Spur des Worts zur Lyrik Paul Celans

Discusses Celan's use of language and imagery in the context of modern poetics, asserting that only by non-traditional means and by indirection was it possible to write about the Holocaust. Offers interpretations for many individual poems, including allusions to the Holocaust, to antisemitism in history, and to the Holocaust experience of Celan himself and the fate of his parents. Part A, "Zur Lyrik Paul Celans" (p. 49-105) was first published in "Zeitschrift für Ästhetik und allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft" 20 (1975). Part B, "Kontroverse zur Ästhetik Paul Celans" (p. 106-164) appeared in the same journal, vol. 25 (1980). Parts C, "Lieder jenseits der Menschen" (p. 165-299) and D, "Der schärfere Pfeil" (p. 300-400) are based on seminars held at the University of Bochum in summer 1984 and 1985 and were not published previously.