Product Description

Paul Celan (1920-1970) stands as one of the greatest post-war European poets, a writer whose painful struggle with the possibilities and limitations of German, his native language, has helped to define the response of poetry in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Celan's prose is as thought-provoking as, and less familiar than, his poetry. The writings and aphorisms on poetry and art illuminate the sources of his language: he explores the condition of being a stranger in the world, the necessity - and limitation - of discourse, enlarging our understanding of the poet and his vocation. A spare and reluctant prose writer, Celan speaks with a quiet authority that insists on the centrality of poetry in the modern world. Rosmarie Waldrop's translation remains true to the poetic rhythms of Celan's prose and her introduction sets the pieces in context.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #946978 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-24
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 70 pages

Customer Reviews

Celan's Collected Prose
This volume consists of speeches, aphorisms, replies to questionaires, and two of the brief introductions Celan wrote to his translations of the Russian poets Alexander Blok and Osip Mandelshtam. Celan's prose, as his poetry, rebukes those for whom poetry is merely a game, and those for whom it is merely a means to an end...