Landscapes of exile: Celan's "Gesprach im Gebirg".

"Thou art not August, unless I make thee so." Wallace Stevens, "Asides on the Oboe"

Although the title of Paul Celan's "Gesprach im Gebirg" gives nearly equal weight to the conversation and the mountains, most critical commentary has emphasized the former. (1) The latter have been more-or-less neglected, given the biographical information that connects this text to a trip by Celan to Switzerland. And lurking somewhere in the background, further skewing our view, is the notion that Celan's settings are placeless, as well as being located outside of history. (2) Such…