Die Bars von Atlantis

by Durs Grünbein

Der Begriff Metapher leitet sich ab vom griechischen metà phérein (anderswo hintragen), was in der Antike meist »per Schiff« bedeutete, so daß die Seefahrt bald selbst zur Metapher für die Dichtkunst wurde. Das Schiff als Symbol für den Aufbruch, das Wagnis des Lebens, gehört seither zu den beflügelndsten Bildern der Literatur, Meeres- und Tiefseephantasien finden wir nicht nur bei Homer und Melville, sondern auch bei Jules Verne, Baudelaire, T. S. Eliot, ja sogar bei Dante. In 14 Essays spürt Durs Grünbein der Faszination des Meeres nach, nicht nur in Büchern, sondern auch im Museo Archeologico von Paestum und auf dem Grund des Tyrrhenischen Meers.

Genres: Essays, German Literature

60 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Durs Grünbein is a German poet, essayist and translator living in Berlin since 1985.

Grünbein is hailed as the most significant and successful poet to emerge from the former East Germany, and his work has been awarded many major German literary prizes, including the highest, the Georg-Büchner-Preis, which he won in 1995. That same year, he also won the Peter Huchel Prize for Poetry.

In 2005, he held the position of Max Kade Distinguished Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College.

In 2006, Grünbein was elected by the academy of fine arts at Düsseldorf to the first chair of poetry (poetics and artistic aesthetics) at any German university or academy. Grünbein is a regular contributor to Frau und Hund - Zeitschrift für kursives Denken, edited by the academy's rector, the painter Markus Lüpertz.

Grünbein has also published several essay collections and new translations of plays from antiquity, among them Aeschylus' The Persians, and Seneca's Thyestes. His work, which also includes contributions to catalogues and a libretto for opera, has been translated into many languages.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for the faint of heart. Reading these dense, obscure essays feels like wading through someone's psyche. And that's just weird.

[Gianluca Valente · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chi non ha mai sognato di prendere un caffé nei bar di Atlantide? Esattamente come un pesce che riemerge dal fondale, l'autore esorta il lettore a compiere lo stesso processo di immersione-emersione nei ricordi e nella sua coscienza.

[Enzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich weiß nicht genau, um was es hier geht, aber es ist faszinierend.

[lonner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting topics and a great writer, but admittedly I bogged down several times and the essays are a bit hard to follow.