Documents of Protest and Compassion: The Poetry of Walter Bauer

162 Pages·1999·7.105 MB·English

by  Angelika Arend

Documents of Protest and Compassion
The Poetry of Walter Bauer
Walter Bauer, a socially committed writer and humanist, emigrated from
Germany to Canada in 1952 after becoming disillusioned with social and
intellectual developments in Germany. During his progression from dish-
washer to university professor, Canada's multicultural outlook allowed him
to remain true to himself and loyal to his intellectual heritage, but he died
without seeing his humanistic goals fulfilled. While living in Canada he
continued to write poetry for a German audience, but this audience ignored
him. At the same time he remained unknown to most Canadians, whom he
might have reached had he decided at an earlier stage to write in English.
His dilemma, typical of that faced by many immigrant writers, is effectively
documented in his writings.
Documents of Protest and Compassion offers the first extensive critical assess-
ment of Bauer's considerable poetic oeuvre. In this long-overdue supplement
to recent anthologies of Bauer's poetry and essays on his life and work,
Angelika Arend draws on Bauer's diaries and letters to reveal the pro-
foundly humane intentions that guided his choice of themes and structures.
She shows that social protest and brotherly compassion, shared responsibil-
ity and critical self-reflection are Bauer's main thematic fare, which he
presented in simple, yet carefully crafted, poetic structures, and explains how
these ideas and forms developed or remained constant in light of historical,
cultural, social, and personal developments.
Documents of Protest and Compassion is important for those interested in
Bauer's work, German poetry, German-Canadian literature, and the immi-
grant writing experience.
ANGELIKA AREND is associate professor of German, University of Victoria.
Walter Bauer
"'Wer sich bewegt, berührt die Welt, und wer ruht,
den berührt sie. Deswegen müssen wir immer bereit
sein, zu berühren und berührt zu werden.' (Goethe)
(Tagebuch, 24. Mai 1958)
Documents of
Protest and
Compassion
The Poetry of
Walter Bauer
A N G E L I KA AREND
McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca
McGill-Queen's University Press 1999
ISBN 07735-1879-7
Legal deposit fourth quarter 1999
Bibliothèque nationale du Quèbec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
This book has been published with the help of a grant
from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of
Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Additional funding was provided by the University
of Victoria.
Canada
McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the
financial support of the Government of Canada
through the Book Publishing Industry Development
Program (BPIDP) for its activities. We also
acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for
the Arts for our publishing program.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Arend, Angelika, 1942-
Documents of protest and compassion: the poetry of
Walter Bauer
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-1879-7
1. Bauer, Walter, 1904-1976. - Criticism and
interpretation, I. Title.
PT2603.A79Z58 1999 831' .914 C99-900807-2
Typeset in Palatino 10/12
by Caractèra inc., Quebec City
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 3
1 Poetic Creed 7
THE OLD WORLD
2 Mastering the Craft 23
3 Critical Strategies 39
AND THE NEW
4 The Price of Immigration 57
5 Holding Up the Mirror 70
6 Old Virtues Revisited 84
7 Theatrum Mundi 103
8 The Courage of Old Age 118
Postscript 135
Notes 137
Works Cited 143
Index 147
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Acknowledgments
The initial impulse for this study came from Walter Riedel whose
continued critical comment and encouragement I acknowledge with
gratitude and appreciation. I am equally grateful to Rodney Syming-
ton whose constructive criticism and practical help have been invalu-
able to me. Sincere thanks also to Henry Beissel whose Bauer
publications furnished the live wire connecting me to the poet's
mind and heart.
I would like to thank Inez Weston and Julian Manyoni for their
careful scrutiny of the entire manuscript; Ulrich Profitlich for making
available from his archive Walter Bauer's photograph; and Susan
Mackey for stepping in at the eleventh hour to discipline the com-
puter that had defeated me.
I wish to acknowledge with thanks permission to quote from
Bauer's works granted by the following persons and publishers:
Günter Hess: Lebenslauf, Unpublished Letters and Diaries; Andreas J.
Meyer, Merlin Verlag: Ein jahr, Fragment vom Hahnenschrei; Suhrkamp
Verlag: Geburt des Poeten; Ragnar Tessloff, Tessloff Verlag: Der Weg
zählt, Klopfzeichen, Mein blaues Oktavheft.
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the
Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada. Additional
publication assistance was received from the University of Victoria.
I acknowledge both grants with gratitude.
I dedicate this book to Horst Schreiner whose unflagging good
humour and support enabled me to complete the project.
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Abbreviations
BAUER'S WORKS
DS A Different Sun
DT Dämmerung wird Tag
EJ Ein Jahr
FH Fragment vom Hahnenschrei
GE Gast auf Erden
GP Geburt des Poeten
KS Kameraden, zu euch spreche ich
KN Klopfzeichen
LL Lebenslauf
NT Nachtwachen des Tellerwäschers
OH Mein blaues Oktavheft
SL Stimme aus dem Leunawerk
TF Tagebuchblätter aus Frankreich
OTHER
Wanderer Walter Riedel and Rodney Symington, eds.
Der Wanderer. Aufsätze zu Leben und Werk
von Walter Bauer
TR The Tamarack Review
UPM Henry Beissel, "The Unpublished Poetry
Manuscripts of Walter Bauer's Last
Decade." Wanderer 169-95.