Some people incorrectly associate Dada poetry with nonsensicality. In reality, Dada poets valued substance over form and saw their movement as unified through philosophical aims, rather than artistic practices. French artist and poet Jean Arp claimed that Dada artists aimed to “destroy the hoaxes of reason” and find order in chaos. In short, there’s a method to Dada's madness, and those who wish to write Dada poetry should first define their intentions. Dada poets used chaotic poems to critique elements of society. A contemporary writer could find no shortage of subjects compatible with Dada's seeming randomness and absurdity, such as the 24 hours news cycle, celebrity culture, international conflict, or the viral phenomenons of social media and the Internet.
The arrival of film and mass-produced images led Dada poets to recognize the importance of a visual impact. Dada poets like Guillaume Apollinaire arranged words on a page to gives poems material shapes. Apollinaire also employed elaborate typography, and many of his poems double as works of visual art. Other poets, such as Tristan Tzara, incorporated mass-produced elements, such as newspapers, into poem collages. A writer interested in producing Dada-flavored works should emphasize the visual nature of the words on a page, in addition to the textual meaning contained within.
Dada poets favored spontaneity and reimagined the materials of their art. The Dadaist writer Andre Breton, who later wrote the Surrealist Manifesto, became a major proponent of automatic writing. To practice automatic writing, a writer simply sits quietly, allows his or mind to go blank, and writes as quickly as possible without pause for thought. Tristan Tzara practiced the cut-up technique to produce Dada poetry. According to his instructions, a writer who wishes to make a cut-up simply chooses a newspaper article, cuts it up with a pair of scissors, and places the words and phrases into a new, random order.
Those who wish to write Dada poetry can look to the work of a few principal poets for inspiration. Tristan Tzara’s seminal early works, such as “The First Heavenly Adventure of Mr. Antipyrine” and “Twenty-Five Poems” defined the core aspects of Dada as it pertained to poetry. Kurt Schwitters’s poem, “An Anna Blume,” makes use of the Dada principle of randomness to mock the conventions of romantic poetry. Though primarily associated with Surrealism, Andre Breton began his career as a Dadaist. His first collection, “Pawnshop,” showcases his Dada affinities, and reflects the movement’s preoccupation with the horrors of World War I.