Abstract
Hebrew–German homophonic translation as a poetic writing technique is a still largely unknown phenomenon in German–Hebrew Studies. In my research dedicated to mapping the diversity of ...multilingual modalities in modern German and Hebrew literature, I am particularly interested in German–Hebrew homophony. Thus, in my paper, I analyse German–Hebrew homophony in Pagis’ Hebrew poems ‘Ein Leben’ and ‘Written in Pencil in a Sealed Railway-Car’ (כתוב בעפרון בקרון החתום), while showing the deep impression that Ernst Jandl’s avant-garde poetry (‘oberflächenübersetzung’) has left upon Pagis’ oeuvre. In light of my homophonic analysis, I offer access to a hitherto unnoticed deep layer of German–Hebrew dialogue in Pagis’ poetry, which offers novel interpretations that are unique in the corpus of German-Jewish and Hebrew literature.
What is the impact of the Oulipo on German-language literature? To answer this question I have submitted a questionnaire to a dozen contemporary Germanophone writers known in the field of "writing ...under constraint." It emerges that Oulipian texts are, of course, read and influential; but most of the authors also see themselves as anchored in the German-language tradition of experimental poetry, and especially inspired by the works of Ernst Jandl. This article will explore the Oulipian impact but also highlight Jandl's poems under constraint and reflect on parallels and differences between his playful, performance-oriented approach and the Oulipian practice of constrained writing.
This article begins with an overview of the relationship of poetry and independent film. It proceeds to focus on three independent films that use the cinematic apparatus as a means of publishing ...poetry.
, a film by Canadian Rick Hancox, recycles Wallace Stevens's "A Clear Day and No Memories" in a manner that confirms the accomplishment of the original poem while embedding it, subtly as well as evocatively, within the filmmaker's personal context.
(
), by German filmmaker Matthias Müller, re-presents a cycle of poems by Ernst Jandl,
(
). Müller's film carefully weaves a recitation of the Jandl poems together with a variety of "found" visual images, including shots from
and home movies made during the 1960s by the filmmaker's father, in a manner that provides evocative confirmations and counterpoints to Jandl's text. Canadian Clive Holden's
republishes a set of the filmmaker's own poems from a book by the same name; it is the first feature film I am aware of that is entirely devoted to the presentation of poetic texts.
My dissertation uses close textual analysis and unpublished archival material to explore the poetic internationalism of the Austrian experimental poet Ernst Jandl (1925-2000). When Jandl died ...thirteen years ago, four of the world’s biggest newspapers (The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The New York Times) published obituaries to honor a poet whose oeuvre marks one of the most influential contributions to German speaking poetry since World War II. This fact testifies not only to the international significance of Jandl’s lyric œuvre, but also to the relations of mutual aesthetic influence between the German and English speaking worlds after the catastrophe of World War II. My dissertation traces the interrelations between Anglo-American modernism and Austrian post-war poetry, in order to re-situate Jandl within the context of 20th-century modernism. The contours of his experimental poetics are shaped by a lifelong reception of US-American avant-gardism, most prominently of authors and artists like Gertrude Stein, Charles Olson, and John Cage. Despite Jandl's popularity no monograph has yet been devoted to this phenomenon. In three main chapters that analyze the connection between experimental poetry and the international avant-gardes, my dissertation 1) maps the interrelations between Anglo-American modernism and Austrian post-World War II avant-garde poetry, 2) provides a comprehensive account of the integration of English-language literature into Jandl’s work (published as well as unpublished), and 3) offers a re-appraisal of the semantic capabilities of experimental poetry in general and of Jandl’s lyric œuvre in particular. Transnational poetics — early 20th-century US-American avant-gardism — post-war Austrian poetry: By connecting these movements and by virtue of its interdisciplinary approach, my project forges links between scholarship on Austrian-American studies, modernism, literary theory, post-war literature, and experimental art more broadly.
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