Paul celan poems holocaust

Holocaust poetry united states holocaust memorial museum. You vary the key, you vary the word that is free to drift with the flakes. 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. 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.

It is among celans most wellknown and oftenanthologized poems. 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. 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. Paul celan was a romanianborn german language poet and translator. In 1938 celan went to paris to study medicine, but returned to romania before the outbreak of world war ii. 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. Czernowitz, in the then kingdom of romania now chernivtsi, ukraine, and adopted the pseudonym paul celan. 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. 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. Paul celan was born paul antschel in czernovitz, romania, to a germanspeaking jewish family.

Nevertheless, the residents of celans holocaust universe are peaceful, and in their passiveness they have become victims who cling to. While celan is the subject of this title, a few related poets are also considered. It describes a group of jewish prisoners who are forced to dig mass graves. 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. 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 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. Celan gives voice to that eventuality in an untitled poem from schneepart ii, 338. Trauma and its traces in the poetry of paul celan spring. 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 illuminating essay by the translator. 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.

The romanian poet paul celan 192070 wrote todesfuge death fugue in around 1945, and it was published in 1948. Two important areas of general agreement, however, are in need of reeval uation. Famous holocaust poems which poets wrote the most famous holocaust poems, and why do the poems still matter today. Death fugue by paul celan poems academy of american poets. Todesfuge is a german language poem written by the romanianborn poet paul celan. The classic translation, poems of paul celan is revised and expanded, featuring new poems and an essay by the translator. Its first and last verses link the loss of language to the loss of self. Hints of warlike activity in various poems belie celans pacifism and his confidence in the final rational triumph over the forces of evil. Despite, or perhaps because of this, celan chose to address the holocaustor, as he once referred to it, that which happenedin german. Digging deeper on the poet paul celan jewish journal. 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. Paul celan, selected poems and prose of paul celan, translation by john felstiner, w. In the deepest and most useful sense, celan is indeed a holocaust poet. Paul celan is the preeminent poet of the holocaust.

List of books and articles about paul celan online. The holocaust proved to be one such event for paul celan which he survived in. He survived the shoah in other camps but never recovered from his ordeal and in 1970 committed suicide. During the war celan worked in a forced labor camp for 18 months. The philosophical basis of celans poetry begins with the realm of the concrete, the objectoriented motifs that recur throughout his poems.

He preferred to be regarded as a poet of the word, and of the image. His home town was occupied by russian troops in 1940 and by the germans in 1942. 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. Both his parents were deported to an extermination camp, andcelanhimsel f was sent to a labour camp. In these dark times, turn to paul celan the forward. Always what key you choose depends on the blood that spurts from your eye or your mouth or your ear. The death of his parents and the experience of the shoah the holocaust are defining forces in celans poetry and his use of. Paul celan translations of holocaust poems a poem by. 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. Heres a virtual movie of the romanian born holocaust survivor and poet paul celan reading his best known poem originaly written in german. Though the events of the holocaust would shape much of his work, it would be incorrect to refer to celan as a holocaust poet. Paul celanwa s the pseudonym of paul anczel, who was born in romanian bukovina in 1920.

My remarks in this essay are devoted to two questions. Project muse poetics of silence in the postholocaust. In 1938 celan went to paris to study medicine, but returned to romania before. There can likely be no unhistorical reading of paul celans poetry. The most wideranging volume of the work of europes leading postwar poet, including previously unpublished writings. 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. These are modern english translations of holocaust poems written in german by paul celan, the pen name of paul antschel 19201970. Skip other details including permanent urls, doi, citation information. 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. Hamburgers response seems to be that the more beautifully this poetry is written, the more it can provide the most discomforting account. E4 z594 1991 find in a library near you external link a detailed analysis of the work of holocaust poet paul celan. Pierre joris, a poet who has made significant contributions to. Sachs had a close friendship with paul celan, another poet of the shoah.

Stanley kunitz on paul celan and the poetry of the holocaust. The language of poetry can allude to things almost inexpressible in prose. Paul celan s poetry is a beacon, from this point of view. Surrealism and existentialism in the poetry of paul celan by clarise samuels. Interpreting paul celan, in books abroad winter 1972, vol. His surname was later spelled ancel, and he eventually adopted the anagram celan as his pen name. The son of germanspeaking jews, celan grew up speaking several languages, including romanian, russian, and french. Like those books, the subject matter of the poem is the experience of life in the nazi concentration camps. He wrote eight volumes of poetry, all in german, although he spent almost half his life in france and was fluent in several languages. Paul celan is a survivor of the holocaust and his experiences at the hands of the nazis inform all of his poetry.

Paul celan, poet the holocaust carnegie council for. He was born as paul antschel to a jewish family in cernau. Paul celans experiences as a germanromanian jew during world war ii form the basis for his spare, devastating poems. Celans poem nearness to graves begin directly with an. 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. Paul celan 19201970 was one of the most eminent european poets of the second half of the twentieth century. Indeed you can be very precise about emotions with poetic language, as well as being open and even harsh. Celan had already published several poems in german and romanian by the time hitler arrived in romania.

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. Celan was born in romania to germanspeaking jewish parents. Paul celan quotes author of poems of paul celan page 2. 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. His chilling, haunted verse, evocative and agonizingly spare, is among the essential writing of the modern age. 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. Paul celan was born in 1920 in the east european province of bukovina.

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. Paul celan and the meaning of language an interview with. 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. Midrash what do poet paul celan, novelist aharon appelfeld. 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. The peerless translations of this haunted and haunting holocaust poet, including ten new poems and an. She was awarded the nobel prize in literature in 1966, the same year this photo was taken. Home features tributes stanley kunitz on paul celan and the poetry of the holocaust. Selected poems and prose of paul celan celan, paul, felstiner, john on. Paul celan poems, quotations and biography on paul celan poet page. 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. Michael hamburgers english versions follow all the subtleties of the. In 1942 celan saw his parents deported to auschwitz.

It is the foremost englishlanguage edition of the great poet. His mother and father died in nazi death camps and celan was a concentration camp prisoner. After auschwitz, warned theodor adorno, to write poetry is a barbarity. Paul antschel, who wrote under the pseudonym paul celan, was born in czernovitz, in romania, on november 23, 1920. Wundheiler t he jewish poet, paul celan, was bom in czemovitz, rumania, in 1920 and com mitted suicide in paris in 1970. And yet, ironically, some of the most iconic words ever written about the.