Paul Celan and Martin Heidegger are well-known writers within the literary circles of the 19th century. Their works were taken in high regards owing to their skills and uniqueness in styles of writing and beliefs. It is worth noting that Celan had much admiration for Heidegger due to his ideas and distinguished style of literary skills (Betteridge 47). One thing that remains striking within the literature world is by the type of relationship the two have. It is believed that Celan received much inspiration in what Heidegger was writing. The latter can be explained by the fact that the two exchange letters and their conversations have been recorded.
Ideological Beliefs
Martin Heidegger has over the years been considered as the most important philosophers of the 20th century due to his inspiring types of works. In as much as he was considered an inspiration during his period of writing, Heidegger’s works were also received with much controversy (Betteridge 58). Moreover, his contribution to the field of phenomenology, existentialism, psychology, political theory and theology is considered to be very important and beneficial. In addition, some of the most important engagements that are attributed to him include his opposition to positivism and technological domination of the world complemented by the critiquing of traditional metaphysics. Krajewski et al argue that, these works made him turn out as the most respected and admired philosopher of the 20th Century (591). However, one thing that was created a controversy over his beliefs is the involvement in the Nazi movement. The latter brought about lots of stormy debate that later overshadowed his philosophical works.
Celan who was born to a German-speaking Jewish family in Romania specialized in poetry, and at some point in his life, working in a forced labor camp during the World War II. Betteridge argues that, his mastery of over six languages made him exceptional in handling issues and ensuring that he had the best of communication with whoever he was to interact with during his entire life (67). Moreover, his mastery of the languages made him work as a translator, through which he translated many works including those of Emily Dickson, Antonin Artaud, and Marianne Moore among many other translations. Though his residence was in France, much of his writings were in German, with which he was able to make many of his influential pieces. His literature became one of the most regenerative voices in the post-world war II era (Krajewski et al 590). In addition, his style of writing was French influenced with most of his theme being of the type of grieves that the Jews were undergoing during the Holocaust.
Writing Themes
Being a philosopher, Heidegger was versed with a wide range of topics and themes. However, his main interest was on ontology where he could focus on the study of being and understanding how it related to the existence of human being within the universe (Krajewski et al 590). The latter can be demonstrated by his fundamental treatise called ‘Being and Time.’ In the piece, Heidegger tries to access ‘being’ through a phenomenological analysis of the existence of human beings in consideration of the temporal and historical perspective (Betteridge 64). Through the postulations obtained from his work on ‘Being and Time,’ he focused on language and described it as a vehicle through which the questions arising from being can be unfolded. Throughout his research on being, he ended up drawing up many criticisms of the traditional western philosophy in which he thought that the question of being was obliterated and not well, defined in it. In essence, many people found most of his works quite difficult to understand due to his ambiguousness and unique points of approach; thereby making ‘Being and Time’ the most influential piece of work from him (Krajewski et al 589).
However, Paul Celan having been a victim of the influence of the Nazis, most of his writings were based on the Holocaust and the type of sufferings attributed to the Nazis. From his work ‘Deathfague’ one clear poetic theme is the Holocaust, which is attributed to the experience he underwent during his time in the death camp (Krajewski et al 589). He effectively demonstrates how the Jews were mistreated under the rule of the Hitler regime. They were exposed to extreme life-threatening conditions with the guards willing to follow the orders of their masters even if it meant killing of them. Another theme that he touches in his poems includes sufferings, which is expressed by the personas within the poems Celan writes about. The voices in the poems speak about death as something that they have been accustomed to due to the experiences they are taken through. Moreover, Calen puts some perspective of art and culture; he puts out that even after all the heinous activities the Jews underwent through the hands of the Nazi’s an appreciation of the German culture is necessary (Krajewski et al 590). Another theme that Calen talks about in his poetic work includes the theme of identity. He describes how the Jews were dehumanized within the concentration camps in which they were confined. He describes how Jews were not considered as human beings and that the dehumanization they have been exposed to has also influenced how they view themselves (Taylor 347). A combination of the themes that Celan included in his poetic pieces gives a clear picture of what he was undergoing and how his experiences influenced his view of life.
Impact on their Disciplines
Celan and Heidegger were both masters of their own arts; that is, they both excelled in their field of work. An analysis of the existence and the effect of being made Heidegger become a well-renowned philosopher (Taylor 338). The latter is amplified by the fact that his line of ideology was that philosophy had to be radically renewed through critical analysis of the contemporary philosophical beliefs and works (Betteridge 67). Celan on his part believed that in order to make the societal plight come into the light, effective use of one’s literary prowess to expose the dark in the society. As such, his poems were mostly written in a language that is critical of the activities and responses that the Nazis exposed the Jews.
After Celan had read Heidegger’s work in ‘Being and Time,’ he became interested in understanding the ideology and beliefs propagated by Heidegger. It was later proved that Heidegger was also appreciative of the poetic works of Celan. One thing that was however outstanding in their case was the fact that he was anti-Nazi due to the experiences under forced labor while Heidegger was a member of the Nazis (Betteridge 70). While they respected each other in terms of their literary works, their political ideology was the main point of contention that could have hindered the relationship that existed between them.
Mutual Relationship
There are lots of literature that has been written to document the existing mutual admiration that existed between Celan and Heidegger. The latter is an attribute that tries to explain the theory of attraction of the opposites owing to their different ideology when it comes to the Nazis and their activities. According to Taylor, while Heidegger’s earlier works majored on existence ontology, his perceived failures in the field made him change and start studying language as a means of explaining the philosophy of being and nothingness (340). He pursued his field by the existential analysis of human beings as he believed that they were better placed to expound on their experiences within different timelines. Heidegger believed that philosophy’s main purpose was to man to anxiety.
Heidegger’s argument about the philosophy of anxiety is depicted in the poetic works attributed to Celan. Other scholars however believe that his writings were a response to Heidegger’s pieces of work (Taylor 339). While there are no more elaborations from Celan on his influence from the philosopher’s writings, it remains to be seen that many of his poems are depicted in such a way that Heidegger’s belief on the philosophy of anxiety is expressly stated (Lyon et al 128). However, in his writings, he is believed to have had an interest in philosophy and thought. The latter is succinctly depicted by the poem ‘Engfuhrung.’Moreover, it is stated that he had ambivalent concern over Heidegger due to the past writings that he had been exposed to. According to Lyon et al, the concern is on the other hand dimmed by the fact that the German philosopher was in a situation that was politically uncomfortable for the Jewish poet (116). The latter is drawn from the fact that in his earlier years, the philosopher had joined the Nazi group that propagated hatred and persecution among the Jews.
As early as 1957, there are lots of works of the philosopher had written and Celan had had an opportunity of accessing and reading them. At some point, it is stated that he wanted to send him some of his poems but was uneasy as it is said that he did not want to whitewash the philosopher (Taylor 342). One thing that kept making the two to feel together is the fact that Heidegger believed that poetry worked to share the duties of philosophy in ensuring that the meaning of ‘Being’ (Dasein) is perfectly uncovered with specificity on humans (Lyon et al 124). He argues that poets’ main role in the society is the creation of awareness of man’s dwelling by allowing them to conceptualize the divine. His belief that poets share responsibilities in the society that are almost similar to that of philosophers made created a point of semblance between him and Celan. Excerpts from his meridian speech have many instances of similarities; for instance, on the role of poets and function of language, he seems to concur with Heidegger through an argument that the present world requires fewer philosophers but more careful thinking. The latter is a sign of agreement with the philosopher on his Cultivate the letter theory (Lyon et al 114). Moreover, Celan’s beliefs seem to align with Heidegger’s rejection of existentialist notion propagated by Sartre, which argues that human beings exist in their single sense without any connection to other external things (Betteridge 62). The latter is so due to the fact that he continues to believe that humans exist in the universe through a relationship with Being. In addition, the idea that humans don’t play with language but instead it is language that plays with us appears to agree with Heidegger’s thought of rejection of instrumental use of language.
In as much as there were lots of points of similarity and admiration in there works, there seemed to be various notable ideological differences between the thinkers. For instance, in the speech of ‘Meridian’ Celan had earlier objected to the view that language cannot be considered as merely as an utterance of an organism or the expression of a living being while Heidegger tries to bring back an opposing view to Celan’s earlier assertions (Krajewski et al 589). The latter expressly depict the incidences of difference that arose between the two thinkers.
Conclusion
While both the thinkers were from different societal background, they seem to be attached more by their literary works. The latter is attested to by the fact that even at their meeting; they continued to share lots of ideological similarities in so far as language and use of language is concerned. While Heidegger believed in the existential analysis of human beings, Celan was a stern believer in the championing of the philosophical perspective of human existence through poetry. As such, many of their writings seemed to be complementary to each other. In addition, the fact that Celan was expressly immersed in the earlier works of the philosopher explains why his poetry had some fluent expression of fluency in German. Their themes of writings have also shown their interest in understanding humanity and the nature of existence within the sphere of world existence and thus cement the similarities of their interest.
Works Cited
Betteridge, Tom. "Alain Badiou's anabasis: rereading Paul Celan against Heidegger." Textual Practice 30.1 (2016): 45-68.
Krajewski, Bruce. "Paul Celan and Martin Heidegger: An Unresolved Conversation, 1951–1970." Modernism/modernity 14.3 (2007): 589-591.
Lyon, James K. Paul Celan and Martin Heidegger: An Unresolved Conversation, 1951–1970. JHU Press, 2006.
Taylor, John. "And How Hope Is Violent: The Poetry of Paul Celan." (2001): 338-347.
