poetry as witness — the exile and the survivor — for Tuesday May 14th

The theorist Theodor Adorno once observed that “there can be no poetry after Aufschwitz,” but actually, there’s ALOT of poetry after the Shoah and WW2. Here are 3 incredible poets. (Kolmar did not survive the Shoah, but is too good to leave out).

Interesting fact: poetry seems to be the first form that people turn to in the wake of disaster/trauma.

Question: Why might that be?

Paul Celan and Else Lasker-Schüler are incredibly interesting writers. Celan is considered THE great Holocaust poet. He lived in various places, as your handout shows, and died in Paris. Lasker-Schüler also lived in various places, and ended up in Jerusalem, where she most definitely did NOT fit in. Her play I and I is one of the most fascinating plays ever written.  Enjoy!

Lasker-Schueler  Celan  kolmar