Coining the word "Merz" to identify his one-man version of Dadism, Schwitters sought to "erase the boundaries between the arts" and to emphasize the reciprocal relationship of his visual and verbal works. Schwitters worked with and developed more new forms and genres than almost any poet of his time. The wide sweep and inventiveness of his literary output—essays, plays, fiction, manifestos, as well as poetry—reflect or prefigure movements such as expressionism, surrealism, sound-texts, concrete poetry, performance art, and language poetry.
To present Schwitters' astounding range, the poet-translators of this volume have selected poems, "proses," performance pieces, and manifestos; included complete major works, such as "Augusta Bolte" and "Ur Sonata"; offered selections from Schwitters' plays; and provided a sampler of the collaged and word-filled paintings (some in full color).
