This book club pick is exceptional. It is the first time that I chose to include a book of poems. Often poems are only for the very much advanced language learners. Mascha Kaléko, however, manages to write beautiful (short) poems in fairly easy language that still manage to touch your heart.
The Poems of Mascha Kaléko is also the first bilingual book I have included. This time you will get both - German AND English - in one purchase. Before I go into more detail about this book let me introduce you to Mascha Kaléko:
Kaléko was born Golda Malka Aufen in Chrzanów, Galicia (now Poland). With the start of World War I, her mother moved with her and her sister Lea to Germany; first to Frankfurt, then to Marburg, and in 1918 to Berlin where her parents married in 1922. From 1929 on, she published poetry presenting the daily life of the common people in newspapers such as Vossische Zeitung and Berliner Tageblatt. In her poetry, Kaléko captured the atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s. In January 1933, Rowohlt published her first book with poetry Lyrisches Stenogrammheft, which was soon subjected to Nazi censorship (due to her being Jewish,) and two years later her second book Das kleine Lesebuch für Große appeared. In 1938, Kaléko fled the Nazis to the United States, While in the U.S., Kaléko lived in several places (New York City and a few months in California) until settling on Minetta Street in New York City's Greenwich Village in 1942. Kaléko became the family's breadwinner with odd jobs, including some writing copy for advertisements. The Schoenhof Verlag in Cambridge, Massachusetts published Kaléko's third book "Verse für Zeitgenossen" in 1945 (German edition in 1958 by Rowohlt Verlag). In 1956, Kaléko returned to Berlin for the first time. Three years later she was supposed to receive the Fontane Prize, which she declined since the former Nazi and member of the Waffen-SS, Hans Egon Holthusen, was a member of the jury. In 1959, Kaléko moved to West Jerusalem, Israel, since her husband, who was conducting research on Hassidic singing, had better working conditions there. She lacked knowledge of Hebrew and was thus somewhat isolated. Kaléko died in January 1975 in Zürich, where she fell ill en route back to Jerusalem from a final visit in Berlin.
Unfortunately, these days Kaléko doesn't have the fame she deserves. I only came across her art when I was looking for easy poems that I could use while teaching German.
Let us shift gears now and talk about what to expect from this book:
Andreas Nolte has not only collected the poems for this book but also translated them. The beginning of the book contains a fascinating insight into his work. He explains in detail the difficulties arising when translating poems. For example, Kaléko did not only rhyme her poems but also used Berlin colloquialisms quite frequently. Translating both so the language, the rhythm, and the content ring true is a highly complex feat that Nolte has navigated impressively. He also contained autobiographical details to better understand the context in which Kaléko wrote her poems. And again: everything in this book is bilingual. A true German student's dream!
One of my favorite in this collection is:
Der Frühling fand diesmal im Saale statt.
Der Sommer war lang und gesegnet.
- Ja, sonst gab es Winter in dieser Stadt.
Und sonntags hat's meist geregnet.
But she also wrote many melancholic poems:
"Morgen", sage ich, "morgen!"
"Übermorgen" sogar.
Bald ist das Leben vorüber,
ohne dass "morgen" je war.
Man braucht nur eine Insel.
allein im weiten Meer.
Man braucht nur einen Menschen,
den aber braucht man sehr.
I hope I have piqued your interest! If you want to read all her other poems (or wish to understand these poems), get yourself a copy of The Poems of Mascha Kaléko!
Usually, this is the section that covers my recommendations for fluency levels. Since this book already contains both English and German I do not need to give any recommendations. Everybody no matter their level can read this book. If you want to practice your German I recommend you start reading German first. Give it a second and try to figure out the meaning and then read the English translation.
If you would like to participate in the Book Club post the answers to the questions (and all other comments) in the comments and hopefully we will have a fruitful discussion.
Questions:
What is/are your favorite poem(s) and why?
How did you like her writing style and why?
Did you learn any new German (Berliner) words and if so which?
What were your insights about the job of a translator? After reading Nolte's description of his process what surprised you about it?
Would you have translated a (or some of the) poem(s) differently and if so how?
Before reading the book had you heard of Mascha Kaléko?
Did you find anything especially "German" about her art?
Do you feel that her writing style changed after she emigrated to the US?
Don't forget to subscribe to the blog if you do not want to miss a post.
I was hoping that folks might have questions about MK’s work or her life. If you do, pls ask. If not, pls remember that her moving words and her remarkable life as an exile should never be forgotten. Please do what you can to remind those who don’t know or those who don’t seem to care. Thank you!
I was asked to answer a few questions:
1) What was the most difficult part in translating MK?
Finding rhymes that are true to both meaning and meter. And yield a syntax that English speakers wouldn’t find too awkward. For some poems, this was just not possible (for me and my limited experience), so these poems are not translated. Perhaps at another time.
2) How did you balance the combination of colloquialisms and rhyme in your translation?
Very difficult! I always wanted a rhyme where she rhymed and rather broke with exact content a little bit. Colloquialisms are always difficult to translate and sometimes difficult to understand for non-native speakers. I tried to find good solutions. In general, there is…