By Richard Lee Pierre a Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of The
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
LYRIC PETROLOGIES: LANGUAGES OF STONE IN RILKE, TRAKL, MANDELSTAM, CELAN, AND SACHS by Richard Lee Pierre A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Comparative Literature) in The University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Professor Silke-Maria Weineck, chair Associate Professor Andreas Gailus Associate Professor Sofya Khagi Professor Marjorie Levinson “The names of minerals and the minerals themselves do not differ from each other, because at the bottom of both the material and the print is the beginning of an abysmal number of fissures. Words and rocks contain a language that follows a syntax of splits and ruptures. Look at any word long enough and you will see it open up into a series of faults, into a terrain of particles each containing its own void. This discomforting language of fragmentation offers no easy gestalt solution; the certainties of didactic discourse are hurled into the erosion of the poetic principle. Poetry being forever lost must submit to its own vacuity; it is somehow a product of exhaustion rather than creation. Poetry is always a dying language but never a dead language.” – Robert Smithson, “A Sedimentation of the Mind” (1968) “Oh, I’d love that / I’d be a mineral deposit, a ball of mica inside a rock / then there’d be no whistles, no radios, no screens” – Mission of Burma, “Mica” (Vs., 1982) © Richard Lee Pierre 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At every stage of writing this dissertation, I have relied on the support of a magnificent community of mentors, colleagues, friends, and family. My chair, Silke Weineck, is a beacon of fortitude and intellect. Without her constant vigilance of my wayward slips into allusiveness, her careful reading of each and every word of this project, and the precision of her comments, this dissertation would never have become what it is. Even more importantly, Silke has been my unwavering advocate, supporting me through every twist and turn along the way. More than the sum of its parts, my doctoral committee has worked together in an organic way that is the perfect balance to this dissertation’s meditations on minerality. I will be eternally grateful to Sofya Khagi for her encyclopedic knowledge of scholarship, clarity of thought, and generosity. Andreas Gailus has been a model of eloquence and energy from day one of my graduate career. Marjorie Levinson’s always richly generative thinking has helped this dissertation reach vistas it could not have otherwise. It has been a blessing to work with such brilliant and supportive advisors. The University of Michigan is a uniquely collaborative institution, and my work has benefited enormously from the input of many other scholars. The ever-gracious Yopie Prins provided informal guidance throughout my years as a graduate student, and her deeply considered views on lyric have enriched and helped to shape my own. For their humor and support along the way, I would also like to thank Benjamin Paloff, Tatjana Aleksic, and Catherine Brown. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to ii discuss Mandelstam and German-Russian comparison with Omry Ronen (†), though those conversations had to end all too soon. I am truly fortunate to have had such extensive academic support. Generous funding came from the Department of Comparative Literature, the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, the International Institute, the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, the Institute for the Humanities, and the Sweetland Center for Writing. I give a special word of thanks to my fellow fellows at the IH (2013-2014) and Sweetland (2013) for the opportunity to participate in such stimulating academic communities. Abroad, Stuart Eagles provided insight on Ruskin and Russia, while the expert staff at the Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach helped deepen my understanding of Celan’s investigations into geology. I will forever be indebted to Thomas Cerbu, Charles Byrd, Elena Kranostchekova, Katarzyna Jerzak, Olga Thomason, and Linda Brooks (†): I am still learning from what all of you taught me. Teaching at U-M has been richly rewarding. In addition to my colleagues in Comparative Literature, I want to thank the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, Hartmut Rastalsky, Janet Crayne, and Susan Harris for their generous support of my teaching along the way. To all of my students in Comparative Literature, English, Great Books, German, and the Honors Program: thank you for giving me the chance to learn with you. To the Department of Comparative Literature, its chairs (Yopie Prins and Silke Weineck) and staff (Judy Gray, Paula Frank, and Nancy Harris): in your hands, Comp. Lit. continues to be legendary, brimming with camaraderie, enthusiasm, and purpose. Nancy, our student services coordinator, deserves special acknowledgement; every iii graduate student in the department owes his or her success in large part to her stalwart guidance, support, and friendliness. We’re unbelievably lucky to have you. Thank you. The Fates smiled upon me when arranging my cohort in Comparative Literature: Gen Creedon, Rostom Mesli, and Michael Pifer. You all have laughed with me, dined with me, thought with me, read with me, inspired me, taught me, and tolerated me. I am grateful for every hour we’ve had together. You guys are the best of the best. I have many other friends to thank: Shannon Winston, Basak Candar, Chris Meade, Olga Greco, Harry Kashdan, and Will Runyan for being the greatest Prawns in the sea, and royal ambassadors for a certain Squid; and for his mythic presence, Michael Kicey. I extend a thank you to all of my other colleagues, past and present, in Comparative Literature, the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, and the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature—each of you plays a part in making this a wonderful, memorable place to be. My community of support reaches far beyond the hallowed hallways of Tisch. I thank H.D. Cameron for conversations on poetry, language, and history. For talk of Zaxby’s, Saxby’s, and all manner of Weird, I thank a kudzu-in-arms, Ray McDaniel. Matt McLean remains the most generous person I know, a fountain of advice, and a reliable source of bad jokes. Hakan Ayadin made Berlin feel like a home. “Ich möchte in der Doktorarbeit erwähnt werden!” Well, Hakan, you are hereby erwähnt. On return trips to Georgia, Nathan and Amanda Garnto and Clarke Schwabe not only don't make me sleep outside, they even let me in the kitchen (go Dawgs!). Ya’ll are the best friends family anyone could ever have. To my families—the Pierres, the Hairrs, and the whole Rowland caravan: you have all left your mark in this too, even if what's inside remains more or less a iv mystery. Mom (†), and Paul (†), you're here too, teaching me a thing or two about silent speech. I thank you all for every kind of support you have given me, both expected and unexpected. None of this would be possible without Anna Faye Pierre: Faye, you have supported me every minute, traveled the world by my side, been my voice of reason, laughter, and song. Words simply fail, but those I do have, you’ve helped me find. Finally, to the littlest one with the biggest heart, Elijah Alexander: you and I know what to do. I'm so glad we have the chance. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................................. viii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................ X CHAPTER ONE: INTO THE QUARRY (AN INTRODUCTION) ................................. 1 Lyric Petrologies .................................................................................................................. 1 Thinking Lyric Beyond the Personal .................................................................................. 8 The Medusa's Head: On Nonhuman Lyric ...................................................................... 17 Critical Perspectives on Stone, Lyric, and Comparison ................................................... 25 Overview of Chapters ....................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER TWO: INVOCATIONS OF STONE IN MANDELSTAM, RILKE, AND TRAKL: ARCHITECTURE, ANTHROPOMORPHISM, PETRIFICATION ............................... 40 Raising the Stone: The Acmeist Poetics of Architecture .................................................. 43 Hagia Sophia: The Weight of History .............................................................................. 46 Overcoming Stone: Mandelstam’s “Notre Dame” ........................................................... 51 Mandelstam and Ruskin: The Anthropomorphic Vitality of Stone ................................. 58 “What do you know, stony one, of our being?”: Rilke’s Petrological Lyrics .................... 62 Rilke’s “The Archaic Torso of Apollo” ............................................................................. 68 Presence and Absence: Trakl’s “Bright Spring” ............................................................... 73 Stone: The Petrified Word ................................................................................................ 79 CHAPTER THREE: LYRICIZING THE LEXICON OF STONE: GEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE AND LYRIC TEMPORALITY IN MANDELSTAM AND CELAN .................................