Paul Celan: Mit wechselndem Schlüssel - Ulrike Draesner and John von Düffel

A classic of literary history
Conversation with Ulrike Draesner and John von Düffel
Moderation: Anne-Dore Krohn, Prologue and Epilogue: Timo Brunke

Paul Celan (1920-1970) repeatedly addresses experiences of violence in his poems and finds a poetic form for the horror of the Holocaust - the famous "Death Fugue" stands as the emblematic example. At the same time, Adorno wrote his famous dictum in 1949: "To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric". Celan lives in France, yet refuses to abandon the German language. For this he is recognized but not understood, and attacked. Throughout his life he searches for language: particularly striking is his speech "Der Meridian", delivered on the occasion of receiving the Büchner Prize in 1960. It can be read as a key poetological text, its title drawing on a sentence from Nelly Sachs in a letter to Celan: "Between Paris and Stockholm runs the meridian of pain". He always understands his poems as messages in a bottle - the recipients remain uncertain.

An event series by LpZ Stuttgart and DerDiwan Hörbuchverlag. Supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport of Baden-Württemberg