Celan-Perspektiven 2019 ed. by Bernd Auerochs, Friederike Felicitas Günther, and Markus May (review)

Paul Celan's stature, as we approach the fiftieth anniversary of his death, is largely unquestioned. In German-language and international poetry circles, his poetic responses to the horrors of the Holocaust and his probing of the limits of the speakable have been profoundly influential and continue to attract readers the world over. As the horrors of the National Socialist ideology of death begin to fade from living memory, Celan's poetic register, at once mythic and tactile, acquires only more urgency. "Celans Person und Werk," write the editors in their introduction, "sind ein paradigmatischer Teil der Kulturgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts, dessen historische, künstlerische und wissenschaftliche Verwerfungen und Impulse seine Dichtung reflektiert" (7). This is a strong claim, but, as the twentieth century settles into its historical contours, one that Celan's reputation can support.

Into this moment in history comes Celan-Perspektiven 2019, the first volume in a series dedicated to the poet's work and legacy across several generations. Here is the editors' summary of the task of the series: "In den Celan-Perspektiven erscheinen Beiträge zum Werk Paul Celans zu den Nachwirkungen seiner Sprache bis in die Gegenwart, zu den Traditionen, die Celan aufruft, um sich von ihnen zu lösen, zu seinen kulturkritischen Reflexionen, zu den intermedialen und interdisziplinären Fragen, die sein Werk aufwirft, und weitere Überlegungen, die sich mit der ästhetischen, politischen oder kulturellen Dimension seiner Texte und ihrer Wirkungen beschäftigen" (7).

This first volume in the series matches the ambitions the editors lay out. It consists of four parts: "Beiträge," "Forum," "Besprechungen," and "Aktuelles." This structure provides a range of formats for contributors to present their engagement with Celan, so as to maximize the perspectives represented. The nine essays that comprise the first section of this volume focus, largely, on particular aspects of particular works by Celan. Frieder von Ammon examines the political meanings of "In memoriam Paul Eluard" (1952). Bernd Auerochs reprints the poem "Spät und Tief," written in Vienna, and then analyzes it, line by line. Likewise, Fred Lönker's treatment of "Mit wechselndem Schlüssel" (1954) orients itself around the profound uncertainties of a mysterious text. Stravros Patoussis takes on "Kleide die Worthöhlen," using Celan's own metaphor of undressing ("Auskleiden") to reflect on how poetry and its interpretation interact with the dressing of language. Alexandra Tretakov seeks to fill the gap in scholarly attention given to Celan's interest in occult and Kabbalistic numerology, via the poem "Psalm." Likewise, Erik Schilling sees a gap in the scholarship around the concept of the liminal, which he explores through the volume Von Schwelle zu Schwelle (1955). Michael Auer brings the concept, which Celan himself used to describe his work, of Musikalität to bear on a phonetic close reading of the poems gathered under the heading Niemandsrose, with the remarkable conclusion of a marginal variation "entscheidet über Leben und Tod" (96). The final two contributions take a broader perspective: Felix Christen looks most of all at Celan's prose to find a critique of humanism, while Bronac Ferran, in the volume's sole English-language contribution, considers Celan's often hostile relationships with his contemporaries.

The second section of the volume, the "Forum," introduces itself in this way: "Im Forum wird in jeder Ausgabe der Celan-Perspektiven ein thematischer Schwerpunkt gesetzt, der verschiedene Standpunkte und Sichtweisen zum jeweiligen Gegenstand zur Diskussion stellt. Die dadurch angestoßenen Kontroversen sind Teil der angestrebten Debattenkultur, die die Celan-Perspektiven befördern möchte" (129). I find this concept deeply energizing, when the majority of Jahrbücher and collected volumes present a series of freestanding contributions, with no effort to put them in dialogue with one another. This volume's forum theme is the sculpture Hommage à Paul Celan, by Alexander Polzin, located in the Jardin Anne Frank in Paris. With photographs to orient the reader, the Forum presents an interview with the sculptor, a conversation...