The Other Voice: Translations from the Ubertragungen of Paul Celan

Retranslating Celan''s translations of Shakespeare, Dickinson, Rimbaud and more reveals new insights on the circularity of language

Born in Romania into a German-speaking family and recognized as one of the most important postwar poets, Paul Celan (1920–70) is also celebrated for his meticulous German translations of a wide range of works by such luminaries as Dickinson, Mandelstam, Rimbaud, Shakespeare and Ungaretti. Inspired by the close relation between Celan’s work as Überträger, or "transmitter," and his own poetry, Holly Cundiff has retranslated some of these works into English to illuminate the interstices in which we catch a glimpse of Celan’s own perspective. Each selection in The Other Voice is presented in three versions: the poem in its original language, Celan’s translation into German and Cundiff’s translation into English directly from Celan’s translation. This circular process highlights the generative and transformative force of language, which Celan viewed as a means not only of sculpting the world but also of forming new worlds.