During the war celan worked in a forced labor camp for 18 months. Paul celan deathfugue black milk of daybreak we drink it at evening we drink it at midday and morning we drink it at night we drink and we drink we shovel a grave in the air there you wont lie too cramped a man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes he writes when it grows dark to deutschland your golden hair margareta. Het fugamotief werkt in het gedicht op een bepaalde manier door. Celan was born in romania to germanspeaking jewish parents. It was more convenient to just burn the bodies in huge crematoriums. Todesfuge by paul celan with translation alices notes from.
Some weeks ago, we discussed simone weils comment that distance is the soul of beauty. Of all celans poems, the todesfuge has been the most discussed, anthologized, and translated. Felstiner, 28, with facsimile of magazine appearance, 29. Thomas sparr todesfuge biographie eines gedichts random house. Celans own reading of the poem, preserved on record, emphasized its relentless rhythm, an effect achieved by repetition, alliteration, and a dancelike beat that reinforces the grotesque musical imagery of a poem originally published in romanian. The above poem is excerpted from john felstiners biography of paul celan, paul celan, poet, survivor, jew published 2005, yale university press.
At that time, andrew shields wrote to the book haven. In 1938 celan went to paris to study medicine, but returned to romania before the outbreak of world war ii. Paul celan was the most commonlyused pseudonym of paul antschel, born into a germanspeaking jewish family in cernau. His mother and father died in nazi death camps and celan was a concentration camp prisoner himself for eighteen months before escaping to join the red army. Paul celan, europes most compelling postwar poet, was a germanspeaking, east european jew. Paul celans deathfugue belongs among the group of great and terrifying literary works written by survivors of the holocaust, such as night by elie wiesel and the memoirs of primo levi. The son of germanspeaking jews, celan grew up speaking several languages, including romanian, russian, and french. By differentiating the one from the you early in the poem, hamburger makes it even more clear in the latter parts of the poem that there is a distinction between what could happen to anyone versus what is happening to the we, the.
Todesfuge translated into english as death fugue and fugue of death is a german language poem written by the romanian born poet paul celan probably around 1945 and first published in 1948. Paul celan author of poems of paul celan goodreads. Abstract paul celan, a germanlanguage poet born in rumania in 1920, wrote. Informationen zur historisch politischen bildung in. It is among celans most wellknown and oftenanthologized poems. An introduction to paul celan iowa research online.
Oil, acrylic, emulsion and straw on canvas, 280 x 380 cm, private collection. Although difficult in places, the article clarifies many of celans concerns as a poet. Paul celans experiences as a germanromanian jew during world war ii form the basis for his spare, devastating poems. Back in the spring of 1988, several students and i already graduated but still hanging around spent several evenings at author and translator john felstiners house, reading, translating, and discussing paul celan poems. Black milk of daybreak we drink it at sundown we drink it at noon in the morning we drink it at night we drink it and drink it. Maybe because its got the music and i love the word ample, though its not literally correct.
On the meeting between celan and heidegger and on todtnauberg, see felstiner, 244247. Todesfuge is one of the great and terrifying literary works written by survivors of the holocaust. Incarnations of paul celans todesfuge in the paintings of anselm. John felstiner, a translation of todesfuge by paul celan.
Todesfuge paul celan by alex kiritschenko on prezi. Paul celan, john felstiner, and the soul of beauty the. Unterrichtseinheit zu paul celans todesfuge dafforum 2. It describes a group of jewish prisoners who are forced to dig mass graves. His surname was later spelled ancel, and he eventually adopted the anagram celan as his pen name. A new interpretation todesfuge is one of paul celans most admired and most often anthologized poems and an eloquent testimony to the remarkable outburst of lyric talent in german literature since world war ii. A bilingual edition, edited and translated by michael hamburger new york. It combines mysteriously compelling imagery with rhythmic variations and structural patterns that are both elusive and pronounced. I lived with the poem for a week in mayo recently, where i transcribed it a number of times in order to get to its music. Unterrichtseinheit zu paul celans todesfuge dafforum. In 1938, he went to france to study medicine but returned to his hometown in 1939 to study literature and romance languages. Michael hamburgers english versions follow all the subtleties of the. Paul celans poem todesfuge is a strangely haunting work.
Audacious rhetorical devices in paul celans todesfuge. Deathfugue hamburgers translation of man into one provides an uncomfortable answer to this question. The poet paul celan, was born paul antschel in 1920, to. In the writing of paul celan even we readers who can hear poetry only dimly in german can sense the greatness of his invention. Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, celan gave voice to the poets desire to communicate. Death fugue by paul celan poems academy of american poets. The spatial motif is obviously the confined microcosm delineated by the holocaust universe, the physical bounds of the concentration camp, and there is a repeated longing for the open spaces of. Soon after his parents, germanspeaking jews, had perished at the hands of the nazis, celan wrote the poem todesfuge deathfugue, which depicted life in a german concentration camp. Paul antschel, who wrote under the pseudonym paul celan, was born in czernovitz, in romania, on november 23, 1920. The nazis didnt even want to take the time to give their victims a proper burial. Death fugue, or todesfuge, remains celans most popular poem, although he at one time repudiated it, refusing to anthologize it further or to read it aloud. It is among celan s most wellknown and oftenanthologized poems. Paul celan schrieb dieses gedicht, wie wir heute vermu ten, ende 1944, anfang 1945 in czernowitz oder aber wenige.
Scribd is the worlds largest social reading and publishing site. But theres nothing like celan reading it in the original. This fugue of death exerts a macabre fascination, the fascination of the nazi death camps and the appalling disintegration of value. Despite critics claiming that the lyrical finesse and aesthetic of the poem did. Yet critical discussions of the poem indicate that an adequate understanding of the poem is still to be. Todesfuge is anthologized po burst of lyric critical discussio of the. There, he worked briefly as a nurse in the mental hospital. Todnautberg pierre joris, one of the premier celan scholars and translators, discusses celans poem, todnautberg. Paul celan was born paul antschel in czernovitz, romania, to a germanspeaking jewish family. His writing exposes and illumines the wounds that nazi destructiveness left on language. Like those books, the subject matter of the poem is the experience of life in the nazi concentration camps. Paul celan was a poet and translator born in the east european province of bukovina. John felstiners sensitive and accessible book is the first critical biography of celan in any language. November 1920 als einziges kind deutschsprachiger juden in czernowitz bukowina geboren.
Zijn gedicht todesfuge inspireerde anselm kiefer 1945. Buitengaats todesfuge van paul celan door allard schroder dbnl. Paul celan page a new paul celan bilingual english and german web page. These are modern english translations of holocaust poems written in german by paul celan, the pen name of paul antschel 19201970. Celan is probably alluding to the fact that many jews were cremated during the holocaust, particularly those killed in the infamous gas chambers. Todesfuge is celans most direct and blatant expression of his holocaust theme. A poem, paul celan 19201970 once said can be a message in a bottle, sent out in thenot always hopefulbelief that, somewhere and sometime, it could wash up on land.
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