@@SherdsTube also to add to the discussion, there's a moment in Akutagawa's Hell Screen where the painter comes across some rotting corpses in a street and rather than averting his eyes he sits by them and copies down details of their bodies for reference for his hellish artwork...
The whole story revolves around human as human vs human as art object, but the image of a painter kneeling down in front of some corpses really stuck with me
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. You know, I don't recall that moment from 'Hell Screen', but remember loving the story. I'll have a look again soon.
Thank you for this beautiful posting, as always I was waiting for it... Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947) is a writer who is always with me. His works reflect upon the horrors of war, he is generally considered being the founder of the so called "Truemmerliteratur" in Germany (literature of ruins).
In German class we covered this: it's very easy words and emotionally detached. Themes are often poverty and the like. Death of cold. People seeking shelters in other's home, not talking, smoking, then going back on their way. Others looking for wood to burn. It's depressing literature.
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Amazing rendition of Heym's story... and excellently read! Your comments are deeply accurate of what I myself believe of Heym's Story and life. Thanks for your rendition of the story and for the way you treated one of my favorite poets and writers. Regards PD I can listen to this video without becoming bored of the theme!
Deeply moving. As a terminally ill cancer patient watching this, I couldn't help but be reminded of all the time I've spent over the past two years as an object of the clinical, rather than the "generous," gaze. And of my own wish to keep communicating love to my wife, even as my body becomes this foul, alien thing - to us both. Thank you for your translation and the video.
Another special video. Now with original translation. There are no end to your talents. Loved the prose poem which I first came across in Gio Clairval’s translation in the Vandermeers’ The Weird anthology. It’s quite a grisly little piece, shockingly describing “warm, stagnant” faeces and “sharp and biting” stench of urine - it revels in these visceral descriptions. But I love how the clinical description of the corpse is butted against the transcendental dream of the eternal poppy field, the corpse’s dream of that eternal summer with his love. Beautiful. There is solace to mortality in the Decadent spirit.
Great work Sam. I felt a surge of motivation watching this, as I try my hand at translation as well. Though my German is far from perfect, I really liked your translation. I would love to see more of it. The editing and photography is on top here as well, as is the textual content. Hadn’t heard of Heym before, but will definitely look into him.
Great! I've played around with translating a few horror/science fiction stories from Polish, but never finished anything. I'd really like to soon, though. Have my eye on a few things.
I for sure would want to read that! I bet there’s a bunch of cool stuff in Polish that isn’t translated yet. I know a lot of German novels by pretty high held authors that aren’t available in Swedish. I hope to reach some sort of autonomy within the language in the coming years so that I can approach texts in a more interpretive and creative way. A lot of late modernist/post-modernist writers from America haven’t really been translated to Swedish at all, William Gass for example. Unfortunately Swedish readers seem pretty uninterested in that stuff, but hopefully that’ll change.
Great stuff, Sam. Really appreciate the translation. I found it quite beautiful and hallucinatory in places. Would love to hear/see/read more in the future.
Thank you for another excellent video! Two titles came to mind while watching this piece: "In the Land of Pain" by Alphonse Daudet and "Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death." I can't wait to see what you do next!
My pleasure, Outside Man! Those are both new titles for me, though I have come across Daudet. Thanks for bringing them to my attention. I have plenty more planned, so I hope you have you back.
Heym's grim tone and tragically young death reminds me of decadent poet, David Park Barnitz. He was only 23 when he died. His only book, The Book of Jade, is a marvelously morbid and decadent work.
Great video. Do you intend to upload a reading of your translation as well? From what I could gather trough the subtitles, it's pretty good. One thing I would quibble: considering the clinical setting of the piece, forehead might have been a more precise translation for Stirn than brow. It might be, however, that brow sounds more musical in the context of the complete text, so, in my judgement at least, the slight imprecision would be negligible.
Hi, thanks for the kind words, and for the advice. Yes, you're right - "forehead" is probably more accurate than "brow". I translated this many years ago, so it's difficult for me to remember my exact reasoning, but - looking at it now - I'd say it was likely a rhythmic preference. Thanks for spotting it, though. I don't have plans to upload a reading of the English version right now, I'm afraid. I thought of simply reading the English version in this video, but decided it would be nice for people to hear the original, too.
There's an almost religious, sacramental feel to the poem. One wonders about the themes of self-sacrifice and apotheosis in both the poem and in Heym's own, unfortunate end. Incidentally, my German isn't great, but I think your translation was very well done.
Yes, I shied away from that reading a little, didn't I? I agree, though, sacramental is a good way to put it. It's difficult to read the revery at the end as anything other than a belief in the spirit. Thanks for the kind words.
How young is young? The first person that occurred to me is Paul Celan (probably because I've spent the last two weeks reading through the two-volume Collected Poems). He committed suicide at 50, and everyone agrees that the long, brutal mental decline that led him to do so was in no small measure the consequence of the life experience that was also one of the main themes of his poetry: the Shoah, and specifically the guilt, grief, and anger he felt all his life for having survived it while his parents, and his childhood world, did not. Celan's poetry is dark, but one thing that strikes me is that he labored to neither aestheticize the darkest things, nor to resign himself to them, nor to simply cry out to God or the world "Why me? Why us?" I'm not sure I have the words to describe what he *does* do instead, but however it is to be described, it's this peculiar way of confronting darkness that draws me again and again to his poetry. As always, love the video! Did you decide to stop making podcast episodes? At least on my app, the latest episodes are a year old...
Yes, Celan is a poet I'd really like to discuss in a future episode. I've been fascinated by him for a long time, especially after reading John Felstiner's 'Poet, Survivor, Jew'. Are you referring to the Pierre Joris translations? How are they? I think I prefer Felstiner's translations to Hamburger's, but have never read the Joris versions. That would make an interesting topic, perhaps. Looking at three versions of a Celan poem. I didn't decide to stop making the podcast - it's just that Rob has been unable to record for a long time, and I wanted to keep producing stuff. That's why I started making the videos. I'm really enjoying making them, and - for the moment - it gives me a lot more creative satisfaction than the podcast. It may yet return, though.
@@SherdsTube Yeah the two volume Joris translations. I'd read volume 2 before (which came out first), but this was my first time through volume 1. My German isn't quite good enough to make reliable judgments about translation, but Joris has translated Celan's entire corpus now, and Germanist friends if mine have praised his translations. Mainly, I've stuck with Joris simply because I bought volume 2 of the collected poems on impulse one day on a friend's recommendation, without having read Celan before. And when vol 1 came out a year or so ago, I wanted to complete the set. I'm in the process of reading a lot more Celan-related stuff at the moment, because I'll be taking a shot at teaching some of his poetry in my Heidegger seminar this semester. The next step is a deeper dive into The Meridian...
This video was an absolute treat - the filming of colourfully decaying and decomposing trees to represent the story's imagery was genius
Thanks so much for saying so! :)
@@SherdsTube also to add to the discussion, there's a moment in Akutagawa's Hell Screen where the painter comes across some rotting corpses in a street and rather than averting his eyes he sits by them and copies down details of their bodies for reference for his hellish artwork...
The whole story revolves around human as human vs human as art object, but the image of a painter kneeling down in front of some corpses really stuck with me
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. You know, I don't recall that moment from 'Hell Screen', but remember loving the story. I'll have a look again soon.
Thank you for this beautiful posting, as always I was waiting for it...
Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947) is a writer who is always with me. His works reflect upon the horrors of war, he is generally considered being the founder of the so called "Truemmerliteratur" in Germany (literature of ruins).
Thanks so much. Hmm, a new name for me. I looked him up and now I'm intrigued to find out more. Cheers.
In German class we covered this: it's very easy words and emotionally detached. Themes are often poverty and the like. Death of cold. People seeking shelters in other's home, not talking, smoking, then going back on their way. Others looking for wood to burn.
It's depressing literature.
Amazing rendition of Heym's story... and excellently read! Your comments are deeply accurate of what I myself believe of Heym's Story and life. Thanks for your rendition of the story and for the way you treated one of my favorite poets and writers. Regards PD I can listen to this video without becoming bored of the theme!
My pleasure. Thanks so much for the kind words. Nice to hear from another fan of Georg Heym. :)
@@SherdsTube I hope in the future you can do more Heym's translations. Best wishes and regards
Deeply moving. As a terminally ill cancer patient watching this, I couldn't help but be reminded of all the time I've spent over the past two years as an object of the clinical, rather than the "generous," gaze. And of my own wish to keep communicating love to my wife, even as my body becomes this foul, alien thing - to us both. Thank you for your translation and the video.
I am stunned by its beauty. Thank you for the translation and for making me aware of this writer.
Thanks, John. It's my pleasure. Hope you get to enjoy more of Heym's work.
Another special video. Now with original translation. There are no end to your talents. Loved the prose poem which I first came across in Gio Clairval’s translation in the Vandermeers’ The Weird anthology. It’s quite a grisly little piece, shockingly describing “warm, stagnant” faeces and “sharp and biting” stench of urine - it revels in these visceral descriptions. But I love how the clinical description of the corpse is butted against the transcendental dream of the eternal poppy field, the corpse’s dream of that eternal summer with his love. Beautiful. There is solace to mortality in the Decadent spirit.
Beautifully put, Kurchur Kat! That's what I love about it, too. Thanks for the kind words, as ever!
Great work Sam. I felt a surge of motivation watching this, as I try my hand at translation as well. Though my German is far from perfect, I really liked your translation. I would love to see more of it.
The editing and photography is on top here as well, as is the textual content. Hadn’t heard of Heym before, but will definitely look into him.
Thanks so much! Very glad to have motivated you. Don't worry - my German is not particularly good either. Which languages are you translating between?
English to Swedish, but I study German at the university and dabble a bit with that as well.
Do you translate any Polish stuff?
Great! I've played around with translating a few horror/science fiction stories from Polish, but never finished anything. I'd really like to soon, though. Have my eye on a few things.
I for sure would want to read that! I bet there’s a bunch of cool stuff in Polish that isn’t translated yet.
I know a lot of German novels by pretty high held authors that aren’t available in Swedish. I hope to reach some sort of autonomy within the language in the coming years so that I can approach texts in a more interpretive and creative way.
A lot of late modernist/post-modernist writers from America haven’t really been translated to Swedish at all, William Gass for example. Unfortunately Swedish readers seem pretty uninterested in that stuff, but hopefully that’ll change.
Great stuff, Sam. Really appreciate the translation. I found it quite beautiful and hallucinatory in places. Would love to hear/see/read more in the future.
Thanks, mate. Kind of you to say. It's great to have the encouragement to continue. Perhaps I'll try something from Polish next time.
What an absolute treat ! Thank you for this wonderful video 🌸
My pleasure, Priyanka! Thanks for always supporting me. I really appreciate it. :)
My german pupils had to write about "Die Sektion". Your video is very helpful for me and them.
Thrilled to hear that!
This reminds me of that poem by Gottfried Benn about a morgue, which I don't remember well, but think was rather funny.
Hmm, I don't think I know the one.
Thank you for another excellent video! Two titles came to mind while watching this piece: "In the Land of Pain" by Alphonse Daudet and "Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death." I can't wait to see what you do next!
My pleasure, Outside Man! Those are both new titles for me, though I have come across Daudet. Thanks for bringing them to my attention. I have plenty more planned, so I hope you have you back.
Heym's grim tone and tragically young death reminds me of decadent poet, David Park Barnitz. He was only 23 when he died. His only book, The Book of Jade, is a marvelously morbid and decadent work.
Ah yes! I've heard about this book, but never read it. Must correct that soon. Thanks for the recommendation.
Great video. Do you intend to upload a reading of your translation as well? From what I could gather trough the subtitles, it's pretty good.
One thing I would quibble: considering the clinical setting of the piece, forehead might have been a more precise translation for Stirn than brow. It might be, however, that brow sounds more musical in the context of the complete text, so, in my judgement at least, the slight imprecision would be negligible.
Hi, thanks for the kind words, and for the advice. Yes, you're right - "forehead" is probably more accurate than "brow". I translated this many years ago, so it's difficult for me to remember my exact reasoning, but - looking at it now - I'd say it was likely a rhythmic preference. Thanks for spotting it, though.
I don't have plans to upload a reading of the English version right now, I'm afraid. I thought of simply reading the English version in this video, but decided it would be nice for people to hear the original, too.
Excellent video - * I really appreciate your translations into English. I have been fascinated by Heym and Trakl for years.
Thanks ever so much! I should explore Trakl properly at some point.
Seconding Trakl. Some of his lines are truly unforgettable.
Great! I'll make it a top priority :)
There's an almost religious, sacramental feel to the poem. One wonders about the themes of self-sacrifice and apotheosis in both the poem and in Heym's own, unfortunate end.
Incidentally, my German isn't great, but I think your translation was very well done.
Yes, I shied away from that reading a little, didn't I? I agree, though, sacramental is a good way to put it. It's difficult to read the revery at the end as anything other than a belief in the spirit.
Thanks for the kind words.
How young is young? The first person that occurred to me is Paul Celan (probably because I've spent the last two weeks reading through the two-volume Collected Poems). He committed suicide at 50, and everyone agrees that the long, brutal mental decline that led him to do so was in no small measure the consequence of the life experience that was also one of the main themes of his poetry: the Shoah, and specifically the guilt, grief, and anger he felt all his life for having survived it while his parents, and his childhood world, did not. Celan's poetry is dark, but one thing that strikes me is that he labored to neither aestheticize the darkest things, nor to resign himself to them, nor to simply cry out to God or the world "Why me? Why us?" I'm not sure I have the words to describe what he *does* do instead, but however it is to be described, it's this peculiar way of confronting darkness that draws me again and again to his poetry.
As always, love the video! Did you decide to stop making podcast episodes? At least on my app, the latest episodes are a year old...
Yes, Celan is a poet I'd really like to discuss in a future episode. I've been fascinated by him for a long time, especially after reading John Felstiner's 'Poet, Survivor, Jew'.
Are you referring to the Pierre Joris translations? How are they? I think I prefer Felstiner's translations to Hamburger's, but have never read the Joris versions. That would make an interesting topic, perhaps. Looking at three versions of a Celan poem.
I didn't decide to stop making the podcast - it's just that Rob has been unable to record for a long time, and I wanted to keep producing stuff. That's why I started making the videos. I'm really enjoying making them, and - for the moment - it gives me a lot more creative satisfaction than the podcast. It may yet return, though.
@@SherdsTube Yeah the two volume Joris translations. I'd read volume 2 before (which came out first), but this was my first time through volume 1. My German isn't quite good enough to make reliable judgments about translation, but Joris has translated Celan's entire corpus now, and Germanist friends if mine have praised his translations. Mainly, I've stuck with Joris simply because I bought volume 2 of the collected poems on impulse one day on a friend's recommendation, without having read Celan before. And when vol 1 came out a year or so ago, I wanted to complete the set. I'm in the process of reading a lot more Celan-related stuff at the moment, because I'll be taking a shot at teaching some of his poetry in my Heidegger seminar this semester. The next step is a deeper dive into The Meridian...
@@SherdsTube Might aswell cover Trakl too. He is a forerunner to Celan and gives a very unique spin on the themes found in Heym
Yes, I'll definitely need to look into his work further.