Tristan Tzara (1896 - 1963)
Related: Cabaret Voltaire - cut-up technique - dada - poetry - modern art
Bibliography: Lipstick Traces, a Secret History of 20th Century (1989)
In Paris Tzara engaged in tumultuous activities with André Breton, Philippe Soupault, and Louis Aragon to shock the public and to disintegrate the structures of language. In late 1929, 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 French Communist Party in 1937. He was active in the French Resistance movement during World War II. He left the Communist Party in 1956, in protest against the Soviet quelling of the Hungarian Revolution. [Jul 2006]
A manifesto is a communication made to the whole world, whose only pretension is to the discovery of an instant cure for political, astronomical, artistic, parliamentary, agronomical and literary syphilis. It may be pleasant, and good-natured, it's always right, it's strong, vigorous and logical. Apropos of logic, I consider myself very likeable. --Feeble Love & Bitter Love, II manifesto by Tzara
Contemporaries: Antonin Artaud - André Breton - Dziga Vertov - André Masson - Mario Praz - Paul Van Ostaijen
Biography
Tristan Tzara (April 16, 1896 - December 25, 1963) is the pseudonym of Sami Rosenstock, born in Moine?ti, Bac?u, Romania. A poet and essayist who lived for the majority of his life in France, he is known mainly as a founder of Dada, a nihilistic revolutionary movement in the arts. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Tzara [Apr 2005]