zeit.de
New Mascha Kaléko Selection Showcases Poet's Life and Work
Daniel Kehlmann's new selection of Mascha Kaléko's poems and prose, "Mascha Kaléko: Ich tat die Augen auf und sah das Helle," will be published by dtv in Munich in 2024, offering a broader perspective on the poet's life and work, including her experiences as a Jewish artist during and after the Nazi era.
- What is the significance of this new selection of Mascha Kaléko's work, considering the current cultural and historical landscape?
- "Mascha Kaléko: Ich tat die Augen auf und sah das Helle" is a new selection of poems and prose by the German-Jewish poet Mascha Kaléko, edited by Daniel Kehlmann. It's being published by dtv in Munich in 2024 and will cost \20. The book highlights Kaléko's unique blend of lightness, sadness, and irony, showcasing her experiences as a Jewish artist during the Nazi era and beyond.
- How does this collection broaden our understanding of Mascha Kaléko's literary contributions beyond her previously known style and themes?
- The selection offers a more comprehensive look at Kaléko's life and work, revealing a deeper complexity than previously known. It includes both her lighthearted poems and her more melancholic and critical writings from her post-war experiences. Kehlmann's introduction positions Kaléko as a significant voice in German literature.
- What are the lasting implications of this publication for future interpretations of Mascha Kaléko's literary legacy and its relevance to contemporary readers?
- This publication is significant because it brings renewed attention to Kaléko's work and offers a nuanced understanding of her experiences as an exile and survivor. It challenges the perception of her solely as a light-hearted poet and emphasizes her profound reflections on trauma and loss.
Cognitive Concepts
Framing Bias
The framing emphasizes Kaléko's biographical narrative, particularly her exile and suffering, which while relevant, overshadows a detailed assessment of her poetic achievements. The headline implicitly positions this selection as essential reading, potentially without fully justifying that claim.
Language Bias
The language used is largely positive and admiring, bordering on hagiographic at times. Terms like "Meisterin," "leuchtende Ausnahme," and "eine der Größten" are highly laudatory and lack critical distance.
Bias by Omission
The review focuses heavily on Kaléko's life and exile, but provides little analysis of the selected poems' content or style beyond general praise. There is no mention of critical reception of her work, or comparison to contemporary poets beyond a few names.
False Dichotomy
The review presents a somewhat simplistic dichotomy between Kaléko's 'undeutsch' and 'deutsch' qualities, without exploring the complexities of her identity and artistic expression. While the contrast is insightful, it risks oversimplifying her nuanced relationship with German culture.
Sustainable Development Goals
The article highlights Mascha Kaléko's experience of persecution and exile due to her Jewish heritage under the Nazi regime. Her poems and prose reflect on the atrocities of the Holocaust and call for confronting the past. This resonates with SDG 16, which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Kaléko's work serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of fighting injustice and intolerance and promoting reconciliation. Her call to confront the past and not let the wounds of history heal improperly directly relates to achieving justice and building peaceful societies.