Céline Arnauld (born Carolina Goldstein on 20 September 1885, Călăraşi (

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

), died on 23 December 1952 by suicide in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a writer associated with

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

ism. Arnauld’s poetry appears earliest in her first published volume of 1914, titled ''La Lanterne magique'' (The Magic Lantern). ''Poèmes à claires-voies'' (Openwork Poems) of 1920, ''Point de mire'' (Focal Point) of 1921, and ''Guêpier de diamants'' (Diamond Trap) of 1923 followed during the Paris Dada years. She finds its fullness in ''La Nuit reve tout haut'' (1934) and in ''Heures intactes'' (1936). She published until 1948, though all of her texts are rare and some are considered lost. While occasionally working in prose, Arnauld a consistently published poet, albeit by small publishers. Her first and only published novel, ''Tournevire'', is an experimental text of 1919. She was published in the Dada journals ''DADAphone'', ''Cannibale'', and ''Z'' and was a director of the short-lived but appreciated journal ''Projecteur.'' These early poems revolved around the theme of transport, referring to modern travel means and metaphysical transit. Arnauld was also part of Dada performances. In March 1920, she is credited in the program of the Manifestation Dada de la Maison d’Oeuvre as “the pregnant woman” in “La Première Aventure Céleste de M. Antipyrine” (The First Heavenly Adventure of Mr. Antipyrine) by Tristan Tzara. Two months later, she is recorded as an author and performer of a dialogue called “Jeu d’échecs” (Chessboard) in the Festival Dada at the Salle Gaveau. A pamphlet of poetry published by Clayton Eshleman in 1977 called “The Gospel of Celine icArnauld.” Eshleman, asked by Arnauld to translate some of her work, wrote that he found her works to be “run-of-the-mill French poetry, worn-out language, superficial emotion, nothing new in short.” However, he still was inspired to create his own version of a narrative while in a trance. In her study of Arnauld for her book “Dada’s Women,” Ruth Hemus allows the American poet creative license but states that he “failed to comprehend the conditions under which Arnauld was writing, was ignorant of the rebellion inherent in her participation in Dada and did not perceive any aspects of innovation in her body of work.” Céline Arnauld was married to Paul Dermée (1886–1951), Belgian Writer, Poet, Literary Critic.

References

*Jean Rousselot. Dictionnaire de la poesie francaise contemporaine 1968, Auge, Guillon, Hollier -Larousse, Mooreau et Cie.-Librairie Larousse, Paris Hemus, Ruth (2020).
The Poetry of Céline Arnauld: From Dada to Ultra-Modern
'. UK: Legenda. 978-1-781888-31-5 (hardback); 978-1-781888-32-2 (paperback). {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnauld, Celine Dada 1885 births 1952 deaths 1952 suicides Suicides in Paris Romanian emigrants to France People from Călărași