Șapte manifeste DADA. Lampisterii. Omul aproximativ

by Tristan Tzara, Ion Pop (trad., pref.), Francis Picabia (illustr.)

„Daca scriem, acest lucru nu‑i decit un refugiu: din orice «punct de vedere». Pentru mine, scrisul nu e o meserie si nu am ambitii literare. As fi devenit un aventurier de mare tinuta, cu gesturi fine, daca as fi avut forta fizica si rezistenta nervoasa de a realiza aceasta singura isprava: sa nu ma plictisesc. Scriem si pentru ca nu exista destui oameni noi, din obisnuinta, publicam ca sa cautam niste oameni, si ca sa avem o ocupatie (chiar acest lucru e o prostie). Ar fi o solutie: sa ne resemnam; pur si simplu: sa nu facem nimic. Dar trebuie sa ai o uriasa energie. Si avem o nevoie aproape igienica de complicatii.“ (Tristan Tzara)

„Exista la Tzara elanul unei tinereti revoltate, obsesia catastrofei, iar discursul sau are accent profetic.“ (Marcel Raymond)

„Volumul de fata, primul tiparit la noi dintre scrierile sale in limba franceza si ajuns acum la a doua editie, incearca sa aduca mai aproape de cititorul roman un numar de pagini pe care le‑am considerat reprezentative deopotriva ca repere ale spiritului modern, novator, in confruntare cu valorile trecutului, si ca expresie a unui talent original, de reala forta vizionara. Nu puteau lipsi dintre ele amintitele Manifeste Dada, iar amplul poem in nouasprezece secvente Omul aproximativ, publicat in 1931, considerat a fi cea mai semnificativa opera lirica a sa, se cuvenea retinut, de asemenea, ca prima, majora sinteza a unei etape de creatie ce acopera spatiul dintre momentul dadaist propriu‑zis si impacarea cu grupul suprarealist parizian, condus de Andre Breton.“ (Ion Pop)

Genres: Poetry

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Romanian-born French poet and essayist known mainly as a founder of Dada, a nihilistic revolutionary movement in the arts.

The Dadaist movement originated in Zürich during World War I; Tzara wrote the first Dada texts - La Premiére Aventure cèleste de Monsieur Antipyrine (1916; "The First Heavenly Adventure of Mr. Antipyrine") and Vingt-cinq poémes (1918; "Twenty-Five Poems") - and the movement's manifestos, Sept manifestes Dada (1924; "Seven Dada Manifestos").

In Paris he engaged in tumultuous activities with André Breton, Philippe Soupault, and Louis Aragon to shock the public and to disintegrate the structures of language. About 1930, weary of nihilism and destruction, he joined his friends in the more constructive activities of Surrealism. He devoted much of his time to the reconciliation of Surrealism and Marxism and joined the Communist Party in 1936 and the French Resistance movement during World War II. These political commitments brought him closer to his fellow human beings, and he gradually matured into a lyrical poet. His poems revealed the anguish of his soul, caught between revolt and wonderment at the daily tragedy of the human condition.

His mature works started with L'Homme approximatif (1931; "The Approximate Man") and continued with Parler seul (1950; "Speaking Alone") and La Face intèrieure (1953; "The Inner Face"). In these, the anarchically scrambled words of Dada were replaced with a difficult but humanized language.