Effigies or Imaginary Affinities? The Conception of the Image in the Poetry and Poetics of Paul Celan and André du Bouchet Julian Johannes Immanuel Koch Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen Mary, University of London Statement of Originality I, Julian Johannes Immanuel Koch, confirm that the research included within this thesis is my own work or that where it has been carried out in collaboration with, or supported by others, that this is duly acknowledged below and my contribution indicated. Previously published material is also acknowledged below. I attest that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge break any UK law, infringe any third party’s copyright or other Intellectual Property Right, or contain any confidential material. I accept that the College has the right to use plagiarism detection software to check the electronic version of the thesis. I confirm that this thesis has not been previously submitted for the award of a degree by this or any other university. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. Signature: Julian Johannes Immanuel Koch Date: 12.09.2017 2 Abstract The poets Paul Celan and André du Bouchet were close friends and translated each other’s poetry in the 1960s. Despite their proximity and friendship, this study suggests that they differ fundamentally in their poetics of the image. These two important authors outline two very different avenues in engaging with the image as a centuries old topos in philosophy and art. In his conception of the image, Celan links the iconoclastic impetus of the Second Commandment with the biblical confusion of tongues, believing that our need to speak in metaphors and typos images (Abbilder) after Babel impedes truthful poetic expression. For Celan, the Holocaust is a form of renewal of this linguistic Fall of Man. Nonetheless Celan’s poetry also suggests that we can give testimony to an archetypos (Urbild) through truthful poetic expression. Du Bouchet, on the other hand, conceives of the image as encompassing the visual juxtaposition of black ink on the white page and the semantic paradoxes of his poetry. Du Bouchet distributes words across the page and as his poetry thematises gaps of meaning these gaps not only surface in his language but also extra-linguistically in the white gaps of the page. These different conceptions of the image in Celan and du Bouchet are first delineated by alternating analyses of the two authors’ poetry and poetics. These investigations show Celan’s desire to overcome a typified speech and, in his creation of poetic images, to tend toward truth, or an archetypos, whereas du Bouchet perennially negotiates the paradoxes which constitute his poetic image. In a second step, this study investigates how these differences in their conception of the image inform their respective approach to translating the other. 3 Abbreviations GS Benjamin, Walter Gesammelte Schriften, I-VII [Arabic numerals refer to sub-partitions of volumes], ed. by Rolf Tiedemann and Hermann Schweppenhäuser (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1974-1989). AB Du Bouchet, André, Aveuglante ou banale. Essais sur la poésie, 1949-1959, ed. by Clément Layet and François Tison (Paris: Le Bruit du temps, 2011). M Celan, Paul, Der Meridian. Endfassung – Entwürfe – Materialien, ed. by Bernhard Böschenstein and Heino Schmull (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1999) [=Tübinger Ausgabe] CW I-V Celan, Paul, Gesammelte Werke, I-V, ed. by Beda Allemann and Stefan Reichert (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1983). HKA Celan, Paul, Historisch kritische Ausgabe, 1-16 [in two-part volumes, Arabic numerals refer to sub-partitions], ed. by Rolf Bücher and Axel Gellhaus (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 2003-2017). KG Celan, Paul, Kommentierte Gesamtausgabe, ed. by Barbara Widemann (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 2005). Mikro Celan, Paul, ‘Mikrolithen sinds, Steinchen’. Die Prosa aus dem Nachlass, ed. Barbara Wiedemann and Betrand Badiou (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 2005). SA Hölderlin, Friedrich, Sämtliche Werke, I-VIII, ed. by Friedrich Beissner (Stuttgart: Kohlkammer, 1946-1985) [= gr. Stuttgarter Ausgabe]. 4 Acknowledgements This study is nourished by my interests, preferences, and preoccupations that at heart can be traced to my upbringing. Thus my thanks and gratitude are first and foremost to my parents without whom I would not be who I am. Their unconditional support in every imaginable respect has reassuresd me innumerable times and I have no doubt will continue to do so in the future. This study owes many thanks to the tireless work of my supervisor Professor Leonard Olschner, with whom I had so many fruitful conversations on- and off-topic. Without his sure hand in manœuvering the difficult field that is Celan studies and without his patient guidance this study would certainly be less coherent and informed. I extend deep gratitude to Clément Layet who patiently answered my questions about du Bouchet and pointed me to interesting research material. I also owe thanks to the many discussions with and feedback from those who have read chapters or listened to my conference papers, particularly Professor Galin Tihanov, Professor Rüdiger Görner, and Professor Christine Ivanović. My research was enriched by the Celan seminars given by Professor Bertrand Badiou and Professor Jean-Pierre Lefebvre at the ENS in Paris, which I attended during my all too brief research stay in France. During my stay in Paris I was fortunate to meet Philippe Blanc who manages du Bouchet’s estate at the Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques-Doucet and who was more than forthcoming in giving me an overview of du Bouchet’s estate and pointing me to interesting manuscripts. This study has in part grown out of research I conducted during my Master’s studies, which was much improved by the scrupulous feedback from my then supervisors Professor Katrin Kohl and Professor Patrick McGuinness. After my Master’s I was fortunate enough to have been granted a funded internship by the German Literary Archive in Marbach am Neckar where I had the opportunity to already pursue aspects of my PhD research. I am thankful to the German Academic Exchange Service for granting me a generous scholarship without which financing my studies would have been substantially more difficult. I am also very grateful for the support of family Billand despite difficult circumstances. Further thanks go to friends who have read parts of my research. Especially Oliver Kenny and Robin Steedman have helped me form ideas in numerous conversations and critical remarks on my writing. I enjoyed the support and friendship of so many great 5 people of whom I can only name but a few: Nadeschda Bachem who introduced me to Robin Steedman and to the most wonderful circle of friends at SOAS; Douglas Rose with whom I enjoyed many a great dinner and football game; Oliver Kenny with whom I had so many fruitful discussions and whose piano was crucial in preserving my sanity; and Lukas Kleine-Rüschkamp my favorite study buddy and library hipster-caveman. My gratitude to the inventors of and composers for the piano escapes words, but not music. I do not believe in souls and therefore I also do not believe in soulmates. I do believe in Geistesverwandtschaft and I could not be happier to share it with you, Robin. Until death do us part: two idiots one thought. 6 Table of Contents Abstract.........................................................................................................3 Abbreviations................................................................................................4 Acknowledgements.......................................................................................5 Introduction...................................................................................................9 The Distinction between Archetypos and Typos in the Image.......................................11 The Image as Natural Sign............................................................................................15 The Renewal of the Image Discourse in France............................................................17 The Image in du Bouchet and Celan.............................................................................22 Literature Review..........................................................................................................25 Overview of Chapters....................................................................................................30 Chapter 1: Paul Celan’s Early Image..........................................................33 The Notion of the Image in Celan’s ‘Traum vom Traume’...........................................38 The Conception of the Image in the Early Celan and du Bouchet................................47 Chapter 2: Du Bouchet’s Early Essays on the Conception of the Image in his Poetic Predecessors................................................................................50 Du Bouchet’s Discussion of Hölderlin’s Image découpée............................................52 The Subject and the Image in du Bouchet’s Early Essays on Hugo..............................57 Baudelaire’s Image présente and absente in du Bouchet’s Early Essays......................66 The Subject in the Early Celan and du Bouchet............................................................71 Chapter 3: The Typified