«WITH A FOREIGN PASSPORT I TRAVEL FROM SEA TO SEA» – INTERPRETATION OF THE ODYSSEUS’S IMAGE IN THE POETRY BY ROSE AUSLÄNDER

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31494/2412-933X-2019-1-9-95-103

Keywords:

Rose Ausländer, Odysseus, myth, Holocaust, motive of water.

Abstract

Among the versatile works of German-language poetess from Bukovina Rose Ausländer (1901-1988), one may find numerous ancient images and plots. The author repeatedly refers to mythological characters in her works, including Orpheus, Eurydice, Pegasus, Icarus, Io, Aphrodite, and others. Among constant motifs of the lyric poetry by Rose Ausländer, during all her artistic journey beginning from the time of the first emigration and postwar period marked with the traumatic experience of the Holocaust and inevitable loss of communication with homeland – the motifs connected to the cycle of ancient myths about Odysseus, a mythical ruler of Ithaca, certainly occur. In the poetic works by Rose Ausländer, one may observe two main thematic principles of the myth interpretation: as a long journey for the sake of perception of and passion for travel symbolizing human life, and as a topic of the eternal search for one’s identity, the desire to find a lost homeland. The poetess projects the theme of a myth onto her life, filled with both forced travels and search, and trips of her volition which were one of Rose Ausländer’s passions. Many meanings are also included in one of the central components of the Odysseus motif – water that appears in different constellations. Water in Rose Ausländer’s works often acquires a variety of connotations within her work: as a soul, as something subconscious, and as a flow of time. Thus, in the poem “Odysseus”, the kingdom of shadows, where Ausländer’s Nobody becomes a shadow, is located underwater. In this way, the trauma of fear and persecution, which settled in the author’s subconscious, manifests itself. The author combines the symbolism of water with the image of a mother who appears underwater, which is a symbol of primitive matter and fertility. Based on selected poems by Rose Ausländer, peculiarities of the poetics shall be illustrated, the image of Odysseus shall be analyzed, literary and aesthetic marks of the poet, traditional and modernist features of her writing shall be outlined.

References

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Published

2025-05-08