Monday, October 18, 2010

A Poem by Bertolt Brecht, about the workers' uprising in East Germany (GDR) in 1953. I thought I'd posted it before, but can't find it -

THE SOLUTION

After the Uprising on June 17th
The secretary of the Authors' Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Which said that the people
Had forfeited the government's confidence
And could only win it back
by recoubled labour. Wouldn't it
Be simpler in that case if the government
Dissolved the people and
Elected another?

(translation, Michael Hamburger)

DIE LÖSUNG

Nach dem Aufstand des 17. Juni
Ließ der Sekretär des Schriftstellerverbands
In der Stalinallee Flugblätter verteilen
Auf denen zu lesen war, daß das Volk
Das Vertrauen der Regierung verscherzt habe
Und es nur durch verdoppelte Arbeit
Zurückerobern könne. Wäre es da
Nicht doch einfacher, die Regierung
Löste das Volk auf und
Wählte ein anderes?
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6 comments:

thankgodimatheist said...

I very much appreciate your poetry season..I read all the poems but didn't comment..But Brecht brought up so many memories..Of plays I've seen and also played (not on stage but in drama classes during my dramatic arts studies.." We had that special thing to learn about how to play Brecht. It's called "distanciation" in French, not sure what it is in English, where the actor does not get emotionally involved in his part, unlike the Actors Studio method of Lee Strassberg( James Dean, Brando, Paul Newman). The actor keeps his distance,(hence the name), projects his role rather than being the part...We used to scratch our heads wondering how could we go about it without investing emotion....I got it only later when I had no use of it..
Memories.

10:49 am
Jemmy Hope said...

I remember hearing this explained. I think the German word was 'Verfremdung', maybe the English was alienation, I'm no longer sure.
On the subject of poetry, TG, I was wanting to post Nizar Qabbani's 'Love and Oil', as appeared on your blog. Was it r.s. who quoted it? I didn't think it was the whole poem, and finding an Arabic copy on the web didn't help. It looked longer than the piece I had. I think it's worth quoting anyway, but I'd prefer to make it clear that there's more of it.

2:47 pm
thankgodimatheist said...

Yes Jemmy it was r.s..I'll try to find Nizar's poem(in English) in it entirety for you.
I have translated many Arab poets to French ..More specifically the poems of one of the greatest Arab poets IMHO, the Syrian Muhammad ul Maghout, deceased 4 years or so ago..I had published about 30 of his poems for a French literary magazine..If you find any in English, I'd recommend that you have a look..His early poems that I translated had an air of a Rimbaud/Villon to them. He later shifted to a more politically direct type, less to my liking because he lost in the process the unique personal touch he had, but which made him extremely popular all over the Arab world similar to Qabbani..
As for my favorite poets they have always been, Neruda, Saint-John Perse, Apollinaire, Eluard and not to forget Muhammad Darwish, a giant!I'm also forgetting many others..

As "alienation" for "distanciation" is concerned, I can see why but I find it a bit strange nevertheless as it lends to confusion with the psychiatry term describing one's sense of estrangement from his culture and milieu..Maybe dissociation? Close but...!!

3:20 am
Jemmy Hope said...

TG, you're a Renaissance Man! Painter, star of the silver screen, now 'homme de lettres' - is there no end to your talent?
I'm an Apollinaire fan too, also Prévert, and Villon, the daddy of them all. I like Eluard's "Liberté", and I like it as interpreted by Kad Achouri; a sort of rap style, I suppose, but even that doesn't put me off. They say that the Nazis tried to destroy every copy of "Liberté" during the occupation.

2:34 pm
thankgodimatheist said...

Sorry Jemmy I just saw your comment right now..
A Rennassance man!! Wow, I wish..Not that I never dreamed, as a young man, of trying one day of emulating one mind you but it seems that the weight to carry, the knowledge and the skills/talents one needs to have or achieve is far too heavy for my frail shoulders..Tried many things with different fortunes, settled on Painting trying to convince myself and others that I'm any good at it..
Oh well!
As for"Liberté" I love it too even if I was taken aback, a little when I learned that he actually wrote it as a love poem to his lover, can't remember her name now, only to change the title to "Liberté" at the last minute. That the Nazis tried to destroy copies of it only shows that he was right in making this change.
I'm not familiar with Kad Achouri, I'll check him out..
I looked everywhere for Nizar's poem "Love and Oil" in vain! In the process I discovered a young Palestinian poet dubbed the new Darwish.. I put up a post about him with a poem about Jerusalem..

7:16 am
Jemmy Hope said...

The Barghouthi poem is a bit long for me but I'll link to it.
So the name "Liberté" was an afterthought for Eluard. Still, correct choice, as you point out.

2:43 pm

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