Verbal Mimesis: The Case of "Die Winzer."

Paul Celan's "Die Winzer" (E. "The Vintagers") is a poem that narrates the story of its own composition and eventual reception through the metaphor of a ritual communion. At the same time, particularly in its rhythmic structure, the poem imitates that very communion by means...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Howard Stern
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: New Prairie Press 1983-09-01
Series:Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature
Online Access:http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol8/iss1/4
Description
Summary:Paul Celan's "Die Winzer" (E. "The Vintagers") is a poem that narrates the story of its own composition and eventual reception through the metaphor of a ritual communion. At the same time, particularly in its rhythmic structure, the poem imitates that very communion by means of a traditional poetic device called "kinaesthesis" (in the recent semiotic terminology of W. K. Wimsatt). The essay is a reading of "Die Winzer" that develops its semiotic complexities and seeks to assign it a proper place in the general field of "verbal mimesis." The present author is not a philosopher, nor does he require a reader who is.
ISSN:2334-4415