The most wideranging volume of the work of europes leading postwar poet, including previously unpublished writings. In 1942 celan saw his parents deported to auschwitz. Pierre joris, a poet who has made significant contributions to. Selected poems and prose of paul celan celan, paul, felstiner, john on. Hallel from heaven and hallel from helljust as the praise of the holy one ascends to him from heaven, so it ascends from hell. Successfully translating the poetry of paul celan 2008. Paul celan was a romanianborn german language poet and translator. Home features tributes stanley kunitz on paul celan and the poetry of the holocaust. During the war celan worked in a forced labor camp for 18 months. I have myself paired celan instead with jabes in exploring such issues in the singular and the other at the limits of language in the post holocaust poetry of edmond jabes and paul celan, new literary history 36. Both his parents were deported to an extermination camp, andcelanhimsel f was sent to a labour camp. Celan was born in romania to germanspeaking jewish parents.
A poem, being an instance of language, hence essentially dialogue, may be a letter in a bottle thrown out to the sea with thesurely not always stronghope that it may somehow wash up somewhere, perhaps on the shoreline of the heart. Wundheiler t he jewish poet, paul celan, was bom in czemovitz, rumania, in 1920 and com mitted suicide in paris in 1970. Digging deeper on the poet paul celan jewish journal. The classic translation, poems of paul celan is revised and expanded, featuring new poems and an essay by the translator. Paul celan 19201970 was one of the most eminent european poets of the second half of the twentieth century. 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 peerless translations of this haunted and haunting holocaust poet, including ten new poems and an illuminating essay by the translator.
Paul celan was born paul antschel in czernovitz, romania, to a germanspeaking jewish family. Czernowitz, in the then kingdom of romania now chernivtsi, ukraine, and adopted the pseudonym paul celan. Paul celanwa s the pseudonym of paul anczel, who was born in romanian bukovina in 1920. He is often recognized as the greatest european poet of the second half of the twentieth century, and it is hard to separate the recognition of his poetic achievement from that temporal break in the century. Midrash what do poet paul celan, novelist aharon appelfeld. Paul celan is a survivor of the holocaust and his experiences at the hands of the nazis inform all of his poetry. In these dark times, turn to paul celan the forward. Trauma and its traces in the poetry of paul celan spring. Heres a virtual movie of the romanian born holocaust survivor and poet paul celan reading his best known poem originaly written in german. The philosophical basis of celans poetry begins with the realm of the concrete, the objectoriented motifs that recur throughout his poems. Hamburgers response seems to be that the more beautifully this poetry is written, the more it can provide the most discomforting account. It is among celans most wellknown and oftenanthologized poems. After auschwitz, warned theodor adorno, to write poetry is a barbarity. Paul celan s poetry is a beacon, from this point of view.
E4 z594 1991 find in a library near you external link a detailed analysis of the work of holocaust poet paul celan. Celan gives voice to that eventuality in an untitled poem from schneepart ii, 338. Paul celan, poet the holocaust carnegie council for. Interpreting paul celan, in books abroad winter 1972, vol. Paul celan poems, quotations and biography on paul celan poet page.
Todesfuge is a german language poem written by the romanianborn poet paul celan. Its first and last verses link the loss of language to the loss of self. Paul celan, selected poems and prose of paul celan, translation by john felstiner, w. 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. His chilling, haunted verse, evocative and agonizingly spare, is among the essential writing of the modern age. Sachs had a close friendship with paul celan, another poet of the shoah. Though the events of the holocaust would shape much of his work, it would be incorrect to refer to celan as a holocaust poet. Hints of warlike activity in various poems belie celans pacifism and his confidence in the final rational triumph over the forces of evil. What one ought to worry about is not that these poems may be forgotten, but rather that their images are so flagrantly resonant even today. English translations of holocaust poems these are english translations of holocaust poems written in german by paul celan, the pen name of paul antschel 19201970. Death fugue by paul celan poems academy of american poets.
In 1938 celan went to paris to study medicine, but returned to romania before the outbreak of world war ii. It is the foremost englishlanguage edition of the great poet. He was born as paul antschel into a jewish family in romania, and changed his name to paul celan where celan in romanian would be pronounced chelan, and was derived from ancel, pronounced antshel, becoming one of the major germanlanguage poets of the postworld war ii era. His poems belong in a group of poems that are great, informative, and absolutely terrifying all at the same time, and he is mentioned in the same breath. Michael hamburgers english versions follow all the subtleties of the. The four quartets prize is for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in america in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book. Paul celan quotes author of poems of paul celan page 2. Paul celan is the preeminent poet of the holocaust. In the deepest and most useful sense, celan is indeed a holocaust poet. He preferred to be regarded as a poet of the word, and of the image. It is a recurrent concern from first to last, and it helps determine not only celan s imagery, but also his engagement with language and with the question of poetic being. He survived the shoah in other camps but never recovered from his ordeal and in 1970 committed suicide. Paul celan was born in 1920 in the east european province of bukovina.
The phrase in brackets is an alternate translation of that line by michael hamburger from poems of paul celan, persea books, 1995, that i found helpful. The death of his parents and the experience of the shoah the holocaust are defining forces in celans poetry and his use of. Poetics of silence in the postholocaust poetry of paul celan william franke bio paul celans poetry dwells obsessively on the experience of annihilation, referring everything to my 20th of january the date the nazis in conference at wannsee decided. As paul celan had approved michael hamburgers versions during his lifetime, his widow, in an understandable desire to follow her husbands wishes, decided to let hamburger be the prime and nearexclusive english language translator. Celans poem nearness to graves begin directly with an. There can likely be no unhistorical reading of paul celans poetry. The romanian poet paul celan 192070 wrote todesfuge death fugue in around 1945, and it was published in 1948. Since then, it has become one of the most famous and widely anthologised poems about the holocaust, endeavouring to capture the horrors of the concentration camps through raw, powerful imagery and language.
Despite, or perhaps because of this, celan chose to address the holocaustor, as he once referred to it, that which happenedin german. These are modern english translations of holocaust poems written in german by paul celan, the pen name of paul antschel 19201970. Nevertheless, the residents of celans holocaust universe are peaceful, and in their passiveness they have become victims who cling to. He wrote eight volumes of poetry, all in german, although he spent almost half his life in france and was fluent in several languages. His surname was later spelled ancel, and he eventually adopted the anagram celan as his pen name. Always what key you choose depends on the blood that spurts from your eye or your mouth or your ear. Paul celans experiences as a germanromanian jew during world war ii form the basis for his spare, devastating poems. Paul celan translations of holocaust poems a poem by. My remarks in this essay are devoted to two questions.
Holocaust poetry united states holocaust memorial museum. And yet, ironically, some of the most iconic words ever written about the. I have created this page with students and educators in mind, giving background information on some of the very best holocaust poems and the poets who wrote them. Stephen mitchelmore explores the postholocaust poetry of paul celan with a variable key you unlock the house in which drifts the snow of that left unspoken. His mother and father died in nazi death camps and celan was a concentration camp prisoner. Modern english translations of holocaust poems these are modern english translations of holocaust poems written in german by paul celan, the pen name of paul antschel 19201970. Soon after his parents, germanspeaking jews, had perished at the hands of the nazis, celan wrote todesfuge deathfugue, the most compelling poem to emerge from the holocaust. Skip other details including permanent urls, doi, citation information. List of books and articles about paul celan online. Famous holocaust poems which poets wrote the most famous holocaust poems, and why do the poems still matter today. Stanley kunitz on paul celan and the poetry of the holocaust. You vary the key, you vary the word that is free to drift with the flakes. Celan had already published several poems in german and romanian by the time hitler arrived in romania.
The holocaust proved to be one such event for paul celan which he survived in. The correspondence of paul celan and nelly sachs, survivor poets haunted by the holocaust, demonstrates a rare intimacy, forged by words of unstinting truth and grace. It describes a group of jewish prisoners who are forced to dig mass graves. He became one of the major germanlanguage poets of the post. The peerless translations of this haunted and haunting holocaust poet, including ten new poems and an. Paul celan and the meaning of language an interview with. Although he spent his early years in romania and his later years in france, celan wrote in german and is widely considered the greatest postwar poet in europe. She was awarded the nobel prize in literature in 1966, the same year this photo was taken. Project muse poetics of silence in the postholocaust. But my paper aims at not merely locating celan as a germanlanguage poet of the postsecond world war period, but also as a jew, and a survivor of the holocaust the nazi genocidal machinery which claimed millions of lives during the second world war 19391945. In 1938 celan went to paris to study medicine, but returned to romania before.
While celan is the subject of this title, a few related poets are also considered. The son of germanspeaking jews, celan grew up speaking several languages, including romanian, russian, and french. Two important areas of general agreement, however, are in need of reeval uation. Todesfuge translated into english as death fugue and fugue of death is a german language poem written by the romanianborn poet paul celan probably around 1945 and first published in 1948. Indeed you can be very precise about emotions with poetic language, as well as being open and even harsh. Surrealism and existentialism in the poetry of paul celan by clarise samuels. The language of poetry can allude to things almost inexpressible in prose. Like those books, the subject matter of the poem is the experience of life in the nazi concentration camps. He was born as paul antschel to a jewish family in cernau.