Caterina.net:

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{ Tuesday, September 23, 2003 }

Sorry to have been so boring as of late; as I've noted before the interestingness of my blog has an inverse relationship to the interestingness of my life, and boy has my life gotten interesting! I am also working and having fun, and not getting nearly enough sleep, which may be the cause of my gruelling headaches.

The Autumnal Equinox meeting of our poetry group happened yesterday evening, and we were discussing Moy Sand & Gravel by Paul Muldoon, which, admittedly, I hadn't read very well at all, I couldn't overmaster the rhyminess. What I did like was its erudition and discursiveness, and having heard everyone else's opinions and appreciations, am encouraged to read it again (this always happens). Am also inspired by Kate's enthusiasm for Bach and Gould, and want to make time to listen to them.

We decided that next up is another, very different Paul, Paul Celan, who is one of my very favorites. I have several translations of his work, and have been charged with choosing one. With foreign language poets, I try to buy as many different translations of the work as possible, and by reading them all try to triangulate in to what the poetry is like in its original language.

Celanistas! What do you recommend?

LINK | 8:31 PM | TB

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{ COMMENTS }

The notion that one can 'triangulate' a poem through its various translations is an appealing one that has occurred to me too, although I still wonder how trustworthy are the insights one achieves this way. I doubt I'd qualify as a Celanista, having only read Michael Hamburger's and John Felstiner's versions of Celan - I get the feeling that both these translators know what they're doing, but, then again, I know no German... Have you read Primo Levi's criticism of Celan in his essay 'On Obscure Writing'? His comments might make a good starting-point for a discussion. It's just occurred to me that I'd be fascinated to hear Celan reading his own work - I wonder do recordings exist, and if so are any accesssible on-line?

misteraitch | September 24, 2003 12:33 AM

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I was listening to Gould this morning, the Art of Fugue on organ from a 1962 recording. When I listen to that one, I always get that simple theme stuck in my head and start making up my own silly variations.

Eeksy-Peeksy | September 24, 2003 2:07 AM

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There are several MP3's of Celan reading his poems available on the web. [Just Google for Celan and MP3]

His Todesfuge is already one of the scariest poems ever written. But him reciting it in his rather mechanical manner adds an extra dimension to it.

ijsbrand | September 24, 2003 3:57 AM

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I went to a workshop discussion last year run by Robert Pinsky. One of the audience members said that the poetry they wrote was about personal misfortune, and they wanted to know how best to make the words sound authentic. Pinsky recommended that the person study Celan, carefully, to learn how to write about loss and pain.

I'm interested in what you find about the differences in translation. I think his writing is probably especially difficult to translate well.

Rich | September 24, 2003 4:11 AM

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Celan is even difficult to understand if you happen to know German well. His Rumanian and Yiddish background give his German a really personal and different tone [colour].

And, especially the later Celan wrote incredibly layered poems, in which he sometimes used technical jargon that's often impossible to grasp at a first reading.

ijsbrand | September 24, 2003 5:02 AM

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Pinsky's suggestion is at best unhelpful, at worst offensive.

Hamburger is readable; Joris thrilling but often unreadable. McHugh put me off at first but I owe that one another try. Why not read them all? Celan is absolutely original. (Reading Lorine Niedecker and Joe Ceravolo alongside seemed to clarify some qualities of his work for a group I read Celan with last spring.)

Jordan | September 24, 2003 5:50 AM

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misteraitch: I linked to both mp3 and RealAudio files of Celan reading in this post -- enjoy!

Pinsky's suggestion is at best unhelpful, at worst offensive.

Wow. Glad you know so much more than Pinsky, Jordan. God forbid anyone should get anything from Celan that you don't approve of.

language hat | September 24, 2003 7:24 AM

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This essay by Pierre Joris is quite good.

CELAN / HEIDEGGER:
TRANSLATION AT THE MOUNTAIN OF DEATH
by P i e r r e J o r i s
http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/authors/joris/todtnauberg.html

nd | September 24, 2003 8:50 AM

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try http://www.lyrikline.org/ for celan reading his poems including todesfuge. that poem is the counterproof to adorno's verdict that writing poems after auschwitz is barbaric. "der tod ist ein meister aus deutschland sein auge ist blau" still sends the shivers down my spine. i am german.

alex | September 24, 2003 10:16 AM

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Like misteraitch, I prefer the Hamburger translations and the Felstiner versions. [The latter probably because I have seen and heard Felstiner talk about Celan.] In my opinion, Joris and McHugh tend to be too much in awe of the linguistic aspect of the difficulty. For another take on Celan and the issues of language and translation, you might want to peruse George Steiner’s “After Babel: Aspects of Language & Translation.” Or, for a more focused take on difficulty, also by Steiner, try “On Difficulty and Other Essays.” These texts are from the 1970s and so they are staunchly “subject” oriented, refusing to divorce human presence from text....

maria | September 24, 2003 11:15 AM

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