German-language poetry

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article gives an overview of German-language poetry from its beginnings to the present. The time divisions give a general chronological orientation; in particular for modern poetry, they do not depict a linear, consistent development.

History of German-language poetry

Beginnings in the early Middle Ages

Wessobrunner prayer , double page from ms. Clm 22053, 65 v and 66 r

Lyrical texts in Greek and Latin are known from ancient times . For a long time, Latin was the written language of the educated, and written documents in the European vernacular are not written on a large scale until the late 8th century CE, as is the case in German-speaking countries. From this time there are mainly texts that have come down to us in cultic or religious contexts, the so-called magic spells . Among the oldest surviving German-language poems (and literary traditions at all) are the Merseburg magic spells and the Lorsch bee blessing from the early 9th century AD. These texts, which are read as incantations, healing spells and blessings, are written in Old High German . The use of Germanic alliance rhymes and end rhymes is typical of this early poetry .

Another important example of early Old High German poetry is the Wessobrunn prayer , a two-part text in which a Germanic account of creation is followed by a prose written Christian prayer. The transition from the alliteration poetry from the Germanic tradition to the end rhyme poetry, as we still know it today, is marked, among other things, by the Muspilli , a Bavarian poem that deals with the end of the world.

High Middle Ages

Walther von der Vogelweide

From the 12th century onwards, three basic forms of medieval poetry emerged: the minstrel , the poetry and the corpse . While the relationship between the poet's self and a mostly (geographically or socially) unreachable woman is central in minnesong, verse poetry deals with questions of worldly and spiritual ethics , often with a doctrinal tone. Examples of rather short poems can be found in both Minnesang and Sangspruchdichtung. The corpse, on the other hand, is a specifically medieval lyrical large form, especially from the 13th century, which could comprise several hundred verses. In the development of poetry in the High Middle Ages, impulses from the Middle Latin vagante poetry and Marian poetry , the reception of the Romance trobadord poetry and Arabic poetry also play a role .

Early representatives of minnesong were Dietmar von Aist and a poet who is listed in the medieval Manessian song manuscript as Der von Kürenberg . From these early beginnings in the 12th century, the love poetry developed further to Hohen Minne , whose representatives included a poet under the name of Emperor Heinrich and Reinmar the Old . The best passed down of medieval poets is certainly Walther von der Vogelweide , who in the late 12th and early 13th centuries dealt critically with the minstrel tradition and varied it. Hartmann von Aue also introduced the crusade motif into love poetry . An attempt to break the repetitive pattern of minstrelsong can be found in the late 13th to early 14th century with Heinrich von Meißen (called 'Frauenlob'). Heinrich tries to combine love poetry with concepts from natural philosophy .

Walther von der Vogelweide is also important as a song poet and light poet and is considered the first political poet in many literary histories, because his poetry also refers to current political events. In addition to Walther, Rumelant and the already mentioned Frauenlob, who, among other things, made a significant contribution to medieval Marian poetry with his corpse of the Virgin Mary, are to be mentioned as important poets .

Humanism and reformation

In Germany, alongside the authors of (initially Latin) humanistic poetry, poets of native song poetry emerged. These include on the one hand Protestant hymns like those of Martin Luther , on the other hand secular poetry, especially the Meistersang . The Meistersang is mainly poetry from medium-sized handicrafts , the content of which ranged from secular praise to secular instruction and religious edification. The best-known representative of the civic Mastersingers today is Hans Sachs , who served as a model for the young Goethe and was immortalized in Richard Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg .

In the case of secular song, the range of forms in the 16th century ranged from poetry for princely courts and the bourgeoisie to traditional songs, erotic swans and artisan and soldier songs. The shape, themes and motifs often tied in with late medieval traditions. One example of a collection of older traditions, artistic pieces and folk songs is the collection of Frischer Teutscher Liedlein (1539–56) by the composer Georg Forster at the Heidelberg court. From the beginning of the 16th century, influences from Italy also made themselves felt.

Baroque

Andreas Gryphius

Through Luther, the increasing influence of Italian and French poetry and the renewed recourse to Latin poetry ( Horace ), a new tradition of diverse and rigid social poetry began in the German baroque period . With his book von der Deutschen Poeterey , Martin Opitz created a standard work on the forms of German poetry in 1624, which as a plea for well-structured and formally strict poetry had a decisive influence on his time and the subsequent epochs.

In the Baroque period, the division between sacred and secular poetry continued. The poems by Andreas Gryphius clearly show the central motifs of secular baroque poetry, the vanitas motif and the associated motif of longing for death , but also the hedonistic carpe diem . In addition to Gryphius, an exponent of secular poetry is Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau , who is regarded as the main representative of gallant poetry .

For the Protestant hymn, Johannes Heermann and Paul Gerhard were the most important representatives; both were committed to a tradition of devotion and edification. Gerhard is also known today, among other things, with the song O Head full of blood and wounds, which was translated from a Latin hymn, as well as through his popular songs, Command you your ways or Go out of my heart and seek Freud . On the Catholic side, Friedrich Spee should be mentioned as an important representative of the hymn .

In addition to Spee and the Protestant songwriters, another tradition must not be forgotten, that of mysticism . The (Catholic) poets of this direction combine artistic forms with religious themes. The aim of poetry is here not religious worship and preaching to the reader, but an expression of religious enthusiasm with artistic means and Neoplatonically embossed natural speculation . The most important representatives of this literary genre include Jacob Böhme and Angelus Silesius . Further developments in Baroque mysticism can be found in the Austrian poet Catharina Regina von Greiffenberg , who tried to depict her divine inspiration with idiosyncratic word creations such as Müh-Erötzungs -Zeit , and in Quirinus Kuhlmann , a religious fanatic who, in his poetry, with paradoxes and hyperbolas, among other things Tried to completely break the formal laws of lyric poetry.

18th century

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1791

With the rise of Pietism at the beginning of the 18th century, sacred poetry took on a more individual character. Gerhard Tersteegen's songs in particular are an expression of this development. With their natural poetry, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock and Matthias Claudius are considered to be the pioneers of Sturm und Drang s. The social revolutionary impulses of the Enlightenment were absorbed in Sturm und Drang , but at the same time the idea of ​​community and reason was contrasted with the primacy of subjective feeling. The most famous representative of this epoch today was the young Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , whose poems Prometheus and Ganymede are considered programmatic, as well as the early works of Friedrich von Schiller .

Weimar Classic

Friedrich Schiller
Friedrich Holderlin

In the 1780s the transition from Sturm und Drang to classical music took place , the lyric of which is characterized by stricter formal rules and a stronger orientation towards social ideals. Like the contemporary classicism in the fine arts , the Weimar Classic, especially the Greek Classic , served as a reference world in terms of content and form. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's cycle of poems West-Eastern Diwan and Friedrich Schiller's ballads The Gods of Greece , The Guarantee and The Song of the Bell are among the highlights of classical German-language poetry. Another important classic is Friedrich Hölderlin .

romance

Novalis

Among the romantic philologists , August Wilhelm von Schlegel deserves special mention, who dealt intensively with poetry. The early romantic poetry is mainly influenced by Novalis , whose cycle of poems, Hymns to the Night, is one of the main works of the epoch. His fragment of the novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen contains a special variety of different poems, ranging from folk song-like poems to highly complex philosophical and mystical poetry, including the poem If not more numbers and figures, which was programmatic for the Romantic period . The novel is a prominent example of the mixing of literary genres called for in Romanticism . Romanticism also called for a return to religious themes, which is reflected, for example, in Novalis' sacred songs .

Important poets of the High and Late Romanticism are Clemens Brentano , Joseph von Eichendorff , Ludwig Uhland and Theodor Körner . Romantic lyric poetry is characterized by a metaphorical natural lyric , which often aims at blurring the inner and outer world of man. Numerous poems of this time have a melancholy tone and combine motifs such as wandering , homesickness , longing (often longing for death) and Weltschmerz . Weltschmerz can be found as a defining motif in Nikolaus Lenau ( reed lieder ), Wilhelm Müller ( winter journey ), and in Georg Philipp Schmidt von Lübeck's poem Des Fremdlings Abendlied . Again and again the creative power of the imagination is evoked, for example in Eichendorff's divining rod . In the Romantic era, the ballad tradition initiated by Goethe and Schiller was continued, for example by Brentano ( Lore Lay ) and Uhland ( Des Sängers Fluch ). The enthusiasm for folk songs that began with Goethe and Johann Gottfried Herder continued into the Romantic era. This was expressed on the one hand in collections of folk songs , such as Des Knaben Wunderhorn by Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim . On the other hand, poets like Joseph von Eichendorff tried to combine the folk-song style with that of "high" poetry. Others, like Ernst Anschütz , imitated the style of folk songs.

Political poetry played a subordinate role . However, the occupation of Germany by Napoleon during the coalition wars led to committed German national poetry, especially with Theodor Körner and Ernst Moritz Arndt .

Biedermeier

Annette von Droste-Hülshoff

The poetry of the Biedermeier period , which is partly interpreted as a late Romantic trend, is characterized by idyllic natural poetry and thing poems . The turn towards the small-scale and private is another characteristic of the poetry of this era. Important representatives are Eduard Mörike ( it's him ), August von Platen , Friedrich Rückert , Nikolaus Lenau and - at the same time as a pioneer of realism - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff .

March and realism

Heinrich Heine

The German pre- March was marked by increasing social and system critical tones and the commitment to a unified German nation . An outstanding socio-political-political poet of this time was Heinrich Heine , who wrote the powerful poem The Silesian Weavers and the Germany cycle . A winter fairy tale wrote. In addition, Heine also created love poetry in the romantic style. Other important poets were Georg Herwegh , author of the Bundeslied , Georg Weerth , Ferdinand Freiligrath and August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben .

The poetic realism aimed at an upgraded through artistic representation of reality. Representatives of this era were the poets Franz Grillparzer , Theodor Storm , Conrad Ferdinand Meyer and Gottfried Keller .

Modern

Else Lasker-Schüler

Attempts to bring the term modernity down to the lowest common denominator for the field of poetry - e.g. dissidence of the authors on tradition (with regard to the type of poetic speech and poetic self-image), expanded motifs, technical innovation, value pluralism and internationalism - are always provisional and do not always apply in the same way. There are also various, sometimes competing, concepts with regard to marking or defining the beginning of modernism in German poetry. There is no question that the corresponding development took place not only in one's own language area, but also under the influence of foreign language poetry; The translation of Walt Whitman by Ferdinand Freiligrath, translations of Dante and Shakespeare and later various attempts to translate Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine into German gave important impulses .

Rainer Maria Rilke (drawing by Emil Orlik )

A possible and much-mentioned point of application of modernism in German-language poetry is Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Chandos letter , published in 1902, which for the first time formulated a fundamental mistrust of the communicability of language. From now on, the question of the relationship between language, perception and the world accompanies the poetry and is reflected in poetological texts. In addition to the attempt to date modernity through changes in the writing posture of its authors, it is also possible to determine it on the basis of formal and thematic changes in the texts: For example, the poets of the Friedrichshagener Dichterkreis (e.g. Richard Dehmel ) dispensed with song-like means such as refrain and rhyme , tried the group around Arno Holz , by moving away from conventional forms of social milieus naturalistic or impressionistic play - these approaches were with a focus on metrics and sound in the lyric of the symbolism (to with Theodor Däubler also an important stimulator of the Expressionists belonged ), however, partially withdrawn. Also to be mentioned in this context are Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Rainer Maria Rilke and the aestheticist poets around Stefan George , who tried to refine the poem linguistically and mentally. Among other things, they initiated the reflection on texts in a metaphor of texture and fabric that permeated the discourse of the entire 20th century. At the same time, poets like Christian Morgenstern and Eugen Roth bring together poetry and variety with absurd language wit . Neo- Romantic poets such as Hermann Hesse or Ricarda Huch turn to magical and mythological themes.

Period First World War

Georg Trakl
Hugo Ball in Cabaret Voltaire

As an avant-garde movement of modernity, expressionism takes up new experiences and motifs: First World War , big city life, ecstasy , industrialization and the renewal of man. The cohesion of the lyric poets associated with this movement is primarily created by joint publications such as the magazine Die Aktion by Franz Pfemfert , the anthology Menschheitsdämmerung by Kurt Pinthus and others, less common concerns. Jakob van Hoddis and Alfred Lichtenstein work through their simultaneous style , Georg Trakl and Else Lasker-Schüler accentuate symbolist strategies. Gottfried Benn develops new forms of lyrical staging, Johannes R. Becher and August Stramm experiment with concepts of realism.

1920s

Gottfried Benn
Bertolt Brecht

In parallel to the European avant-garde such as Suprematism , Akmeism and Futurism , which are only marginally received in Germany (e.g. Italian Futurism by Alfred Döblin ), various literary and trans-literary movements are emerging in German-speaking countries, which are now summarized under the term Dadaism ( Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, Merz in Hanover and others). Its protagonists Hans Arp , Hugo Ball , Richard Huelsenbeck , Raoul Hausmann , Kurt Schwitters , Tristan Tzara and others. a. With their texts and actions, they aim primarily to liberate language, from syntax to the individual sound. What these movements have in common is that they recognize the linguistic sign in its intrinsic value and research phonetic, morphological and graphematic aspects of language with regard to their effect on semantics. and - like Kurt Schwitters - practice a musicalization of language. A special focus is on typography; the collage emerges as an artistic means of expression. The lyric of the New Objectivity distinguishes itself from Expressionism and Aestheticism through emphatic sobriety and emphasizes the practical value of the verses, which should be entertaining and understandable; important representatives of this direction are poets as diverse as Bertolt Brecht , Mascha Kaléko , Erich Kästner , Joachim Ringelnatz and Kurt Tucholsky . Radio, journals and cabaret are becoming important platforms for poetry; a strong politicization is taking place. German-language poetry outside of Germany in Bukovina takes a different development : Here approaches of Austro-Hungarian symbolism merge with methods of Surrealism and those that are reminiscent of Expressionism; especially Rose Ausländer and Paul Celan later made this literature known in Germany.

Poetry in National Socialism

With the smashing of parliamentary democracy and the prohibition of so-called “ degenerate art ” by the National Socialists , the development and publication of the avant-garde currents of modern poetry in the German Reich was interrupted from 1933, in Austria with the annexation of the Republic to the German Reich from 1938. While Gottfried Benn and others openly confess to the Nazi regime at first, which promoted a poem of the " blood and soil ideology ", numerous poets (including Hilde Domin , Else Lasker-Schüler, Nelly Sachs ) flee from persecution by the Nazis Exile and are partly involved with their poetry against fascism (including Bertolt Brecht, Erich Arendt , Stephan Hermlin ). Those who stay in Germany are referred to the classical and romantic canon and especially song-like poetry. Only rarely do texts emerge under these conditions that endure beyond the Nazi era, such as individual poems by the fascist Josef Weinheber or Jochen Klepper's “The night has advanced”. Poets such as Wilhelm Lehmann , Oskar Loerke and Gertrud Kolmar succeed in retreating into the private and non-political subjects to preserve elements of the modern canon of forms in their poetry. The lyrics of these years cannot be understood without a connection to the social situation; Even poems in the classical and neo-romantic tradition have a political dimension insofar as they do not face the unreasonable demands of their time or ignore them. The concept of inner emigration , which u. a. is also used in relation to this seal, but is not equally applicable in every case; Georg Maurer , Günter Eich and Johannes Bobrowski start writing under these conditions.

After the Second World War

Paul Celan (passport photo, 1938)
Ingeborg Bachmann (graffito by Jef Aérosol )

After the catastrophe of World War II , a seamless continuation of the lines of literary tradition that were broken off in the Weimar Republic is unthinkable for most authors. By means of language scarcity and a focus on the post-war reality, the so-called Kahlschlagliteratur wants to show new ways (including Günter Eich and Wolfgang Weyrauch ). Group 47 (with, among others, Ingeborg Bachmann , Günter Grass ) plays an important role in reception . The international movements of surrealism and Dadaism as well as Russian acmeism are taken up (sometimes belatedly), and Friedrich Hölderlin's late poetry is recognized in its importance.

In the GDR , numerous poets try to remain independent of state surveillance and censorship. On the one hand, the poetry is shaped by state-sponsored poets such as Johannes R. Becher and Louis Fürnberg , who advocate a thematic-political reorientation of literature in line with German classical music and bourgeois realism, on the other hand, poets such as Peter Hacks or the young refer Heiner Müller , whose work also aims at political change, is more towards Bertolt Brecht, who, like Erich Arendt, Johannes Bobrowski and Peter Huchel in other ways, ties in with international modernity in his poetry.

Inspired by speech act theory , language philosophy and linguistics from the 1950s and 60s, the acoustic and visual rearrangement of the language material creates concrete poetry (including Eugen Gomringer , Helmut Heißenbüttel , Ernst Jandl , Franz Mon , partly Carlfriedrich Claus ). Important influences here are the late Ludwig Wittgenstein and the cybernetics of John von Neumann . In Austria around 1954, the Viennese group around Friedrich Achleitner , Konrad Bayer , Gerhard Rühm and Oswald Wiener was formed , with a special focus on the adoption of procedures and principles of contemporary music, e.g. B. Seriality. With HC Artmann , dialect poetry finds connection with modernity.

Period from around 1960

Against the background of the Vietnam War and student protests , socially critical poems emerged in the Federal Republic. Writing is partly understood as a social process, the public should be regained for poetry ( Erich Fried , Peter Rühmkorf ). Attempts to find a poetic language again, without giving up the social reference, by placing artistic emphasis on its material aspect, are primarily associated with the work of Paul Celan .

Because numerous currents of modernity are rejected as " formalistic " by official cultural policy , writers in the GDR have only few points of contact if they want to present their concerns publicly. This role is played primarily by the communist-oriented works of Bertolt Brecht, Erich Arendt, the Romanist Viktor Klemperer , the philosopher Ernst Bloch and later Walter Benjamin . Stephan Hermlin, Franz Fühmann , Johannes Bobrowski, Heiner Müller, Wolfgang Hilbig and Uwe Greßmann , as well as Wolf Biermann and Reiner Kunze, orientate themselves on these literary programs . The poets of the Sächsische Dichterschule around Georg Maurer , who teaches in Leipzig, apply traditional forms to contemporary ways of poetic speech in order to bring together the contrary claims of classical work design and modernity in a "community of understanding" ( Karl Mickel , Volker Braun , Sarah and Rainer Kirsch , and in the 1980s also Thomas Rosenlöcher ). The censorship is loosening up in phases and is being practiced informally in advance. Countercultural movements arise (the artist group Clara Mosch with Carlfriedrich Claus).

In German-speaking Romania , on the one hand, state repression is more severe than in the GDR; on the other hand, the lower importance of the German language in this country also creates freedom. It is possible to a certain extent to tie the poetry especially to the Austro-Hungarian traditions of modern times. The poems of Georg Hoprich , Immanuel Weißglas or the early Oskar Pastior stand for a literature that, due to its background, is often perceived in a narrower political focus, which partially affects its reception in Germany.

In 1965 Walter Höllerer called for a departure from the solemn tone in his theses on the long poem , in 1968 Hans Magnus Enzensberger proclaimed a poetry of simplicity with elements of everyday language and was responsible for influential anthologies and translation projects, such as the Museum of Modern Poetry . After 1968, the poets of the New Subjectivity felt that their own experience was essential for understanding the world; they often do without traditional artifacts and try to use a simple language (including Nicolas Born , Sarah Kirsch, Karin Kiwus , Jürgen Theobaldy , Thomas Brasch ). The singer-poet concept was revived by the songwriting movement ; important representatives are poetologically diverse authors such as Wolf Biermann, Konstantin Wecker , Franz-Josef Degenhardt , Ludwig Hirsch and Georg Kreisler . Through his translations, Rolf Dieter Brinkmann brings the influence of American pop literary movements to Germany; Concentration and brevity become more important. As a poet, Brinkmann followed processes of contemporary fine arts such as pop art and the Fluxus movement. New theatrical forms and multimedia approaches such as the literature clip emerge (AJ Weigoni, Frank Michaelis).

Period from around 1980

In the face of atomic threats, environmental degradation and a public opinion determined by the mass media, a polyphonic literature of utopianism emerges. In lyric poetry, this is evident in the turning away from big themes in Karl Krolow , Michael Krüger and others. a., in recourse to historical forms in authors such as Robert Gernhardt and Ulla Hahn , in Gerhard Falkner's re-enactment of the high tone, which opposes these tendencies, as well as in radical subjectivation and montage style, e.g. B. with Friederike Mayröcker , Elke Erb and Thomas Kling . Reinhard Priessnitz succeeds in combining advanced experimental writing styles with aspects of direct experience. As in other Eastern European countries, various scenes of semi-official and unofficial literary counterculture developed under the political conditions of the GDR, which undermined state censorship with their own forms of publication and distribution channels, but which in some cases were themselves undermined and "split" by state surveillance. The corresponding samizdat formulates its counter-position to the required political stance primarily through alternative ("subversive") literary processes and artistic behaviors; content-related criticism is often conveyed implicitly. This scene is of particular importance in East Berlin ( Bert Papenfuß-Gorek , Jan Faktor , Uwe Kolbe and others); not least, it goes back to the role model and mediating work of Adolf Endler , who radicalized his writing after beginning around the Saxon school of poetry in the eighties.

The Bielefeld New Poetry Colloquium gathers representatives of Concrete Poetry from 1978 to 2003. There, systematic experiments are also carried out on computer-aided text genesis ( Max Bense ).

Many protagonists of Romanian-German poetry are gradually moving to the Federal Republic, the corresponding literature in Romania almost completely comes to a standstill. However, the barriers to reception often persist. With the exception of the works of Oskar Pastior and the later Nobel Prize winner Herta Müller , this poetry tends to lead a niche existence within German literature ( Franz Hodjak , Richard Wagner ).

After the political change in 1989, the development of literature in the German-speaking area can be described increasingly less uniformly; the field of lyric poetry is increasingly broken down into heterogeneous scenes and areas of interest with different poetic paradigms and attitudes to the poem. In this way, in (at least originally) countercultural milieus, new poetic forms emerge, such as spoken word (or slam poetry ) ( Bas Böttcher , Michael Lentz ), which are no longer covered by conventional reception and both separate formats and new forms of Establish literature business. On the other hand, authors like Franz Josef Czernin or Urs Allemann move away from general comprehensibility in updating more radical modern programs without their works being conceived as incomprehensible (hermetic) per se. Younger authors in particular are increasingly working with processes (which are connected to postmodernism, but often go back further historically) such as a mix of styles, the inclusion of technical languages ​​and pop-cultural multilingualism (including Ulrike Draesner , Thomas Kling, Barbara Köhler , Durs Grünbein , Brigitte Oleschinski , Bert Papenfuß-Gorek, Raoul scrap ).

Period from around 2000

In addition to the leading poets of the 1980s and 1990s who continue to publish (Thomas Kling, probably the most powerful writer and mediator of the avant-garde, died early in 2005), younger authors increasingly appeared at the beginning of the new century, some of whom (from today's, provisional Point of view) have a great influence on contemporary German-language poetry ( Jan Wagner , Safiye Can , Monika Rinck , Marion Poschmann , Ann Cotten , Anja Utler , Steffen Popp and others). The rapid and varied development of this and the following generation of poets is due not least to the new technical possibilities of computing and printing technology, which promoted the establishment of professional small publishers and their participation in the book trade since the beginning of the 2000s and the dependence of young authors in particular on the aesthetic ideas and program capacities of established publishers decreased. In addition to Suhrkamp and Hanser Verlag, the most important contemporary publishers for poetry have since included small publishers such as Urs Engeler Editor (1995–2007) and his successor roughbooks , Kookbooks (since 2003), Edition Korrespondenzen and the publishing house luxbooks, which specializes in poetry translations ( 2007-2014); In addition, there are numerous other young publishers with an explicit focus on poetry and sometimes extensive programs. The generation born after 1980 also organizes itself to a large extent on the Internet (communication, networking, marketing), although this has so far not replaced traditional book publications, it merely prepares and accompanies them. It is of course not yet possible to predict which of these authors will influence German-language poetry.

Empirical anchoring in the present

In 1989, the poet and journalist Hans Magnus Enzensberger estimated the number of people "who took up a new, somewhat demanding volume of poetry" at ± 1354 (later jokingly referred to as "Enzensberger's constant") - one (with this accuracy, of course, fictional ) Number that remained largely constant over the course of the 20th century and probably never was much higher - an exception are poetry publications in the GDR (and in other socialist countries) between 1950 and 1989, whose print runs easily reached six figures and were also read in these quantities, for example works by Volker Braun or Sarah Kirsch (the best-selling poet of the time was Eva Strittmatter ). Apart from a few large publishers, which traditionally have poetry titles in their product range, it is still primarily small publishers who ensure around 3,000 new publications per year. Typical editions for volumes of poetry published after 2000 are (more often) 250 to (less often) 2000 copies.

A representative survey on the relationship of Germans to poetry, commissioned by the German Press Agency for World Poetry Day 2005, showed that every second German (58% of men and 43% of women) has little knowledge of poetry and has not had a poem for a long time has read more; in the age group from 20 to 29 years, the proportion was 63% (whereby the preoccupation with song lyrics and the like was probably not taken into account).

Institutions

In Germany there are currently three larger institutions that are exclusively dedicated to poetry:

  • The House for Poetry (since 1991 in Berlin, formerly Literaturwerkstatt Berlin) annually organizes the largest poetry festival in the German-speaking region ( Internationales Poesiefestival Berlin ), the international festival for poetry film ( Zebra Poetry Film Festival ) and oversees lyrikline , one of the world's most extensive archives of international poetry for reading and listening on the internet.
  • The Society for Contemporary Poetry (since 1992 in Tübingen, from 1996 in Leipzig) organizes readings and conferences on contemporary poetry. It is re- issuing the anthology poetry album and, together with the Leipzig poetry library, looks after a collection of contemporary poetry that currently comprises more than 5,500 units.
  • The Lyrik Kabinett (in Munich since 1994) brings authors together in various events; the private foundation also maintains and looks after the nationwide largest collection of poetic publications from all eras. The "Edition Lyrik Kabinett" is issued as a separate publication.

In addition, there are literary houses or comparable institutions in numerous cities that regularly invite poets or organize events on poetry, as well as other initiatives that focus on promoting poetry, e.g. B. Berliner Festspiele , Poetry on the Road in Bremen, Literary March in Darmstadt, Künstlerhaus Edenkoben , Erlanger Poetenfest , Hessisches Literaturforum , Lyrikertreffen Münster .

For Austria, the Austrian Society for Literature should be mentioned, as well as the literature houses in various cities in Austria, including Vienna , Graz and Salzburg . The Literaturhaus in Vienna also houses the largest specialist library on Austria's literature in the 20th and 21st centuries.

In Switzerland, the Swiss Literary Archive organizes literary soirees and conferences on topics that arise from the work of the archive. The Swiss Schiller Foundation in Zurich each year awards prices important works of Swiss poetry. Also important is the Rilke Society, based in Bern , which promotes occupation with the work of Rainer Maria Rilke and organizes conferences, readings, lectures and excursions.

Magazines and anthologies

An important medium for contemporary poetry and poetological discourse was and is literary magazines, yearbooks and anthologies. The most important of the currently more than 300 literary journals in German-speaking countries that deal wholly or partially with poetry and poetry include Sinn und Form of the Akademie der Künste Berlin, Akzente , the dossier magazine Schreibheft , Between the lines (continued in Mütze ), Ostragehege , New poetry album and poetry album , language in the technical age , edit and Bella dreary . Important anthologies that appear regularly or in revised editions include a. the yearbook of poetry , the Echtermeyer and Der Große Conrady .

Anthologies

Across epochs

Historical (chronological)

Contemporary (chronological)

  • Sascha Anderson , Elke Erb (eds.): Touch is only a marginal phenomenon. New literature from the GDR. Kiepenheuer & Witsch Verlag, Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-462-01692-X .
  • Peter Geist (Ed.): A Molotov cocktail on someone else's bedside. Poetry from the seventies and eighties by poets from the GDR. Reclam-Verlag, Leipzig 1991, ISBN 3-379-00694-7 .
  • Michael Braun , Hans Thill (Ed.): Point time. German-language poetry of the eighties. Wunderhorn Verlag, Heidelberg 1987, ISBN 3-88423-049-2 .
  • Hans Bender (Ed.): What kind of times are these. German-language poems from the eighties. S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1990, ISBN 3-596-29553-X .
  • Michael Braun, Hans Thill (Ed.): The lost alphabet. German-language poetry from the nineties. Wunderhorn Verlag, Heidelberg 1998, ISBN 3-88423-139-1 .
  • Harald Hartung (Ed.): Century Memory. German poetry in the twentieth century. Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-009742-8 .
  • Björn Kuhligk , Jan Wagner (Ed.): Poetry from Now. 74 votes. DuMont Verlag, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-8321-7852-X .
  • Thomas Geiger (Ed.): Loud verses. Poems from the present. dtv Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-423-24692-7 .
  • Anja Beyer, Daniela Seel (eds.): All of this here, Majesty, is yours. Poetry in the Anthropocene . Kookbooks Verlag, Berlin and Deutsches Museum, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-937445-80-9 .
  • Christoph Buchwald (ed., With changing co-editors): Year book of poetry . S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1979–2010, DVA Verlag, Munich 2011–2015 (biennial), with Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main since 2017.

By genre

literature

  • Thomas Bein: German-language poetry of the Middle Ages. From the beginning to the 14th century. An introduction (= Basics of German Studies [GrG]. Volume 62). Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-503-17167-5 .
  • Wolfgang Beutin: German literary history. From the beginning to the present. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2001, ISBN 3-476-01758-3 .
  • Hermann Korte u. a: History of German poetry. Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-010544-7 .
  • Gerhard Kaiser : History of German poetry from Goethe to the present. 3 volumes. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 3-458-16823-0 .
  • Ralf Schnell : History of German-language literature since 1945. Metzler Verlag, Stuttgart / Weimar 1993, ISBN 3-476-00914-9 .
  • Klaus Schuhmann : Poetry of the 20th Century. Materials for a poetics. Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-499-55550-6 .
  • Hans-Joachim Willberg: German contemporary poetry. A poetological introduction. Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-15-015010-8 .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Bein: German-language poetry of the Middle Ages . Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-503-17167-5 , pp. 78–84.
  2. ↑ Ernst and Erika von Borries: Deutsche Literaturgeschichte. Volume 1: Middle Ages, Humanism, Reformation, Baroque . Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-423-03341-X , pp. 30–31.
  3. ↑ Thomas Bein: German-language poetry of the Middle Ages . Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-503-17167-5 , pp. 46–47, 88.
  4. ↑ Thomas Bein: German-language poetry of the Middle Ages . Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-503-17167-5 , pp. 91-100.
  5. ↑ Thomas Bein: German-language poetry of the Middle Ages . Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-503-17167-5 , pp. 101-172.
  6. ↑ Thomas Bein: German-language poetry of the Middle Ages . Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-503-17167-5 , pp. 192–193.
  7. ↑ Thomas Bein: German-language poetry of the Middle Ages . Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-503-17167-5 , pp. 207, 221, 224.
  8. ↑ Walter Hinderer (Ed.): History of German poetry from the Middle Ages to the present . Reclam, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-15-010321-3 , pp. 62-63.
  9. ↑ Walter Hinderer (Ed.): History of German poetry from the Middle Ages to the present . Reclam, Stuttgart 1983, pp. 62-63.
  10. ↑ Walter Hinderer (Ed.): History of German poetry from the Middle Ages to the present . Reclam, Stuttgart 1983, pp. 80-83.
  11. ↑ Walter Hinderer (Ed.): History of German poetry from the Middle Ages to the present . Reclam, Stuttgart 1983, pp. 102-104.
  12. ↑ Walter Hinderer (Ed.): History of German poetry from the Middle Ages to the present . Reclam, Stuttgart 1983, pp. 108-110.
  13. ↑ Ernst and Erika von Borries: Deutsche Literaturgeschichte. Volume 1: Middle Ages, Humanism, Reformation, Baroque . Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-423-03341-X , pp. 373-375.
  14. ↑ Walter Höllerer: Theses on the long poem. In: Accents. Volume 2 (1965), pp. 128-130.
  15. ↑ lyrikdergegenwart.de contemporary poetry publishers.
  16. ^ Hans Magnus Enzensberger: Messages from the lyric business. In: ders: zigzag. Articles, Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1997.
  17. ^ Austrian Society for Literature: Literature Houses , last accessed on March 8, 2020.
  18. ↑ Swiss National Library: Swiss Literature Archive (SLA) , last accessed on March 8, 2020.
  19. ^ Rilke Society : Homepage, last accessed on March 8, 2020.
  20. ↑ planetlyrik.de