Tristan Tzara was born Sami Rosenstack in 1896 in Moinesti, Romania. Tzara had enrolled at the University of Bucharest and then left for Zurich, where he met many artists and authors and the term Dada was born. In 1919 Tzara moved to Paris to work with André Breton, with whom he would later have a rift over politics. Tzara was active in left-wing movements and was part of the Resistance. Though he had a communist vistion, he combined it with a humanist, anti-fascist perspective and served a term in the National Assembly. He was both artist and performer, and his contribution to poetry includes his influence on literature spanning from Futurism to the Beat Generation to contemporary popular culture. He died at the age of 67 in Paris, France and is buried at the Cimetière du Montparnasse.
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Pour faire un poème dadaïstes |
Chanson dada
I
la chanson d'un dadaïste
qui avait dada au coeur
fatiguait trop son moteur
qui avait dada au coeur
l'ascenseur portait un roi
lourd fragile autonome
il coupa son grand bras droit
l'envoya au pape à rome
c'est pourquoi
l'ascenseur
n'avait plus dada au coeur
mangez du chocolat
lavez votre cerveau
dada
dada
buvez de l'eau
II
la chanson d'un dadaïste
qui n'était ni gai ni triste
et aimait une bicycliste
qui n'était ni gaie ni triste
mais l'époux le jour de l'an
savait tout et dans une crise
envoya au vatican
leurs deux corps en trois valises
ni amant
ni cycliste
n'étaient plus ni gais ni tristes
mangez de bons cerveaux
lavez votre soldat
dada
dada
buvez de l'eau
III
la chanson d'un bicycliste
qui était dada de coeur
qui était donc dadaïste
comme tous les dadas de coeur
un serpent portait des gants
il ferma vite la soupape
mit des gants en peau d'serpent
et vient embrasser le pape
c'est touchant
ventre en fleur
n'avait plus dada au coeur
buvez du lait d'oiseaux
lavez vos chocolats
dada
dada
mangez du veau
Tristan Tzara wrote with the mission to change language. Part of that desire to change included making language infantile--or--returning language to its state beyond the written word. His work and methods center on a lack of reflection, which was a major diversion from the poetry published as late as a few years leading up to the Dadaist movement. His verse is filled with imagery, and his language works as experimentation. Key images in his poetry include glass, fountains and crystals. His poems have not only deep color, but an intense precision and clarity. Scholars find thematic unity under the surface of Tzara's poems that is accessible only through intuition. One often overlooked aspect of his work is the tragic nature of being constantly in flux.
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Johnston, Kenneth G. "The Silly Wasters: Tzara and the Poet in 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro'." Hemingway Review 8.1 (Fall88 1988): 50.
LEGGE, ELIZABETH. "FAIRE DE SON HISTOIRE UNE BOUCLE (NOIRE): WAYS OF LOOKING AT TRISTAN TZARA." Art History 32.1 (Feb. 2009): 144-176.