Blago Bung, Blago Bung, Bosso Fataka! First Texts of German Dada

by Hugo Ball, Richard Huelsenbeck, Walter Serner

The German contribution to the Dada movement, this collection brings together three texts, translated into English for the first time, which were essential for the very inception of the movement and which influenced its future development. Included is the only Dada novel, Tenderanda the Fantast, by the movement's founder, Hugo Ball.

Genres: Art, Fiction, Poetry, German Literature

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Greg Bem · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential book of essential texts that form the root trinity of Dada, with an exceptional introduction that goes further into the exquisite details than most comparable books.

[Black Glove · Rating 4 out of 5]

do do do DA DA DA
This book has 4 sections:
1. A thorough and enlightening introduction that goes into great detail about the three works that follow.
2. Richard Huelsenbeck's Fantastic Prayers: a collection of free-form poems - a mixture of surreal imagery and untamed gibberish. Chaotically enigmatic. I read the words - I forgot the words.
3. Hugo Ball's Tenderenda The Fantast (the so-called "only DADA novel") is more of a novelette than a novel - it is the main event and the best part of this DADA triptych. Fantastical imagery abounds in this absurdist classic. Fictional storytelling let off the leash.
4. Lastly there's Walter Serner's Last Loosening Manifesto: a short piece in 12 segments. Vibrant and "loose" writing that claims to be "the sole possible solution to the mystery of the universe"... Err, well... methinks a tongue is firmly stuck in a cheek. Interesting in an advanced horseplay kind of a way, like a madcap philosophical treatise.