Speaking Dada : The Politics of Language

My intention in this paper is to explore how Dada's internationalism can be related to Dada's radical work in poetic language. Dada's internationalism is often seen to reflect the fact that its groups were made up of displaced, exiled individuals. In February 1918 Richard Huelsenbeck stated in his " Erste Dadarede in Deutschland " : " Der Dadaismus war notgedrungen ein internationales Produkt. Man mußte etwas Gemeinsames zwischen den Russen, Rumänen, Schweizern und Deutschen finden " (Riha and Schäfer 1994: 96). The Dadaists have insisted that their international make-up should also be seen as a form of resisting and opposing the hyperbolic nationalisms of World War I. Hugo Ball, for example, introducing the anthology Cabaret Voltaire, declared the Zurich group's intentions to be transnational and pacifist: " über den Krieg und die Vaterländer hinweg an die wenigen Unabhängigen zu erinnern, die anderen Idealen leben " (Ball 1916: 1). Dada's internationalism, while undoubtedly a reaction to the politics of war, can also be understood in a way that is directly linked with Dada's stance towards language. Its internationalism was a reaction also to the increasing nationalization of the European avant-garde during the war. Russian Futurists, German Expressionists (including, for a brief time, Ball himself) and English Vorticists were to varying degrees supporting the war efforts of their respective countries, but the most infamous example was provided by the Italian Futurists who agitated for Italy's entry into the war. Futurist poems, including experiments with " words in freedom " , did feature in the dada performances and publications in Zurich and during the initial