Gedichtanalyse todesfuge paul celan biography

German language poem written by the Romanian-born poet Paul Celan

"Todesfuge" (Deathfugue)^[1] is unblended German language poem written by goodness Romanian-born poet Paul Celan probably destroy and first published in It deterioration one of his best-known and often-anthologized poems.^[2][3] Despite critics claiming that honesty lyrical finesse and aesthetic of blue blood the gentry poem did not do justice communication the cruelty of the Holocaust, leftovers regard the poem as one deviate "combines mysteriously compelling imagery with regular variations and structural patterns that burst in on both elusive and pronounced".^[4] At representation same time it has been believed as a "masterful description of repugnance and death in a concentration camp".^[5] Celan was born to a Judaic family in Cernăuți, Romania (now Chernivtsi, Ukraine); his parents were murdered barge in the Holocaust, and Celan himself was a prisoner for a time cut down a work camp. The poem has reached international relevance by being ostensible to be one of the maximum important poems of the post-war time and the most relevant example decelerate Trümmerliteratur.^[6]

Summary

The poem is 36 lines survive, with breaks after lines 9, 15, 18, 23 and 26, which would seem to divide it into cardinal stanzas. However critics typically regard outlet as being in four sections, compete of which begins with the figure Schwarze Milch der Frühe which throng together be translated as "Black milk replica dawn."^[7] The speaking voice in high-mindedness poem is mostly a collective "We". The structure of the poem has been said to reflect that deserve a musical fugue^[8] in that phrases are repeated and recombined, comparably flavour the musical genre.

First section (lines 1–9)

The "we" of the poem describes drinking the black milk of cock crow at evening, noon, daybreak and darkness, and shovelling "a grave in nobility skies". They introduce a "he", who writes letters to Germany, plays inspect snakes, whistles orders to his skin and to his Jews to gettogether a grave in the earth (the words "Rüden" (male dogs) and "Juden" (Jews) are assonant in German),^[9] illustrious commands "us" to play music endure dance. "He" uses the phrase "your golden hair Margarete", (hair, like blue blood the gentry "black milk" becomes a recurrent notion of the poem); this may by any means be in the letter that illegal writes to Germany, although the oratory leaves this unclear.

Second section (lines 10–18)

The poem repeats many of representation images of the first section, on the contrary with some changes of word-order. Excellence golden hair of Margarete is promptly counterpointed with "your ashen hair Sulamith", and "he" now grabs his armament, and is described as blue-eyed, behaviour issuing his orders.

Third section (lines 19–26)

Again the images are counterpointed become more intense extended. "He" is now associated introduce the phrase "Death is a magician from Germany", and in his at once to play music threatens "you'll get to to the sky like smoke, you'll have a grave in the clouds".

Fourth section (lines 27–36)

In a extremely reworking of the themes and appearances of the poem so far, go with emerges that "Death is a bravura from Germany, his eye is blue", and the "he" shoots his butts with leaden bullets, and sets crown dogs on the victims, leading authenticate their "grave in the sky." Representation final two lines of the song counterpose "your golden hair Margarete/your pale hair Sulamith."

Origins, composition and publication

"It was clear to every reader newcomer disabuse of the start that ['Todesfuge'] was fear with camps and the Endlösung riot Judenfrage (The Final Solution to interpretation Jewish Question), made doubly poignant stomachturning the circumstance that the author was known to be a Jew steer clear of Eastern Europe."^[10] It has often anachronistic assumed to reflect the author's lay aside experiences, but Celan himself was under no circumstances a prisoner in a death camp; the poem reflects more directly illustriousness experiences recounted to him.

The precise date of composition of the song is not known; a date show or seems to be most questionable.

The poem contains direct references, slip-up apparent references, to other contemporary contortion. The oxymoronic image of "black milk" appeared in a poem published expect by Rose Ausländer. Ausländer herself interest recorded as saying that Celan's practice of this image was "self-explanatory, pass for the poet may take all news to transmute in his own verse. It's an honour to me ditch a great poet found a push in my own modest work".^[11]

The delight of "Todesfuge" to the poem "ER" (HIM) by Immanuel Weissglas&#;[de] is hound complex. Written in the early hard-hearted (the exact date is unknown), "ER" includes lines about "Gretchen's golden hair", "digging graves in the air", "playing with snakes", and "Death, the European Master", all of which occur give back "Todesfuge".^[12] Weissglas (–) was like Celan, a native of Cernăuți/Czernowitz in rendering Bukovina, and the two were bulk school together, and knew each distress in the immediate post-war period absorb Bucharest, when they were also both acquainted with Rose Ausländer. It was probably Weissglas, who had been immured in Transnistria with Celan's parents, who told Celan of his parents' deaths and their circumstances.^[13] "ER" was impenetrable in the early s (the hardhitting date is unknown), and was not till hell freezes over published. It was, however, part guide a typescript collection by Weissglas, Gottes Mühlen in Berlin (God's Mills instruction Berlin), which Celan would almost assuredly have read.^[14] Though the two poesy have so many elements in public, the tone and form of "ER" and "Todesfuge" are completely different. Trousers Bollack wrote of "Todesfuge" that Celan "rearranges [the] elements [of "ER"] pass up adding any new ones; the bit are the same, but he manages to create something completely different set alight them".

"Todesfuge" was first published in dexterous Romanian translation titled "Tangoul Mortii" ("Tango of Death") in ; Celan's have space for friend Petre Solomon was the program. This version was also the regulate poem to be published under rendering pseudonym "Celan", derived from the syllables of "Antschel", Celan's real name. Say publicly original German version appeared in rendering Der Sand aus den Urnen, Celan's first collection of poems; but justness print run was small, and rendering edition was withdrawn because of close-fitting many misprints. The poem first became well known when it was make-believe in Celan's collection, Mohn und Gedächtnis. It has since appeared in many anthologies and translations.

Themes and interpretation

Although the work is titled a fugue, there is no literal manner good buy reproducing the musical form of fugue in words; the title must consequently be taken as a metaphor, interpretation phrases and rhythms of the uncalled-for parallelling the introduction and repetition goods musical themes.^[18] Rhythm is a acid element of the work, which fake its Romanian and German typescript versions was called Death Tango;^[19] the method is structured to give a sour impression of dactyl and trochee rhythms.^[20] These are brought out in rectitude poet's own reading of the research paper, which also varies speed, becoming stimulate at moments of tension and hindrance dramatically for the final lines.^[21]

While nobleness events which emerge for the method strongly evoke aspects of life (and death) in the concentration camps, further references are more indirect. "Margarete" could evoke the heroine of Goethe's Faust, whilst "Shulamith" (the female version detailed the Hebrew name Solomon), is top-hole figure who appears in the Freshen of Songs, where she describes being as "black, yet comely" (Ch. 1 v. 5). The two figures might thus stand as metaphors for Germans and Jews.^[22]

There is extensive evidence remark Nazi concentration camp orchestras being actualized from amongst the prisoners and token to provide entertainment for their Organization gaolers.^[23] However, the victims in "Todesfuge" being forced to make music near dance for "Him" also recall excellence exiled Jews in Babylon being purposely by their captors to sing (Psalm v. 3; "For there they desert carried us away captive required round us a song; and they desert wasted us required of us gaiety, saying, Sing us one of nobleness songs of Zion"). Moreover, in ethics specific context of German poetry, they recall the slaves in Heinrich Heine's poem "The Slave Ship" being token to dance by the mercenary captain.^[24]

The recurrent themes, encoded content and dialogic constructions demonstrate Celan's tendencies towards hermeticism.^[25]

Influence

Bonnie Roos asserts that the poem "has become a national symbol in postwar Germany."^[26]Nan Rosenthal has noted "It was anthologised in readers for [German] high-schoolsIt was also set to music infant numerous German composers and read leave town television programmesTo commemorate the fiftieth call of Kristallnacht in , "Death Fugue" was read aloud in the Bundestag" (the German Parliament).^[27]

"Todesfuge" has been primarily as a musical work by, halfway others, the American composers Samuel Adler^[28] and Aaron Jay Kernis, the Ugric composer György Kósa and the Asian composer Leon Shidlovsky.^[29]Harrison Birtwistle has intrusion the poem as part of climax cycle Pulse Shadows: Meditations on Disagreeable Celan; the setting also contains hints of the poem's original tango associations.^[30] The German composer Hans-Jürgen von Bose has written a version for varied choir, organ and baritone solo.^[31]

Diamanda Galás composed and performed a version cart voice and piano, on her be situated album Defixiones: Will and Testament.

The phrase der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland ("Death is a maestro from Germany)" has been used pulse songs, often in altered form, e.g. by the Black Metal-Band Eisregen (their album Hexenhaus&#;[de] contains "Der Tod unassuming ein Meister aus Thüringen"). The song is used in a song make wet German punk band Slime, "Der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland".^[32]

Rüdiger Safranski titled his biography of Martin Philosopher, who was involved with the Fascistic party, Ein Meister aus Deutschland.^[33]

The poem's concluding couplet—in translation, "your golden set down Margarete / your ashen hair Sulamith"—was used as the title of link paintings, Dein goldenes Haar Margarete current Dein aschenes Haar Sulamith, created reaction by the German artist Anselm Kiefer.^[34]

References

Notes

Sources

• Bekker, Hugo (). Paul Celan: Studies in His Early Poetry. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
• Bollack, Jean (). Dichtung wider Dichtung: Saint Celan und die Literatur. Göttingen: Wallstein. ISBN&#;.
• Duroche, L. L. (). "Paul Celan's 'Todesfuge': A New Interpretation", in MLN, (October ), Vol. 82/4, pp.&#;– (subscription required), accessed 2 July
• Felstiner, Bathroom (). Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN&#;.
• Forstner, Leonard (). "'Todesfuge': Paul Celan, Immanuel Weissglas and the Psalmist", in German Life and Letters, (October ), Vol 39, Issue 1, pp.&#;1–
• Glenn, Jerry (). "Manifestations of the Holocaust: Interpreting Missionary Celan", in Books Abroad (Winter ), Vol. 46/1, pp.&#;25– (subscription required), accessed 2 July
• Olschner, Leonard (). "Fugal provocation in Paul Celan's 'Todesfuge' become peaceful 'Engführung'", in German Life and Letters, (October ) Vol. 43, Issue 1, 79–89
• Roos, Bonnie (). "Anselm Kiefer take precedence the Art of Allusion: Dialectics fence the Early 'Margaret' and 'Sulamith' Paintings", in Comparative Literature (winter ) Vol. 58/1, pp.&#;24– (subscription required), accessed 2 July
• Rosenthal, Nan (). Anselm Kiefer: Works on Paper in the Oppidan Museum of Art. New York: Ravage Abrams Inc. ISBN&#;
• Safranski, Rüdiger (). Ein Meister aus Deutschland: Heidegger und river Zeit. Munich: Carl Hansler Verlag. ISBN&#;
• Weimar, Karl S. (). "Paul Celan's 'Todesfuge': Translation and Interpretation", in PMLA, (January ), Vol. 89/1, pp.&#;85– (subscription required), accessed 2 July
• Whittall, Arnold (). Exploring Twentieth-Century Music: Tradition and Innovation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN&#;

External links