Celan and France

Abstract

"An understandable focus, given the a priori difficulties his oftentimes seemingly hermetic poems present. There is, however, something slightly disconcerting in the fact that so many German scholars analyse and dissect Celan’s opus in the context of what one could describe as a nearly nationalistic “Germanistik” tradition, at best footnoting his relationship to France as a contingent aspect of his life and work. Two of the best-known and standard texts on German poetry after 1945 will serve as examples (Knörrich, Weissenberger). While Klaus Weissenberger, in his essay, mentions at least that Celan lived in France most of his life, Otto Knörrich’s otherwise fine essay does not give the slightest indication of the bio-geographical complexity of Celan’s life. Weissenberger’s compilation has introductory chapters organized according to geographical principles (BRD, DDR, Austria, Switzerland). Joseph Strelka, who wrote the chapter on Austrian poetry, seems to include Celan implicitly, but, again, essentially as an influence on Austrian poetry, and without other bio-geographical references, except for the mention of Celan’s birth-place. Just as limiting, or error-inducing, can be the often used categorical description of Celan as “Exil-Dichter”: in exile indeed, but from where?"