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. Todesfuge is one of the great and terrifying literary works written by survivors of the holocaust. Scribd is the worlds largest social reading and publishing site. In real camps like auschwitz, jews were sometimes forced to play music, perhaps a way of calming the other prisoners, or perhaps just to be cruel. View enhanced pdf access article on wiley online library html view download pdf for offline viewing.
Michael hamburgers english versions follow all the subtleties of the. Paul celans todesfuge holocaust and genocide studies. We dont know of any other fugue poems, certainly not any famous ones. Use the link below to share a fulltext version of this article with your friends and colleagues. 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. Notice that now celan has switched from the imaginary image of graves in the air to a literal image of a grave in the ground. Paul celans experiences as a germanromanian jew during world war ii form the basis for his spare, devastating poems. Czernowitz, in the then kingdom of romania now chernivtsi, ukraine, and adopted the pseudonym paul celan.
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. During the 1950s and 1960s, the poem received widespread notoriety in german media and textbooks. Paul celan, the meridian paul celan was born in 1920, in czernowitz, in a severing time, in what was once the capital of the hapsburg province of bukovina, two years after the province became romanian, after world war i. Although difficult in places, the article clarifies many of celan s concerns as a poet. Paul antschel, who wrote under the pseudonym paul celan, was born in czernovitz, in romania, on november 23, 1920. A fugue is a musical piece that begins with some theme and then comes back to that theme several times, with variations.
During the course of the book, celan loses his parents in the. Project muse selected poems and prose of paul celan, and. Paul celan was a poet and translator born in the east european province of bukovina. This article analyses the political impact of paul celan s poetry to illustrate the potential for social transformation contained in seemingly apolitical practices of speaking and writing. He was born as paul antschel to a jewish family in cernau. Czernowitz had become cernauti, which it remained until the hitlerstalin pact of 1940, when chernauti became chernovtsy.
Paul celan page a new paul celan bilingual english and german web page. Paul celans parents both were murdered in a concentration camp. A new interpretation todesfuge is one of paul celan s 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. Paul celan s parents both were murdered in a concentration camp. Paul celan selected poetry twentyeight poems in a new freely downloadable translation. Paul celan was born paul antschel in czernovitz, romania, to a germanspeaking jewish family. The result is a book that reveals less about celan the man than the reader might wish and more about celan the poet than the average reader will ever digest. Poet, translator, essayist, and lecturer, influenced by french surrealism and symbolism. Readers focused upon its artfulness, often ignoring its subject, the nazi death camps and genocide.
Het fugamotief werkt in het gedicht op een bepaalde manier door. Death fugue by paul celan poems academy of american poets. The scene of the poem is one of the death camps, unidentified save for our being told that it is located outside germany. In 1938 celan went to paris to study medicine, but returned to romania before the outbreak of world war ii. 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. The son of germanspeaking jews, celan grew up speaking several languages, including romanian, russian, and french. It combines mysteriously compelling imagery with rhythmic variations and structural patterns that are both elusive and pronounced. Paul celan was born paul ancel, or antschel, the only child of jewish parents, in czernowitz, romania later chernovtsy, u. Todnautberg pierre joris, one of the premier celan scholars and translators, discusses celan s poem, todnautberg. Some of the post war poets we studied, like paul celan, are seared so boldly into me that i often cannot touch even the memory. November 1920 als einziges kind deutschsprachiger juden in czernowitz bukowina geboren. Todesfuge by paul celan with translation alices notes.
His surname was later spelled ancel, and he eventually adopted the anagram celan as his pen name. Todesfuge explained 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. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Paul celan author of poems of paul celan goodreads.
Paul celan s poem todesfuge is a strangely haunting work. This fugue of death exerts a macabre fascination, the fascination of the nazi death camps and the appalling disintegration of value. In the writing of paul celan even we readers who can hear poe. During the war celan worked in a forced labor camp for 18 months. Yet i reserve continuously a smoldering desire to put more time into better translating some of his most important work, such as the chilling todesfuge death fugue scroll down for english translation.
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