Three prison novels by the famous DADA artist Emmy Hennings.
»A lost child, a fairy tale or folk song come to life, sweet and eerie at the same time,« these are the words Franz Herwig used to describe the literary phenomenon of Emmy Hennings in 1923. In 1916 she opened the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich with Hugo Ball. Here, the Dada group rebelled not only against the war, but against art itself. Hennings’ novel »Gefängnis« (Prison), published in 1919, caused a great sensation. Using powerful, expressive language, she dissects the experience of imprisonment down to its last linguistic detail. With existential urgency, the reader is shown exactly what it means to be in prison. For many years, Hennings was concerned with the relationship between delinquency and the penal system, crime and punishment. The other two prison texts, »Das graue Haus« (The Grey House) and »Das Haus im Schatten« (The House in the Shade) bear witness to this.
In the appendix, the origin and impact of the three novels is investigated in depth, along with comprehensive documentation on the history of reception.
Emmy Hennings, (1885 –1948), born in Flensburg, was originally an actress and elocutionist at variety and cabaret performances; later she became a lyricist and authoress. After the death of her husband Hugo Ball, she became his biographer and living inheritance. Many of her texts were published in various newspapers, or have been out of print for a long period of time. With this volume, they can now be rediscovered.
The Editors: Christa Baumberger, born in 1974, since 2009 curator of the Emmy Hennings estate at the Swiss Literature Archive in Bern. Publications include: Emmy Hennings Dada (Co-editor, 2015); Schreiben im Gefängnis (Writing in Prison, 2014); Resonanzraum Literatur. Polyphonie bei Friedrich Glauser (Literature as a Resonance Chamber. Polyphony in the works of Friedrich Glauser, 2006).
Nicola Behrmann, born in 1973, since 2010 assistant professor at Rutgers University, New Jersey (USA). Publications include: Emmy Hennings Dada (co-ed, 2015).
