Snow Part/Schneepart

By Paul Celan

Celan's poems resist straightforward exegesis. They are not linear progressions, moving from word to word, from point A to point B. Rather, they present themselves to a reader as intricate networks of semantic densities. Intentional puns, oblique personal references, intentional misquotations, bizarre neologisms: these are the sinews that bind Celan's poems together. It is not possible to keep up with him, to follow his drift at every step along the way. One is guided more by a sense of tone and intention than by textual scrutiny. Celan does not speak explicitly, but he never fails to make himself clear. There is nothing random in his work, no gratuitous elements to obscure the perception of the poem. One reads with one's skin, as if by osmosis, unconsciously absorbing nuances, overtones, syntactical twists, which in themselves are as much the meaning of the poem as its analytic content.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1931357463
• ISBN13: 9781931357463
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Sheep Meadow Press
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.6" x 9.0"