Abstract

Paul Celan's "Die Winzer" (E. "The Vintagers") is a poem that narrates the story of its own composition and eventual reception through the metaphor of a ritual communion. At the same time, particularly in its rhythmic structure, the poem imitates that very communion by means of a traditional poetic device called "kinaesthesis" (in the recent semiotic terminology of W. K. Wimsatt). The essay is a reading of "Die Winzer" that develops its semiotic complexities and seeks to assign it a proper place in the general field of "verbal mimesis." The present author is not a philosopher, nor does he require a reader who is.

Keywords: Die Winzer, Paul Celan, The Vintagers, poem, narrates, composition, reception, metaphor, communion, ritual, kinaesthesis, W. K. Wimsatt, verbal mimesis

How to Cite:

Stern, H., (1983) “Verbal Mimesis: The Case of "Die Winzer."”, Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature 8(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.4148/2334-4415.1130