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University of Southampton Research Repository ePrints Soton Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Modern Languages The Translingual Imagination in the Work of four Women Poets of German-Jewish Origin by Meike Reintjes Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2014 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Modern Languages Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy THE TRANSLINGUAL IMAGINATION IN THE WORK OF FOUR WOMEN POETS OF GERMAN-JEWISH ORIGIN Abstract In this thesis, I am developing a theory of the translingual imagination which can be used as a tool to explore literature written in a second language. The term ‘translingual imagination’ was first coined by Steven Kellman in his essay ‘Translingualism and the Literary Imagination’, describing the work of authors writing in a language other than their first. Recent years have seen a growing body of research on these writers, not least because of a risen interest in post-colonial writing and transnational and migration studies. Literary scholars have increasingly questioned ‘the paradigma of monolingualism’, and linguistic research has looked at interrelations between migration, language and identity. However, research projects have often focused on prose writing, predominantly examining the work of canonized male authors (such as Kafka, Conrad or Rushdie), and post-war migrants (such as Turkish-born authors writing in German, or South American- born writers writing in English). Poetry written by women poets of German-Jewish origin has mainly been considered part of Holocaust writing, and over the past decades German scholars have been trying to reclaim these texts as ‘German-Jewish’ poetry. My thesis considers the work of four English poets of German-Jewish origin in the context of translingual writing. While using Kellman’s term, I shall suggest a set of specific criteria to allow for a clearer definition of the ‘translingual imagination’. In applying these criteria to the work of women poets of German-Jewish origin, I will not only show the translingual imagination at work but also encourage a new reading of literature written by German-Jewish refugees that goes beyond the notion of exile poetry. Table of Contents ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ i Table of Contents ........................................................................................... iii DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP ...................................................................... v Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................ .1 Current state of research…………………………………………………….…………..2 Four women poets of German-Jewish origin……………………………………………5 Structure of the chapters………………………………………………………..………..11 Chapter 2: Historical Context ...................................................................... 15 A brief history of writing literature in a second language…………………………15 Luther's Bible translation and the rise of the vernacular…………………………..17 Paradigm change……………………………………………………………………………19 Jewish-German history: Haskalah and Jewish Emancipation………………………22 Anti-Semitism and Jewish responses…………………………………………………..27 Zionism and questions of Jewish identity…….……………………………………….30 The rise of German fascism, the November pogroms, and the Kindertransport………………………………………………………………………….…33 Chapter 3: Developing a Theoretical Tool .................................................. 39 Concepts of identity……………………………………………………………………….39 Bilingualism and multilingualism……………………………………………………….42 Translingualism…………………………………………………………………………….44 Moving languages: Translated lives………………………..…………………………..46 Loss - but gain?.………………..…………………………………………………………..51 Different approaches to loss……………………………………………………………..56 Les Belles Infidèles?........................................................................................58 Moving beyond translation……………………………………………………………….59 Gender differences………………………………………………………..……………….63 Gain at last: looking at the world from a new angle………………………………..64 Defamiliarization and dialogism in translingual writing.………………… ……...67 Dialogism and 'reine Sprache'……………….……………………………………..……70 iii Dialogism and intertextuality……………………………………………….……..…….72 Chapter 4: Departure and Arrival – Biographical Traces………………………77 Karen Gershon………………………………………………………………………………78 Lotte Kramer…………………………………………………………………………………94 Gerda Mayer…………..…………………………………………………………………..119 Alice Beer……………………………………………………………………………………125 Chapter 5: Loss and Gain... ........................................................................ 137 Chapter 6: Intertexts .................................................................................. 161 Chapter 7: Conclusion................................................................................ 195 Bibliography ............................................................................................... 205 iv DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, ....................................................................................... [please print name] declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. [title of thesis] .................................................................................................. ......................................................................................................................... I confirm that: 1. This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University; 2. Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated; 3. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; 4. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; 5. I have acknowledged all main sources of help; 6. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself; 7. None of this work has been published before. Signed:.............................................................................................................. Date: ................................................................................................................. Acknowledgements I am indebted to Lotte Kramer, Gerda Mayer and the late Alice Beer for sharing their memories and thoughts with me and for allowing me to use their poems to illustrate the translingual imagination. Liz Brandow, daughter of Alice Beer, has also been incredibly supportive of my research project, providing me with access to unpublished poems as well making me aware of an online publication by Soundswrite. I am grateful to Alice Sluckin who suggested I should contact Alice Beer and to the poet Anne Kind for her time and support. Sabine Mahr and the SWR were very helpful and made the manuscript of their radio programme about Lotte Kramer available. I would like to thank Mary Orr for introducing me to Kellman’s work and my supervisors Andrea Reiter and Ian McCall for their continuous support and encouragement. I am also grateful to my colleagues in the German section who helped me juggling my teaching commitments, research responsibilities and the commute between Hampshire and Norfolk. During my stays in Southampton, Laurence Richard kept me fed and sane – thank you! At home in Norwich, my dear friend Ellman Crasnow generously offered me a place in his home to read, write and study in quiet. I enjoyed being surrounded by his extensive collection of Jewish literature and benefited from his thoughtful comments as well as his coffee that always seemed to arrive at the right moment. Finally, this research project would not have been possible without the support of my husband Volker and my children Henrike, Janis and Leonie. Together, they achieved just the right mixture of disruption and inspiration that carried me through the ups and downs of writing a thesis. Danke. Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 1: Introduction My thesis explores poetry written by women poets of German-Jewish origin through the concept of the ‘translingual imagination’, thereby linking the fields of German-Jewish exile studies and translingual studies.1 The term was first coined by Steven Kellman in his 1991 essay ‘Translingualism and the Literary Imagination’, describing the work of authors writing in