Nelly Sachs, In den Wohnungen des Todes [In the Dwellings of Death]

Jennifer Hoyer (University of Arkansas)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1947

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem collection

Resources

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In den Wohnungen des Todes

[

In the Dwellings of Death

], the first postwar volume of poetry by German-Jewish poet Nelly Sachs and one of the first poetic confrontations of the Nazi genocide against the Jews, has had a reception based less on its literary merit than on its position in discussions of Holocaust representation. Sachs’ work generally had a central role in this discussion within two framework questions: 1) Can and should poetry be written not only after, but even about Auschwitz; and 2) Has the German language been rendered sterile after its perversion through Nazi propaganda? The poems in the volume, as well as those in her other collections of poetry, have been read as examples of both positive and negative answers to these questions.

In den Wohnungen des Todes is probably

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1951 words

Citation: Hoyer, Jennifer. "In den Wohnungen des Todes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 April 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16887, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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