„almost certainly the major European poet of the period after 1945“. George Steiner Reading Paul Celan

Abstract

The article examines, based on several works by cultural philosopher George Steiner, what con-ception of Europe he advocates by classifying Celan as “the major European poet of the period after 1945”. The analysis shows a convergence of poetic practices of modern poetry with basic values of a Humanist understanding of Europe, which Steiner experienced paradigmatically in Celan’s poems. This concerns not least Celan’s explicit intention of a future-oriented poetry after the rupture of history. Finally, the chapter questions the strict connection of Steiner’s aes-thetic and ethical ideas to the geographical and political space of Europe.