Saturday, October 25, 2008
Black Dada Nihilismus
Does anyone know what "Dada Nihilismus" is/means? Also was anyone able to find out what some of the references/definitions were including but not limited to Mondrian, Trillby, patrice, mantan, bronze buckaroos, tom russ, and l'overture? The poem has a lot of references that appear random but I am hoping that finding out what these are will help me discover some kind of connection among them :]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I can probably help with some of this...
a lot of the references would have been things that people interested in art and politics in the 60's would have known about. I'd definitely do a bit of research into "Dada" and what that movement. "Nihilismus" is another way of addressing nihilism, which is a philosophical movement (often associated with Nietzsche, though maybe incorrectly) about which there's a lot of information on the net. Some of the other names (just google them for more info):
Mondrian: Piet Mondrian, artist
tambo: Oliver Tambo
Patrice: Patrice Lumumba
Mantan: Mantan Moreland
Bronze Buckaroos: what Black cowboys in the old west were often called; also a film from the 1930's (i think - it may be later)
L'Overture: Toussaint Louverture, leader of the Haitian Revolution
Trillby: actually an unclear reference, maybe a reference to the "Trillby Rag," a song popular in the ragtime era
Honestly, though, you don't need to trace out all the references; the important thing is to think about why Baraka puts all these separate references together at the same time. Why might he put references to political leaders alive and dead, entertainers, etc. in the same poem? What might that be saying about history and what the poem is trying to do with history?
Good luck!
Post a Comment