DEFINITIONS OF NADAISMO
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Gonzalo Arango
Rusty's Preface
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Gonzalo Arango [1931-1976] was a Colombian poet & philosopher. In this
midst of La Violencia in the 1950s, Arango birthed Nadaismo [Nothingism],
a distinctly Colombian artistic movement that synthesized Existentialism,
Surrealism, & the Beat writers into a starkly brutal yet somehow playful
aesthetic. Arango was Nadaismo's great propagandist. In fact, his best
writings are the many, many manifestos he wrote articulating Nadaismo's
philosophical vision. Arango & the other Nadaistas have not been
translated into English. Through this blog, I will periodically offer my
translations of their stunning works. Below is one of Arango's short,
humorous explanations of the Nadaista's stance in the world.
Note: The i in Nadaismo should have an accent mark on it. However, every
time I include the accent marks, the document formatting becomes
scrambled. I got to learn more gopher...
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The clearest definition of Nadaismo would be: Nadaismo is a mystery, and
like all mysteries, it is inexplicable. For those logical spirits who
cannot believe without knowing, we offer those skeptics this cluster of
definitions, so that everyone, according to their physiological &
spiritual needs, selects the one that best suits their salvation:
Nadaismo is a psychiatry applying insulin shocks to the Virgin of the
Miracles.
Nadaismo is a flower with a socialist sensibility.
Nadaismo is an astronaut jumping off 10 stories to protest the earth’s
dogmatic gravity.
Nadaismo is a rocket competing with thunder to see who arrives first at
the Bay of Silence.
Nadaismo is the communism of free...love.
Nadaismo is a racing atom sinking Rimbaud’s drunken boat.
Nadaismo is like God, therefore it exists and nobody knows what it is.
Question: What is the end of Nadaismo? Answer: Nadaismo has no end because
it is infinite. If Nadaismo had an end, it already would be over.
For the Nadaistas literature is not work, only play.
Nadaismo is putting on its shirt to be alive.
Nadaismo is a pessimism that affirms its faith in the Cape of Good Hope.
Nadaismo is a Chinese regiment invading the Promised Land to plant rice.
Nadaismo is the champion featherweight in literature.
Nadaismo is a space rocket landing on Brigitte Bardot’s mons venus.
Nadaismo is the metaphysics of boredom: I smoke therefore I exist.
Critics say we are not rooted in the earth & they are right.
Nadaistas are rooted in the cosmos. Now nobody has the right to be over
us, not even the sky!
Nadaistas love revolution, even if the revolution kills us or puts us to
work.
