Paul Celan’s Enigmatic Ram

Between Hermeneutics and Deconstruction

Abstract

Jacques Derrida’s Heidelberg lecture, a tribute to the late Hans–Georg Gadamer, is undoubtedly one of the most subtle eulogies in the more recent history of philosophy. Derrida mourns, especially through a poem, the death of a poet they both knew — Paul Celan, who in the last verse of his poem »Grosse, glühende Wölbung« says: »Die Welt ist fort, Ich muss dich tragen.« This important poem by Celan speaks of a ram and is pregnant with meaning, but its meaning remains left unsaid. The author of this essay points out the hermeneutically relevant elements which show that the enigmatic ram in Celan’s poem is closely linked with the last verse of the poem. It is this link which opens the possibility for an integral understanding of Celan’s thought which cannot be dissociated from the suffering of the Jews during the Second World War.