Paul Celan und rumänische Literatur

Abstract

Paul Celan's poetic oeuvre is strongly influenced by intercultural and intertextual inspirations, and it engages in a constant dialogue with many European literatures and cultures. The early phase of his poetic work demonstrates a close connection with the intellectual life of Romania. Important prerequisites for this were his attendance at the Romanian Lyceum in Chernivtsi, where he acquired an excellent command of the Romanian language, his stay of more than two years in the Romanian metropolis of Bucharest in the first post-war years, his work as a collaborator at the Romanian Publishing House for Russian literature "Cartea Rusă", in which he proofread not only foreign translations, but also some important works of Russian literature (M. Lermontov’s novel "A Hero of Our Time", A. Chekhov’s collection of short stories "The Peasants" and others). He translated into Romanian his writings on his relations with leading representatives of Romanian literature (A. Philippide, T. Arghezi, L. Blaga, M. Banuș, I. Caraion, Nina Cassian, Petre Solomon), especially with the circle of Romanian surrealists ("amis poètes"), which he later reminisced about nostalgically ("Cette belle season des calembours"). For a while, the poet found himself at a "linguistic crossroads" after he wrote several poems and short fiction texts in Romanian and translated some fragments of F. Kafka into Romanian for his friends. In Bucharest he completed and published his "Death Fugue" for the first time under the pseudonym "Paul Celan", in the Romanian interpretation of his friend Petre Solomon (under the title "Tangoul morții"). In his German-
language poems there are several borrowings of Romanian themes, motifs and poetic forms, reminiscences of and allusions to Romanian realities, rituals and customs. The intellectual world of Romania left its imprint on Celan's work and enriched it noticeably.