Acknowledgements
Abstract
Introduction
CHAPTER I
CELAN AND LANGUAGE
Purpose of Glacial Imagery
Celan's Language
The Nature of Celan's Language
The Crystalline Structure of Language
CHAPTER II
THE GLACIAL LANGUAGE
Glacial Substance
Literary Glaciers
Glacial Composition
Glacial Sounds
The Glacial Ursprache
Glacial Colors
CHAPTER III
THE LANGUAGE OF SNOW AND ICE
Snow as Speech
Stony Images of Snow and Ice
Snow as Nourishment
Approaching the Pure Language in Ice
The Purification of Language
CHAPTER IV
THE RELIGIOUS GLACIER
Snow's Insulative Properties
Religious Snow
The Snowy Hell
CHAPTER V
THE JEWISH GLACIER
Jewish Colors
Jewish Stones
Jewish Ice
CHAPTER VI
THE GLACIER AS A LITERARY ABODE
Redemptive Images Housed in Snow
The Glacial Homeland
Jewish Purification through Snow
Religious Breath in Ice
"Works Cited
Works Consulted
Appendix
A
I would like to particularly acknowledge the help of Dr. James K. Lyon for introducing me to Celan's poetry. He has shown me to what depths Celan's poetry reaches. In am also indebted to Dr. Steven Sondrup who provided me with Celan's collected works in a computerized format. Having Celan's complete poetry accessible through the computer has proven invaluable in my research. I am also indebted to my colleagues who participated in the Fall, 1994 Paul Celan Seminar, in particular April Seager, Stephen Van Orden, David Tingey and Konstance Lieber. Their examination and critique of Celan's poetry proved both enlightening and helpful. I also appreciate the efforts of my proofreaders, Lori Seely and my sister-in-law, Colette Neish, for their patience and suggestions. Most importantly, I would like to thank my wife, Karen, for her encouragement and continued support even throughout her pregnancy.
Many critics consider Paul Celan to be a poet whose writings can be interpreted in a negative manner. This thesis examines how Celan employs snow, ice and glacial images within his poetry, to serve a positive and redemptive function while renewing his language and religion.
Snow and ice together with glacial images serve a dual purpose. The first half of this thesis examines how snow goes beyond simply denoting silence; rather it purifies language. Celan uses these images to specifically renew the German language from its corruption by the Nazis. The second half of this thesis demonstrates how snow and ice redeem the Jewish people. Many religious ideas are present in these glacial images. Each idea works to renew both religious and cultural values. English translations of many poems have been included in order to better differentiate between words either Celan himself coined or that he extracted from technical dictionaries.
Paul Celan, widely recognized as the best post-war German language poet, often uses images from nature in figurative and literal senses. One of the most frequent is his use of glacial imagery. Literary critics have not examined this image extensively, especially in connection with his language and religion. For Celan, glaciers, together with snow and ice, are not simply large ice masses — they represent an even greater idea. These word groupings suggest a more positive and optimistic tone than what critics sometimes infer from his lyrical poetry. Glaciers become positive physical images in both literature and religion.
Most critics regard Celan's use of snow and ice as representing silence, specifically silence as it relates to death. This thesis, however, examines Celan's glacial images as portraying language. They provide the framework in which he embodies speech and verbal communication. The many layers of a glacier as well as its inner composition, its physical properties, and outward appearance all add to these images of language. The snow and ice within a glacier also play an integral part in Celan's poetry. Glaciers also represent the tool for restructuring language and the German language's eventual renewal from its corrupted Nazi form. Celan does not renew any particular words inherent to the Nazis, rather he gives language in general a renewed form, free from previous negative connotations. Many of the images are representative of Celan's constructive and destructive inclination to rework the German language into a more pure form. He accomplishes this with Neuprägungen and technical terms from glaciology, which in turn invigorate and reconstitute German poetic language.
It is also intriguing to read Celan's portrayal of the Jewish people within the confines of glaciers, snow, and ice. These images of cold environments continued throughout his life. They became even more detailed when later he accepted his Jewishness. Celan captures within these metaphors figurative and literal pictures of his people. Here he takes a distinctly positive stance and seems to portray them in a redemptive fashion.
This thesis will demonstrate how Celan uses glacial imagery together with snow and ice to renew the German language as well as to redeem the Jewish people. The first chapter examines Paul Celan's life and how many of his experiences shaped what he wrote. Chapter one touches upon the corruption of the German language by the Nazis and Celan's literary reaction to its defilement. It also inspects the manner in which he views language as a crystalline structure. The second chapter includes an analysis of the physical features of glaciers, ice, and snow. Chapter two also examines instances where these images occur throughout Celan's lyric poetry. In the third chapter the relationship between cold images and Celan's personal speech is analyzed. These images of ice and snow are instrumental in purifying the corrupted language. Chapter four demonstrates how Celan brings together his Jewishness with glaciers, snow, and ice. The fifth chapter will also show how certain glacial characteristics have decidedly Jewish overtones. Finally, chapter six shows how the glacier functions as an abode for the Jews. Ultimately, glaciers become images that redeem the Jewish people and Celan's Jewish identity. For him, glaciers function both as a sanctuary and as a cleansing medium for those who suffered through the horrors of the Holocaust.
English translations of Celan's poems are included so the ideas in this thesis could be better understood. An English version is necessary in order to differentiate between words Celan coined himself and those borrowed from technical dictionaries. These translations, located in the appendix, are arranged in the same order as they are found in his collected works. Although only a select few have been influenced by Michael Hamburger's rendering, all English translations are the original work of the thesis author.