My strange everyday life
My stranger everyday life is the first volume of poetry by the poet Gino Chiellino , who publishes his literary works under the name Carmine Chiellino.
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The volume was published in Kiel in 1984 and consists of two parts, which contain poems from 1977–1979 and 1980–1983 and which are headed with the date of creation. The first part consists of 42 poems and a section entitled Intermezzo, which in turn consists of four poems and is about a new life. It is therefore not just an interlude, but marks the artistic transition of the lyrical self from a pendulum situation to a conscious turn to a future-oriented language. The poems of the second part (33 in number) testify to a political fighting spirit that opposes current opinions on the topics of emigration , integration and immigration and formulates its own theses.
The poems are mainly written in free verse and are carried by the rhythm of the language. The narrowing of the language and the proximity to the author's biography and to the historical events ensure that the works are permeated with a special authenticity and contain a pungent socio-critical relevance. From this volume, poems such as "Bahnhof", "Silence" and "Slavic language" have become classic quotes and have long since found their way into school books.
The first part of the volume of poetry entitled “1977–1979” begins with the poem “Gastarbeiter” (p. 8), which addresses a possible reason for the emigration of the lyrical self. However, the title is an alien name with which the lyrical self utters a warning to the interlocutor "You". It warns the “you” not to trust the states that are involved in the exchange of labor (in this case Germany and Italy). The actually positive term “freedom” turns out to be a questionable concept, because it means a possibility for the emigrants, but is interpreted as “freedom from something” by the real beneficiaries of the emigration. The ranks of the two countries would use this concept of freedom to free themselves from any responsibility towards the "people". As a result, certain strata of the population are forced to emigrate, since they are unable to live a decent life there. The author therefore calls them “displaced people” (cf. the poems “Sehnsucht II”, p. 47 and “The new monuments of my country”, p. 23). The concept of freedom is to be understood in the host society as the right to work, which turns out to be a false vision for the future, because the guest workers are not legally equated with the local workers (see also “Change”, p. 13).
In the poems that followed, emigration is portrayed as a sign of personal autonomy , without the indictment of the authorities being omitted. The lyrical ego accuses the emigration country of getting rid of the “surplus” of labor, while the immigration country is only concerned with meeting the need for unskilled labor. The historical opportunity remains unused to create political and legal framework conditions according to European guidelines.
The poems with a left-wing ideology touch are not communist propaganda. In the poem “It was a mistake”, for example, one's own relatives and friends are clearly exposed as the beneficiaries of the emigration. There is no essential difference between them and the politicians in the country of emigration:
When we drove
away the relatives bought the land
from us
[...]
when we drove away
they struck us off the voting lists
[...]
they thought:
now that they are gone
we will be better.
( My strange everyday life , p. 20)
The topic of “departure” also includes the “arrival” in another country and of course in another language. The poem “Bahnhofstr. 27 “(p. 9) speaks of the possibility of an arrival that can be seen and felt through the physical reactions of the lyrical self. On the one hand, the ego ties in with the existing body memory and, on the other hand, tries to find a new language for new experiences. It describes the smallest movement of his body in a detailed and minimalist way. The poems “Sehnsucht I” (p. 11), “Bahnhof” (p. 14–15), “Silence” (p. 36) and “Sehnsucht II” (p. 47) also tell of body memory. Here the lyrical ego tries to tie in with what already exists. In the poem "Sehnsucht I" (p. 11) the ego claims that it is hungry. But he only buys pears, grapes and a honeydew melon. The selection of the types of fruit makes it clear that it is not about physical hunger, but about the longing for an area where these types of fruit grow and for a season in which pears, grapes and melons ripen (cf. “Die Sehnsucht der Sehnsucht nach der Sehnsucht ”in: Chiellino: Ich in Dresden. Eine Poetikdozentur , Dresden, 2003, pp. 21-23).
The poem “Stummung” (p. 36) processes the cultural memory of the German language. With the intertextual reference to Paul Celan , a critical dialogue with the poet is built into the poem. Celan was instrumental in finding a new language and new expressions for the “foreigner”. Chiellino's lyrical self, however, states that Celan's body memory does not coincide with his own. The I at Chiellino always emphasizes that emigration is an autonomous decision of the migrant . The line “I have given it up [my own language]” is grammatically active and shows that the ego has a life project. Emigration is a self-determined decision that is pursued with sovereignty , although the goal of the project cannot yet be formulated. But it is defined as "defiant [] attachment" to both languages and cultures (cf. Cyrus Atabay : "In a Persian country house").
Further topics in the volume of poems are: the knowledge of one's own situation (cf. “Change”, p. 13) and the critical consideration of the question of whether one can be satisfied with a place on the edge of society . Chiellino investigates questions of loyalty and belonging , but deliberately avoids giving a clear answer. Old loyalties to the country of emigration are questioned and the question of belonging to the country of immigration is also formulated critically. Above all, the expectations of the society into which the immigrant is supposed to integrate are critically reflected.
In the poem “Bahnhof” (p. 14–15), the train station and the village square are equated and thus represent a kind of home or an apparent idyll . In the second part of the poem, however, there is no communication - the lyrical self listens to the trains, so it is passive. Thus, the train station becomes a symbol of an existence on the margins of society. In the following poem, “The Question” (p. 16), its existence is a “waiting” that is in contrast to its life project because it wanted to break the stagnation at the place of birth by emigrating . However, waiting is not always negative. Waiting and living on the fringes of a society gives the ego the opportunity to reflect on old affiliations and loyalties. So z. For example, in “To a friend” (p. 21) nostalgia is presented on the one hand as a valuable belonging that saves the subject from loneliness, but also means a marginal existence : both elements are referred to as “stressed memories”.
The old affiliation is rated positively in “Thesis No. 6” of the poem “Integration, one thought in seven theses” (p. 90). In a tragic moment, the lyrical self is not looking for conflict and struggle , but rather a familiar and therefore safe environment. Thus it becomes clear that the questioning of existing loyalties and old affiliations does not represent a complete break with them, but should be read as the subject of the negotiations.
In the poem "Integration I" (p. 38) mechanisms and contradictions of solidarity among workers and national minorities are addressed. A man lives in a cold and sparsely furnished basement apartment and thinks of the garbage collectors. Since there is no aesthetic in his life , he clings to the solidarity he has with the garbage collectors. This feeling creates a kind of community or belonging in him. It is deceptive, however, as its marginal existence cannot even be resolved by the presence of a female figure. For the ego, woman is the symbol for “integration”; H. she is a German. The ego remains in isolation because the solidarity with the garbage collectors distracts it from looking for belonging in the woman - it is in a dead end and therefore it states: "Here thoughts die out".
Resistance to forced solidarity is the theme of the poem "Isolation" (p. 26). Two “guest workers” meet while going for a walk, but pass each other without a word. The chance of the encounter and the fact that they recognize themselves as “guest workers” should evoke solidarity. They should greet each other and consider themselves co-fates. Chiellino's poem refutes these assumptions. There is mutual sympathy , but it is not enough for friendship. The figures keep their individuality and pass each other. The fact that the title is not “individuality” but “isolation” lies in the time the poem was written. Solidarity among workers was a major political goal in the 1970s.
Some of the poems evidently emerged from everyday and historical events: “No detailed report!” (P. 67) speaks of the shock of the accidental death of a child; “Hommage á Schwarzenbach” (p. 50), “The Great Inquiry on the Situation of Foreigners in the FRG” (p. 62) and “Peaceful Landquisition” (p. 73) relate to political and social events; and the poems “Treue” (p. 27), “Unemployed” (p. 41–44) and “South Italy November 26, 1980” (p. 61) address the situation of immigrants in Germany.
The last line of the poem “No detailed report!” Is surprising (p. 67) because it claims that the child will lie in a “strange cemetery” until the parents have saved the money for the family's return journey. In intercultural literature, children are symbols of investment in their own future. The fact that the cemetery is "alienated" is due to the paradox that the child had "had an appointment with life". Investing in death is an insoluble paradox that can only be alleviated by breaking off the parental life project and retreating to the first country .
The poem “Hommage á Schwarzenbach” (p. 50) is the beginning of critical debates that not only deal with right-wing radicalism , but also with the so-called “Friends of Foreigners”. The lyric I would like an open debate, as the aggression against foreigners is latent. It does not only consist of open rejection, but also expresses itself in the fact that discriminatory measures are out of the question. The ego is disappointed and points out that both the workers' and the student movements of the 1950s and 1960s were supported by the "guest workers". Nevertheless, the foreign workers were not legally equated with the local workers, but rather their presence was denied. In this context, Chiellino speaks in the poem “Heimat” of “forbidden future” (p. 72) and describes the immigrants in the poem “The great inquiry about the situation of foreigners in the FRG” (p. 62) as “unprotected” Go towards “stolen spring”. The poem also refers to regulations made in 1983. The Federal Republic decided against family reunification and in favor of “repatriating” the immigrants. The fact that a parallel to the Holocaust is being built in this context - "Trains are running again / unscheduled / departing" - shows the degree of despair and anger of the ego about this condition.
The poems “Heimat I” (p. 19) and “Heimat II” (p. 72) are aimed at two different interlocutors. Superficially, the lyrical ego speaks to fellow destinies who have to position themselves against common stereotypes . Both the I and the addressed "you" are annoyed because they have to stand for the typical of "their" country. The modal verbs “must” and “can” suggest, however, that expectations are brought to them from outside and that standing up for one's country is not an inner need of the individual. The monocultural “ home ” defined as being tied to a particular place and the interest shown in immigrants is thus a further exclusion mechanism. One remembers belonging to their home countries and thus excludes them from the country of immigration. But the poem also makes it clear that denying old affiliations isn't helpful either. Because it is indeed active and simply imagining it without it is not a viable alternative . The poem ends on a pessimistic note because it crosses the line to illegality : The word “alibi” is taken from criminology and the self confesses through its use as "guilty". While the ego maneuvers itself into isolation through this avowal, the ego creates a link to its body memory in the second "Heimat" poem (p. 72, in the table of contents with the ordinal number Roman II). This is the only way to ensure historical continuity for the individual. Because although the connection to well-known feelings is dismissed as "useless", they allow at least one kind of positioning . It is also the prerequisite for a reorientation, which is indicated by the re-evaluation of the adverb "behind". It is no more than giving the wrong direction (see middle stanza), but the future. The “forbidden future” functions like a door or a room that has to be opened or entered. The caesura must be overcome - "experienced" - in order to reach the "unborn home".
The three poems with the title “Unemployed” (pp. 41–44) show which psychological insecurities the legal disadvantage of foreign workers suffers. The self-doubts of the lyrical ego are “bureaucratically generated”, ie arise from his legally insecure position, since an unemployed foreigner can be deported. Unemployment may have something in common with local workers, as foreign workers were part of the labor movements of the 1960s. The poem shows that the motto “Workers of all countries unite!” No longer applies and that unemployment immediately calls into question a foreigner's right to exist. The ego is desperate - it clings to every straw, that is, it even evaluates a rejection of its application positively, although it represents a meaningless reaction to its efforts. It tries to console itself with the following statement:
[...]
I imagine
someone
has
me
busy
( My strange everyday life , p. 44)
The statement can also be read as a stutter and thus makes the contradiction between content and mental state clear.
The poem "Friedliche Landnahme" (p. 73) implies defamatory behavior on the part of the host society, since the integration efforts of the immigrants are called into question or they are assumed to have colonizing intentions. The foreigners' claim to a decent life appears to the locals as "penetrating". The poem thus exposes the latent xenophobia of the euphemisms . Other critical poems on this subject are “The Next Morning” (p. 77), which calls on companions to uncover the “contradictions of the helpers”, and “Thesis No. 3” of the poem cycle “Integration, one thought in seven theses” (Pp. 86-87). The ego is critical of both old and new loyalties.
The intermezzo is titled "Room for a Life". The first poem “In the vicinity” (p. 52) is aimed at a direct interlocutor. Here the "you" is a child who symbolizes the future. The future will come because the child wants to live or lives. It boldly symbolizes the future of the Federal Republic and all of Europe, which has changed due to immigration and global migratory movements . It is not disputed that this development cannot proceed without dangers, risks and / or setbacks. But a philosophy of carpe diem and the confidence in the future is clearly z. B. in the poem "The timid":
the joy of movement
must
not be lessened
by the uncertainty of its goal
( My strange everyday life , p. 53)
The poems of the Intermezzo testify primarily to the absence of an exclusion mechanism, since the poet consistently uses the personal pronoun "we" and the possessive pronoun "our" instead of "my" or "yours" ( see “Rosa-Li”, p. 54). The ego thus accepts responsibility for its own life and for the life of the daughter. Thus the final poem of the section “Room for a Life” (p. 55) is a historical legacy to the daughter / future, because it explains the succession of generations from grandfather to granddaughter (on the emigration of grandfather to Argentina see the poem “1932 Photo ", P. 34). The grandfather represents the memory of a family, but with the topic of emigration, the historical memory of Italy is also addressed. It is significant that Chiellino formulated this topic as a motif of considerable social upheaval as early as the late 1970s . Until the end of the Second World War, Europe was always listed as an emigration area. From 1955, with the arrival of the first Italian “guest workers”, the continent became a destination for immigration from all over the world.
In the second part of the volume, Chiellino's lyrical self is determined to juxtapose old and new loyalties and meticulously assess their suitability for the future. Of the hope for international solidarity among the workers, z. B. the poem Guest Workers in Italy (p. 18). It also speaks of the nonsensical regulations on emigration, which result in the need to bring in workers from other countries. But international solidarity still represents a hope for a new beginning in Europe. The poem shows that it was already foreseeable at the end of the 1970s what effect the exchange of workers would have on the future of Europe as a cultural region . In addition, several poems testify to the persistence of the lyrical ego to settle with known stereotypes and to take a stand on the topics of integration and foreignness or to provide new approaches. This is the motto of the lyrical ego. B. in The No Poem (p. 70) that one has to build a new road, a new way for oneself and one's future. But it is by no means about a “Romantic Road”, which over the centuries has become a symbol of the Germans' longing for Italy . The road that the self has in mind does not have to be built “stone on stone”, but with “right to / right, freedom to freedom”. The personal pronoun "we" stands for a community that is no longer monocultural. It is dynamic and is being rebuilt or renewed by each coming generation.
Comparably dynamic and hopeful is the poem 13 Years to the State Border (p. 74). The journey runs first in time - “today / and / then” - when the lyrical self returns to the house where it was born. At the same time, however, the change of location is marked with "there / like / here". The two places of residence are brought closer to each other, as the ego verbalizes its discomfort about the alienation from the place of birth (Italy) and being alien at the place of life (Germany):
[…]
There
as
here
, life is certainly
not a flower whose color and
scent are known to me
( My strange everyday life , p. 74)
The poem seems melancholy. But finally, the time and place information “today / and / here” are put together and the word “doubt” is supplemented with the word “force”. The fact that these two nouns are brought together anticipates the topic that Chiellino elaborates in his second volume of poems Sehnsucht nach Sprache (cf. also Friedrich Hölderlin “Where there is danger, grows / The saving too” in the poem The goal proves the way ).
The future is also thematized in the poem “The next morning” (p. 77), which talks laconically about the days and years that will still be filled with waiting, doubt and uncertainty, but ends on a hopeful note. It defines “children's laughter” as the security of the future. The time should be used for criticism and revision of the current situation and the alleged helpers. Just as courageously, the poem “After Yesterday” (p. 82) calls on readers not to despair. Although the chiasmus at the beginning of the poem - the country is associated with the mother and the father with the language, although the linguistic convention uses "mother tongue" and "fatherland" - suggests the abolition of "order", the lyrical ego calls for determination and conjures up the commonality of all minorities . The negative attitude of children towards the achievements of the parents can be interpreted as a sign of the abolition of order. In the spirit of the PoLiKunst Verein, the appeal of the lyrical self is aimed at the faint-hearted, who see assimilation as the solution. This only brings short-term advantages and it is not worth attending or participating in the game of power distribution, emphasizes the poet. That the negotiations about the “care of foreigners” actually means their exploitation is formulated in “Thesis No. 3” of the poem “Integration, one thought in seven theses” (p. 86, see below).
The poems on the subject of integration form an independent cycle within the second part. In “Thesis No. 1” the lyrical self confesses its longing for Italy, after having placed the contradictions of this longing in the foreground in earlier poems. It does not deny that alienation has taken place and that there is a difference between his (Calabrian or Italian) body memory and lived (German) reality (cf. also the poem “Alienated”, p. 80). The line “when […] knew the word no effort” names the physicality of the language and implies that speaking the second language does indeed involve “effort”. The poem is thus also a reference to the title of the volume My Stranger Daily Life and emphasizes the “here and now” of the lyrical self as something that is contradicting itself. Because everyday life, which according to monocultural logic should be most familiar to him, is described with the adjective “foreign” - it is laborious. What this strangeness consists of in detail is formulated in this first volume of poetry and the search for it influences Chiellino's entire lyrical oeuvre . But even if the discrepancy between two languages is large, the prospect of the new that has arisen as a result of the migration movements in Europe motivates the self and makes it hopeful. Ultimately, the ego starts to build a common cultural memory that is not nationally shaped.
"Thesis No. 2" deals with the contradiction that arises between departure and arrival when the host society is not prepared to support the integration of the immigrants. The poem refers to the fact that Germany denied being a country of immigration until 2005 , "[a] ls whether [the foreigners] would never have arrived". Because of this refusal, the line of the poem “the journey stops” remains ambivalent and is contrary to his motto, which is a quotation from G. Fiorenza. Chiellino points out that the immigrants were not expected to arrive. Politicians have failed to come up with future-oriented or future-oriented plans, suggesting a rejection of foreigners that is still ongoing today. The “stopping” of the journey is therefore ambiguous: the journey “takes a break”, but also: it is continued.
“Thesis nos. 4 and 5” of the cycle of poems, the lyrical self expresses itself critical of the material advantages of assimilation. The contradictions are openly addressed: physical well-being and material possessions are neither evidence of happiness nor signs of successful integration. The material prosperity of the guest workers could not hide the still latent mechanisms of exclusion and exploitation. The immigrants would sell their human rights and possessions are only a deception, emphasizes the lyrical self (cf. also the poems “The new monuments of my country”, p. 23, “Warning”, p. 40 and “The logic of a foreign taxpayer” , P. 46). In the home countries, the financial success in Germany is interpreted as evidence of a "successful" emigration, although in most cases the wealth does not exist. The lavish life on “home leave” is only possible because the foreigners in Germany lived frugally and forego luxury , the self states.
Finally, “Thesis No. 7” (p. 91) takes up the explosive topic of the German passport , which is always negotiated in the political discourse as a “reward” for the efforts of the immigrants, but which in itself is an extremely contradicting factor in the immigration debates . The poem addresses the loyalty among minorities, the need for which was particularly noticeable in the 1980s. But it does not hide the fact that it had grown into a loyalty requirement. The enlargement of the European Union has regulated the residence of many immigrants, but the situation has not changed for the majority of the people. Every EU citizen is now in a dilemma, the solution to their residence problems is a "betrayal / to the weaker", it is said. The collective “we” of the guest workers has been artificially divided, which paradoxically is portrayed as positive by the majority society and “rewarded” with the passport. This also nips any criticism in the bud. That is why the lyrical self relies on the future of its children and less on the German passport. Because the children will inevitably grow up with two languages and cultures and represent their intercultural reality.
The closing words of the poem are based on the title of the volume My foreign everyday life : Everyday life remains “foreign” because the lyrical self continues to live in Germany with a foreign passport. The silence about this fact would - like the acquisition of the German passport - mean a false declaration of loyalty to Germany, the future would be "falsified". Gino Chiellino's first volume of poetry is therefore a relentless debate about the reality of the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, reflecting the political and social issues at the time of its creation and supplementing them with new aspects and critical perspectives.
literature
- Gino Chiellino: My strange everyday life . Neuer Malik Verlag, Kiel, Germany 1984, ISBN 3-89029-152-X .
Web links
- Website (Italian and German)
- Research group "parola vissuta" ( Memento from June 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (archive)
- My strange everyday life on OpenLibrary.org