REVIEW: Petro Rychlo, ed. Mit den Augen von Zeitgenossen. Erinnerungen an Paul Celan

Abstract

The memoir authored by the Ukrainian Germanist Petro Rychlo, whose first edition was published at Suhrkamp with the occasion of the centennial anniversary of Paul Celan’s birth, includes a chronological selection of 55 texts from all the stations of the poet’s life. The volume pursues a better knowledge of Paul Celan as individual, of his character and his psychology, aspects that could have collectively contributed to the tragic outcome of his troubled life. Paul Celan is revealed as a complex personality, both through his poetic uniqueness and existential tragedy, as well as in his greatness and human vulnerability. The author argues for the importance of getting acquainted with the biographical aspects surrounding Celan – the Holocaust, the great love for his mother, the search for his Jewish identity – and emphasizes their special significance in deciphering the hermetic Celanian poetry.