From Dada to Surrealism

Abstract

M. Emile Bouvier describes Dada as “a warlike weapon, the point of which was humor, or if you like, an instrument for the demolition of the Old World by means of a dynamite disguised as a simpleton's jest.” Its object was “to juggle away, to parody, and to ridicule all ‘accepted ideas,’ all forms of social activity.” If one accepts this view of Dadaism, and it is very widespread, then it follows that the Dada work is distinguished by its purely negative character. Its purpose is destructive: it strikes at art with the only weapon Dada could use—humor, the burlesque. It is not intended to be creative: it is intended to cast discredit on creative activity. “The Dada poem is anti-poetry.” It is intended solely to create scandal and to insult the bourgeoisie.