt und kalt! Meine Lippen beruhren das schwarze Glas, das still bleibt. tion. .. , 137). Thepainting and Dada itself were both intended to shock and awaken Und ich spreche, flustere; denn niemand soll uns haren: Bleib mir treu. Du wirst the viewing public. In addition Dan Franck mentions that at the time Picabia created mich nicht enttauchen. Sei nathgiebig unter meinen Augen. Schmiege dich meinem Lbeil cacodylate, the artist was suffering from an eye infection that was being treated Willen. Sei barmherzig und laB dich verfuhren, bis ich dich beherrsche. Immer spie with sodium cacodylate. See Franck, Bohemian Paris, 338. gele das Bild,das meine Seeleertraumt. Dein Echobrauche ich. Halle nach, lange: ich 2. “Ses dons bien français sont l’intellect, l’esprit, le jugement, la comprehension, Ia liebe dich. . . Leise.. . leise .. . liebe dith. finesse.”Arp, “Gabrielle Buffet-Picabia,”in Rencontres, 25. Was sprach? Sprach ich?” Ibid., 3. “On demande: Pourquoi 391? Quest-ce que 391?” was published in Zurich Dadaist 38. “Ichstehe vor einem hohen eisernen Tor, das ich zu offnen versuche.” Ibid., 115. Sophie Tauber’s periodical Plastique in 1937. 39. ‘tIelanger ich gehe, desto freier fühle ich mich.” Ibid., 178. 4. “Nous voulions nous liberer et nous degager de toute la technique traditionnelle, de 40. “Langsam wird es dunkler. Ich furchte mich nicht. Der Schnee leuchtet. Ich bin toutes les vieilles syntaxes et grammaires, pour explorer ce que nous appelions la so allein. Und niemand begegnet mir. Niemand sieht mich. Ich breite meine musique pure.” Qtd. in Borràs, “Une Jeune femme appelee Gabrielle Buffet,”Rencon Arme aus vor Cluck. Ich habe die Stadt noch nicht erreicht und die Menschen.” tres, i6. Ibid., 178. . “IlIes disait avec une certaine pompe, d’une voix contenue, appuyant sur les rimes. ‘. Ball,Plight Out of Time, 167. Son profil romain était eclairé par la fiamme et toute cette ambiance romantique 42. Ibid., 159. lui seyait a merveille je l’avoue. Ii dit ainsi plusieurs poèmes du recueil Alcools qui 43. Ibid., ,6o. n’était pas encore paru a cette époque, et l’un d’euxqui retrace sa vie, son enfance et 162. Ibid., ses deboires fit a ma mere une grande impression. . . . Ma mere Iui demanda le titre Ibid., 163. de ‘II ce poême. nest pas encore terminé, repondit-il et n’a pas encore de nom. . 46. Ibid., 167. Puis tout a coup, gentiment 11se tourna vers elle et lui dit: ‘jel’appellerai zone’, ce qui 47. BalI-Hennings. Ruf und Echo, 132. fut fait.” Gabrielle Buffet, “Rencontre avecApollinaire,” 194.

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