BETWEEN ‘URBILD’ AND ‘ABBILD’: THE CONCEPTION OF THE IMAGE IN CELAN'S POEMS ‘BEI WEIN UND VERLORENHEIT’, ‘TENEBRAE’, AND ‘HALBZERFRESSENER’

This article contends that the image is a central trope in Paul Celan's poetry. It suggests that Celan's rejection of metaphor and his opposition to readings of his poetry as mere imagery constitute only one side of his understanding of the image. On the other hand, Celan embraces the image when it goes beyond the merely figurative or imitative and approaches a form of ‘Urbild’. This article traces Celan's understanding of the image as split between ‘Urbild’ and ‘Abbild’ in his mature poems ‘Bei Wein und Verlorenheit’, ‘Tenebrae’, and ‘Halbzerfressener’, through which we will also gain a fuller sense of how Celan conceives of language and poetic voice.