Paul Celan: Poetic creativity in the light of the philosophy of dialogue

Abstract

The concept of the lyrical work as a monologue of the poetic subject originated in the 18^th century. However, this established understanding of lyricism proved insufficient for discussions of the 20^th century poetry, which reflected the century’s crises and catastrophes that questioned all the foundations of humanity. Accordingly, the traditional anthropomorphic poetic subject that mirrors the outline of a person also began to transform. Scholars are still in the process of transitioning to new models of interpretation that consider a poem as an interaction of poetic voices. Paul Celan (1920–1970) was one of the poets whose poetological ideas contradicted the established definition of lyricism. Celan insisted on the necessity of dialogue and, more broadly, polyphony in a poem: he argued that a poem is directed towards the Other and thus overcomes the totality of monologue. Celan’s reflections on poetry followed the philosophy of dialogue, particularly the works of Martin Buber (1878–1965). Combining the traditions of European philosophy and Judaism, Buber contrasted the idealistic absolute I with a subject that exists solely as part of the relations I—It or I—Thou. After World War II, the philosophy of dialogue was further developed by Emmanuel Lévinas (1905–1995). According to Lévinas, the fundamental correlation between I and the Other frees the subject from the claim to total domination and preserves the plurality of personalities that do not dissolve under the unifying light of Reason.