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The 8erlln Journal
ohn lluge, chairman and president ol
Metromedia Company and president
ol the ohn lluge loundation, was hon-
ored in a special evening organized by
Academy vice chairman Cahl lodges
8urt at the lans Arnhold Center on May
28, 2003. lluge, a pioneer in indepen-
dent television station ownership and
telecommunication ventures has been
no less ol a pioneer in supporting the
American Academy. According to Mrs.
8urt, he was, along with the lellen and
lans Arnhold lamilies, the lirst private
individual who came lorward to help us."
1hat was in 1997, when the institution
was still a |aj|sc//css - a castle in the air.
Almost six years later, the lluges made
their lirst visit to the Academy on a line
spring evening to see how the idea had
translated into brick and mortar. 1he
lluges recently buttressed the Academy
with another major gilt: a second million
lor the Academy's endowment.
Among the many distinguished guests
who came to toast lluge on May 28 were
trustees kichard C. lolbrooke, Cahl
lodges 8urt, osel olle, ohn lornblum,
Count 0tto Lambsdorll, Xina von
Maltzahn, and - the newest addition to
the board - \illiam laseltine. linner
was lollowed by a high-prolile dialogue
between Ambassador lolbrooke and the
Cerman minister ol the interior, 0tto
Schily, moderated by kichard 8ernstein
ol the Nca cr/ 1ircs 1he transatlantic
discussion was one ol several Academy
events intended both to probe the causes
ol the current tension in LS-Cerman rela-
tions and to take steps toward alleviating
that tension.
ln gratitude lor lluge's generous
gilt, the trustees have named legal histo-
rian lenneth Ledlord ol Case \estern
keserve Lniversity as the lirst ohn \.
lluge lellow. lrolessor Ledlord is under-
taking a study ol lrussian judges and
the rule ol law in Cermany between 18!8
and 191!.
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Ach|evements, Awards,
Appo|ntments, Act|v|t|es
ln our last issue, we reported that novel-
ist lrrrrrv ltcrirrs was awarded the
lulitzer lrize in liction lor his novel
Mi/csc\ on which he worked during his
Academy residency. Since then the book
has turned into a bestseller in Cermany
too, and earned him the annual
literature prize lrom the Cerman natio-
nal daily Dic wc/| in September. lis read-
ing last May at the lans Arnhold Center,
moderated by Nca cr/ 1ircs 8erlin cor-
respondent kichard 8ernstein, attracted
an audience ol 1!0 people. Sts
Sorc received the most prestigious
Cerman book prize, the lriedenspreis
des leutschen 8uchhandels (leace lrize
ol the Cerman 8ooksellers Association)
at the end ol the lranklurt 8ook lair
in 0ctober. 8rtxi 8rrrr's new
book |rirc cj |car was presented in its
Cerman translation (8eck \erlag) at the
lranklurt 8ook lair.
Composer Micnrt lrrscn will
release his lirst Cl in anuary 200! on
the Artemis Classics label. 1he recording
will be entitled: Mic/ac/ ncrsc/ C/arocr
Masic. 1he perlormers are the String
Soloists ol the 8erlin lhilharmonic and
Michael lersch himsell playing the
piano works. 1he program notes were
written by author and Academy alumnus
Xicnots lwirorr. Composer 8rrsv
lots was leatured in a nine-page inter-
view and a prolile in the summer issue
ol |c Mcrc c /|aca|icr. 1his lall she
is a visiting prolessor ol composition at
the Lniversity ol Michigan, Ann Arbor,
and her work will be perlormed there
on Xovember 23, and on lecember ! at
the Lniversity ol lndiana, 8loomington.
Composer Mrri 8rrsicx has just
received a Cuggenheim lellowship lor
the coming spring and will be teaching
and perlorming in Australia (with Lisa
Moore at the Sydney lestival) in anuary.
Xext spring he will be a visiting proles-
sor at Xew College, 0xlord, and will then
attend the 8ogliasco and 8ellagio Centers
in ltaly.
\riter A lrtrx's lnglish
translation ol 8ach's Cantata 1o3 (Xur
jedem das seine") received its world
premiere by the Seattle Symphony on
0ctober 17. ler short story Meanwhile"
was included in J ncrr; |ri:c 3|crics
21 which came out this lall, another
story,Stalin lreaming," won third
prize in the 2003 lackney Awards. loet
Sixor li lirro will be in residence
at the Center lor the \riting Arts at
Xorthwestern Lniversity, lvanston until
mid lecember. Naoc/ci a| Ccrrc//, edited
by Cornell prolessor Cvrirt Snriro
was published last spring. Author and
policy expert lvir kirrr regularly ollers
his views to the Cerman public, most
recently in a piece lor the 3aca|sc/c
zci|ar on the Lnited Xations. le con-
tributed an essay to the 3z's cultural
section arguing against LS intervention
in Liberia in uly. lconomist and policy
expert 8rrr 8tt was recently
appointed to the 8oard ol 1rustees ol
0ne\oice, an lsraeli-lalestinian peace
initiative and was also named Senior
Advisor to the lidary loundation which
supports economic development pro-
grams worldwide.
Several publications and a lilm
by Academy alumni historians have
recently been brought lorth. lrntrr
Xrits Cozr published her study
ol Cermans in Minnesota with the
Minnesota listorical Society lress. 1he
book ollers a concise history ol Cermans
in Minnesota including immigration
patterns, the Catholic and Lutheran
churches, cultural organizations, busi-
nesses, and politics, especially in the
\orld \ar l years.
lirt 8ovri's book 8crcr |ircs
n;oris. ncrc|ics. ar |/c |ar|i|icr cj
/accC/ris|iari|;, on which he worked
during his Academy lellowship, will
be published by the Lniversity ol
lennsylvania lress in anuary 200!. le
has been appointed Chair ol Xear lastern
Studies at 8erkeley. Ari Crossx
recently published an article based in
part on her 8erlin research, \ersions ol
lome: Cerman-ewish kelugee lapers
out ol the Closet and into the Archives,"
ir ncraasjcrcrarcr ca|sc/aisc/cr
ka/|ar |r|cris:i/irarc |crsc/|iicr lrank
Stern, ed. A Cerman Marshall lund
grant enabled her to linish a dralt ol
her book \ic|irs. \ic|crs. ar 3ariiicrs
Ccrrars. A//ics. ar /cas ir |cs|aar
Jccaic Ccrrar; !v15 1v (lorthcom-
ing) while in residence at the kemarque
lnstitute in lall 2002. Alter completing
his book 8aaciscrs ir|c C:cc/s ar
Ccrrars, lrrrxv lic is locusing his
research on the constitutional relorms
- small compromises" - ol 190 -1!
in the Austrian hall ol the labsburg
Monarchy. 8ri Lrr co-directed
with ohn \oods, the documentary
8cr/irs nicr nis|cr;, an engaging look
at the ever-changing architectural and
cultural landscape ol the city. Ladd did
the writing and narration on the project
and shared shooting and directing credit.
lowrr M. \cnrrt's new book, 3|rcc|s
cj Drcars. 8ca/ciar cj 8rc/cr ncar|s
wa// 3|rcc|s |irs| Ccr|ar; has received an
excellent reception. 1/c |irarcia/ 1ircs
called it a well-written and enlightening
early history ol CordonJ Cecko's natural
habitat." lis luropean book launch took
him to London, Amsterdam, and laris,
and in the LS, to a lecture at the Xew
York lublic Library.
The 8er||n Connect|on
A number ol lormer lellows have been
drawn back to 8erlin lor long-term
projects. Xi 8rrsrri stayed in
8erlin through the summer alter her lall
lellowship, working on several articles
lor the Nca cr/ 1ircs and on a book
project. listorian and policy expert
\trrr Lgtrtr completed a one-year
residency at the \issenschaltskolleg zu
8erlin, and historian Crrtr lrtrx
concluded another 8erlin year working
at the \issenschaltszentrum 8erlin lr
Soziallorschung. Author and literary
scholar Aris liorrros has returned to
the city as Cultural Cousel (ka/|arra|)
ol the Swedish lmbassy in 8erlin. le
presented new literary work at the 8erlin
lnternational Literature lestival in
September and moderated current lel-
low \endy Lesser's talk at the Academy
this lall. Architectural historian \ttis
Mittrr will continue her research on
Mies van der kohe in town until early
200!, when she takes up a lellowship at
the Canadian Centre lor Architecture.
8erlin welcomed short-term visitors
as well. loet lttr lisrv came lrom
laris this summer to give a lecture at
the ll lnstitut ol the lrei Lniversitat.
ewish studies scholar lirt 8ovri
participated in a panel discussion
during the lirst ecumenical gather-
ing ol Christian churches this spring.
Musicologist and jazz pianist Srrrn
Lirrx visited the Academy alter
a hall-year residency in London. Last
spring, religious studies scholar 8rrr
Socxrss occasionally joined the
Academy's lellows lrom lalle, where he
was a guest prolessor lor the year.
Artist Str rr 8rrr's video lans and
Crete" was up at 8erlin's kars|acr/c this
season. 1he video, which she complet-
ed during her Academy residency, has
sparked interest in museums in a number
ol countries. Artists Atrx lrz, lrr
Ysisxv, Str lr 8rrr, and Srn
Morris have all donated works to the
Academy, which are now prominently
displayed in the lans Arnhold Center.
Alumni Accomplishments
8; |aa/ 3|cc
A Refresh|ng V|ew
of 8er||n
6oca6o|a 60 0oug 0aIt speaks
at the Academy
when 0oug|as 0aft and h|s w|fe
0e|ph|ne v|s|ted the hans Arnho|d
Center on Nay 5, 2008, some n|nety
|nv|ted guests turned out to hear the
CocaCo|a's Ch|ef Execut|ve 0ffcer
de||ver a |uncht|me |ecture on the
|nternat|ona| respons|b|||ty of corpora
t|ons. Present were Academy trustees
0|ethart 8re|poh|, h|na von Na|tzahn,
R|chard C. ho|brooke, John Kornb|um,
Kurt V|ermetz, and Vo|ker Sch|ndorff,
as was the US Ambassador to 0ermany,
0an|e| R. Coats. The afternoon was
crowned by the announcement of
CocaCo|a's sponsorsh|p of a named
fe||owsh|p for the next three years.
lnaugurat|ng the CocaCo|a
Company Fe||owsh|p at the Academy
next spr|ng |s art|st Xu 8|ng, a creat|ve
force |n the wor|d of pr|ntmak|ng, ca|
||graphy, and |nsta||at|on art. h|s work
has been shown a|| over As|a, Europe,
and horth Amer|ca and exp|ores many
|anguages and var|ous forms of wr|t
|ng, pr|nt|ng, and bookb|nd|ng. A recent
so|o exh|b|t|on, word P|ay," was he|d
at the Arthur N. Sack|er 0a||ery at
wash|ngton's Sm|thson|an lnst|tut|on
|n 200 - the frst oneman show the
Sack|er had ever devoted to a ||v
|ng art|st. A show at the Nuseum fr
0stas|at|sche Kunst |n 8er||n0ah|em |s
be|ng p|anned for next Nay at the end
of Xu 8|ng's res|dency. Nore projects
can be v|ewed at www.xub|ng.com.
A st||| from Karen Yas|nsky's 0V0 an|mat|on huofed, wh|ch she began work|ng on as Ph|||p Norr|s Art|st |n the Spr|ng of 2008.
her work |s current|y on v|ew |n a show ca||ed 0ev|at|ons" at the 0a|er|e K & S |n 8er||n (L|n|enstrassee 5G-57).
Yas|nsky's next tr|p to 8er||n w||| co|nc|de w|th her onewoman show at the Knst|erhaus 8ethan|en, wh|ch opens January 5, 2004.
Va.o 6e.os 8ao
0erhard Casper w|th h|s former Stanford
provost, 0r. Condo|eezza R|ce.
aa Number Seven Fall Z003
Irustee ProI||e: 6erhard 6asper
Ihe 6u|ture oI 6o||eg|a||ty
by 6hr|st|oe 8r|ock
The 8erlln Journal a3
Cerhard, Cerhard," the students
chanted at many a graduation. Cerhard"
was not a Cerman pop or soccer star,
though he used to be Cerman and is a
star in his own right. 1he Cerhard they
cheered was the president ol Stanlord
Lniversity, and his last name was Casper.
1hough ovations are not exactly what
university presidents are known lor or
used to, Casper was so popular with
his students that Cerhard, Cerhard,"
lollowed him into retirement. lven three
years later, at Commencement 2003, the
lusty accolades kept coming.
Cerhard Casper was born in
lamburg, Cermany in 1937, on
Christmas lay. le had his lirst brush
with America when he was 1o years old.
le was the only Cerman among school
children lrom thirty countries who
had been invited to Xew York lor three
months to become acquainted with the
Lnited States. ln a discussion at a 8ronx
high school, young Cerhard learned how
hard it was to be Cerman, even nine years
alter the war. le was being stuck with
responsibility lor the Xazi past. 0nly
the delegate lrom lsrael, a girl named
Xurit, delended him in lront ol the other
students.
Alter linishing Cymnasium in
lamburg, Casper was inducted into
the prestigious Studienstiltung des
leutschen \olkes, a Cerman version ol
the Xational Merit Scholarship lrogram.
le started out by studying law in
lamburg - originally as preparation lor
a loreign service career. Alter a sojourn at
the lnstitut d'ltudes lolitiques (Sciences
lo) in laris, he went to lreiburg where
he lound two teachers, lrik \oll and
lonrad lesse, who instilled the love ol
jurisprudence in him lor good.
luring an academic year at Yale
Lniversity, he had the great lortune ol
meeting lannah Arendt and her circle
ol lriends. le was lascinated by the
protagonists ol an intellectual tradition
that was so sadly absent in postwar
Cermany and in the Cerman university.
8ack in Cermany he earned his lirst law
degree in lamburg in 19o1. ln 19o2, his
L.L.M. in Yale lollowed. ln 19o! he got
his doctorate in lreiburg and married
kegina loschel, a prolessor ol psychiatry.
Alter brooding over it, he decided to
lorgo a Cerman career and take a job as
assistant prolessor ol political science at
the Lniversity ol Calilornia at 8erkeley
instead.
le had never taught students, let
alone in a loreign language. 1o tell the
truth," he reports laconically, l did not
quite know what l was doing." Lile did
not become any easier when this young
prolessor suddenly lound himsell in the
midst ol the lree Speech Movement,
the beginning ol the great revolt that
would soon spread to so many campuses
across America. Lncomlortable with
the ideological polarization, he happily
accepted a call lrom the Lniversity ol
Chicago in 19oo to go back to his original
law career.
Chicago would become his home
lor the next 2o years. 1his Cerman,
who always carries a copy ol the LS
Constitution in his pocket, taught
constitutional law and history to his
American students. At Chicago, he
again met lannah Arendt, who was at
the university's Committee on Social
1hought. linally, the student revolution
did catch up with him. At the height
ol the \ietnam war, a growing chorus
ol critics asked whether the principles
ol the Xuremberg 1ribunal should not
be applied to the conduct ol the war.
So, together with lannah Arendt, he
organized a seminar on Xuremberg lor
law and philosophy scholars.
Chicago's Law School is still widely
considered to be among the nation's
most demanding, a very breeding ground
lor lederal judges. ln 1979, Casper would
become its dean. 8ut his national reputa-
tion had already preceded him. 1hough
still a Cerman citizen at the time, he was
- only in America" - a sought-out con-
gressional expert witness and consultant
during the \atergate era. le was now so
much part ol the American game that he
decided to change citizenship. lt seemed
unlair," he explained, not to lormalize
this status."
At the university, he also became
lamous - as creator ol a culture ol col-
legiality - a sense ol a shared common
mission," as his successor as dean,
Ceollrey k. Stone put it. 1his culture
lound its most poignant expression in
1he koundtable," a lour-times-a-week
gathering at the laculty Club at which
a dozen law prolessors met regularly
lor discussions ol hard-case legal issues
or legal education policy. 1he Xew
York 1imes called this institution a
monument to Mr. Casper's tenure at the
school."
1he gatherings were not only col-
legial brainstorming sessions but also
grueling test runs lor prospective laculty
members. kumor had it that those who
did not get tenure had llunked the
koundtable. Casper, however, was not all
law and law school. le proved his widely
praised intellectual mettle in all lields ol
the academy as provost ol the university
lrom 1989 to 1992. At this point, he
would have been a shoe-in lor the presi-
dency ol the Lniversity ol Chicago. 8ut
suddenly Stanlord knocked at his door.
1he larm," as Stanlord is allectionately
called by its members, had run into
linancial turmoil in 1991 and was looking
lor an even-keeled leader like Casper. le
was the search committee's unanimous-
choice. So it was good-bye to the
Midwest and welcome to Silicon \alley."
1he real reason Stanlord hired him,
jokes Casper, was because he was the
only candidate who could correctly pro-
nounce the university's motto Dic |aj|
cr |rci/ci| ac/|" (the winds ol lreedom
blow), a quotation lrom the medieval
Cerman humanist Llrich von lutten.
l think it's lair to say that alter so many
presidents doing a poor job at pronuncia-
tion, the 8oard ol 1rustees linally wanted
someone who could do it right," Casper
reports with a grin. So l was their man."
1he tall, white-haired ex-lamburger
with his lunny accent proved that lrauts
do have a sense ol humor alter all.
1he palm tree-lined campus ol
Stanlord was very dillerent lrom
Chicago's rough South Side neighbor-
hood. lt was a lot warmer there, and
much more relaxed. 8ut maybe too
easy-going, Casper thought. le wanted
not only to set the bookkeeping straight
but also to raise standards in teaching
and research. 1he new president made
undergraduate teaching his mission.
Above all, he wanted to oller Stanlord's
techies" a more solid grounding in the
liberal arts.
lor the larm," this was something ol
an academic revolution. 8ut the culture
ol collegiality" Casper had practiced so
successlully at Chicago helped - as did
the dire straits in which the university
lound itsell at the beginning ol the 1990s.
Stanlord was ready to see in Casper a
knight in shining armor who was going
to save the damsel lrom distress. ln
his lirst lour years, Casper launched a
whole series ol major changes in the
undergraduate curriculum. 0ne was the
Stanlord lntroductory Studies, a series
ol small seminars lor lirst- and second-
year students. Another was Sophomore
College, a two-week program in which
students take one intensive course belore
regular classes begin in the lall. le
also initiated the Stanlord lresidential
Lectures in the Arts and lumanities. lt
helped that the import lrom Chicago was
also an enormously successlul lundraiser.
Much ol what Casper raked in at
record levels was channeled into under-
graduate education, especially the liberal
arts. 1he undergraduates were gratelul
lor it, hence the Cerhard, Cerhard"
chants lor a man who became almost as
popular with the students as a pop star.
1he kids soon accepted Casper lor what
he was: not a cut-and-dry university
administrator but as advocate ol learning
with and lrom students. Casper himsell
maintains that he learned most ol what
he knows lrom his students. 1hat was
his personal pay-oll lor instituting small
seminars lor lreshmen and sophomores.
lere was a true lumboldt acolyte among
the palms, a believer in the republic ol
scholars. lt goes without saying that this
president was not an 0lympian ligure as
was the tradition at larvard. Cerhard
(never erry") probably became the
most accessible president in the annals ol
the modern American academy.
\hen he announced his resignation
in 1999 (to take ellect in 2000), it made
the headlines - and not only in the
Stanlord laily. lven his presidential col-
leagues were sad and dismayed. lis was
the model presidency. Students came to
his house to dissuade him lrom stepping
down. \hile Casper declined, he lound it
incredibly moving that students would
leel that they can do that, to come direct-
ly and express their leelings." lnlormal
interactions like this were the hallmark
ol his presidency. 1alking to students in
the Main Quad, having discussions in the
dorms, doing bedtime stories," Casper
recalls. lt was so very enjoyable - very,
very satislying."
So why did he want to step down
laving worked as an administrator
lor twenty years, Casper was alraid ol
burnout." Alter a badly needed sab-
batical, part ol which he spent at the
\issenschaltskolleg zu 8erlin, he
returned to the larm as mere" prolessor.
laving done so much lor undergradu-
ate education, particularly lor lirst- and
second-year students, he is now back to
undergraduate teaching. le lormulates
his credo thus: A broad liberal arts edu-
cation at a research-intensive university
where students really learn to question
the evidence andJ their own prejudices
is by lar the best education lor anything
in lile."
lt comes as no surprise that Casper,
who has collected honors and honorary
degrees galore, is now a sought-alter
speaker, author, and lundraiser. le
is a member ol the very exclusive
Cerman order lour le merite, ol the
American Academy ol Arts and Sciences,
the American Law lnstitute, the
lnternational Academy ol Comparative
Law and the American lhilosophical
Society.
Since 2000 Casper has added the
membership on the 8oard ol the
American Academy in 8erlin to this
impressive list. 1he man who did so
much lor undergraduate education is
not resting on his laurels. 1ogether with
political scientist Steve lrasner and
comparative literature prolessor kamon
Saldivar, he is now teaching a new course
in Stanlord about the changing concept
ol citizenship in the \est. lis talents as
educator and lundraiser and his ties to
both Cermany and the LS should come
in handy lor the Academy on the
\annsee.
l-.oo l--|-
One of the eight chosen
top estates from Germany
to present their wines
at the famous
New Ycrk \ine Experience,
October 25th, 2003,
held by \ine Spectatcr.
Selected wines of
\egeler Estates
are being served at the
American Academy.
wL N c u f L
wLcLLL
0utshaus Uestrlch
0utshaus 8ernkastel
0utshaus ueldeshelm
Fcr mcre lnfcrmatlcn ccntact:
welnguter wegeler
Frledensplatz
6, Uestrlch-wlnkel
Telefcn: o6,-o o
Fax: o6,-o 66
lnfc[wegeler.ccm
The 8erlln Journal ay
l.o1es-
!6u
The 8erlln Journal ay
l.o1es-
!6u
a8 Number Seven Fall Z003
r 1lc lATIhhNT
1he American Academy in 8erlin
was honored when, lor the lirst
time, the American lmbassy's tra-
ditional lndependence lay party
was held on the lawn ol the lans
Arnhold Center. Ambassador
laniel k. Coats and his wile Marcia
welcomed more than 2,00 guests,
including Cerman lconomics
Minister \ollgang Clement,
As it does each semester, thelans
Arnhold Center is once again expect-
ing a talented group ol lelows lor
the coming spring. 1he loltzbrink
lellowship in ournalism will be
held by 1homas Ceoghegan, a
writer and lawyer (lespres Schwartz
and Ceoghegan). 1wo lellows
inaugurate the Ceorge l. \. 8ush
lellowship: historian lope
larrison (Ceorge \ashington
Lniversity) and prolessor ol
international relations Andrew
. 8acevich (8oston Lniversity).
Legal historian lenneth l. Ledlord
Snea| PrevieW
Ihe 5pr|og Z004 Fe||ows
(Case \estern Lniversity) will
be the lirst ohn \. lluge lellow.
Cultural listorian Miriam lansen
(Lniversity ol Chicago) and writer
llizabeth McCracken (Lniversity ol
lowa \riters' \orkshop) are both
lllen Maria Corrissen lellows. 1he
laimlerChrysler lellows this semes-
ter will be lavid lerris (Shepherd
School ol Music, kice Lniversity)
and historian Michael Ceyer
(Lniversity ol Chicago). 1wo artists
will take up 8erlin residence: Xu
8ing, who inagurates the Coca-Cola
lellowship, and installation and lilm
Minister ol the lnterior 0tto Schily,
and 8erlin's mayor llaus \owereit.
8erlin's lamous Stars in Concert"
graced the stage, and the night cul-
minated in a glittering display ol
lireworks set oll lrom a boat in the
middle ol the \annsee.
America on the \annsee
Ihe Ambassador 6e|ebrates Ju|y 4th at the haos Aroho|d 6eoter
LS Secretary ol lngergy Spencer
Abraham explained his coun-
try's energy and climate policies
on September 17 at the American
Academy in 8erlin as part ol its
new 1ransatlantic lolicy lorumJ.
According to Abraham, the LS has
wholly acknowledged that climate
change is a century-long challenge
that must be conlronted right away.
lowever, he added that this can
only occur on the basis ol solid sci-
entilic insight and new technology.
0ur administration has devel-
oped an ambitious approach to cli-
mate change that rests on three
main pillars - technology, science,
and international cooperation,"
explained Abraham. le argued
that it is necessary to develop rev-
olutionary technologies that will
achieve a reduction ol greenhouse
gases.
According to Abraham, attempt-
ing to improve today's energy sys-
tems is not a sullicient course ol
action. \e must lundamentally
change the ways we produce and
consume energy. 1he cabinet mem-
ber argued that attempting to solve
the problem ol greenhouse gas
emissions without new technolo-
gies would ultimately lead to eco-
nomic stagnation, no matter how
noble our intentions.
1he immediate goal ol the LS,
according to Abraham, is to slow
the growth ol carbon-dioxide emis-
sions. lowever it is essential that
this encourage, rather than discour-
age economic growth. 1he concrete
goal ol the 8ush Administration is
Transat|antic C|imate
Chane
6eorge 8ush's oergy Adv|sor 5eeks 5o|ut|oos |o Iechoo|ogy
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by 18 percent in relation to the Cll
over the next ten years.
\hile the current ratio is 183
metric tons ol greenhouse emis-
sions every $1 million ol Cll, by
2012 this ligure is to be reduced to
11 metric tons. ln the context ol
the $1 billion lutureCen" project,
the administration even wants to
develop an emission-lree, coal-lilled
power plant.
Abraham endorsed the use ol
nuclear energy, which he relerred
to as a clean energy choice." At the
same time, he called lor the accel-
eration ol the path to a hydrogen-
based economy.
\e can and will translorm our
economies lrom carbon-based to
hydrogen-based," stated Abraham
conlidently. le explained that
hydrogen might one day be pro-
duced by new, even saler, and more
economical lission reactors.
Abraham emphasized that we
still know very little about the
dynamics ol global climate change.
1o remedy the lack ol knowledge,
Abraham champions the necessity
ol large research ellorts that would
enable the development ol ellicient
technical solutions.
8; Ncrocr| /cssaa
lrom Dic wc/|
September 18, 2003
1rars/a|c o; Daric/ na;sscr
Arch|tect 0an|e| L|besk|nd de||vered the sec
ond annua| Stephen Ke||en Lecture |n ear|y
September at the hans Arnho|d Center, a pre
sentat|on of h|s stud|o's work|ng des|gn for the
rebu||d|ng of the s|te of the wor|d Trade Center
|n Lower Nanhattan. he |s shown here stand
|ng before the s||kscreen portra|t of Ada Katz
donated to the Amer|can Academy by A|ex
Katz, Ph|||p Norr|s 0|st|ngu|shed Art|st |n the
spr|ng of 200.
artist keynold keynolds, who will
be the Cuna S. Mundheim lellow.
1he .l. Morgan lnternatio-nal lrize
in linance lolicy and lconomics
is held by journalist lavid \arsh.
lnternational security expert laniel
8enjamin (the Center lor Strategic
and lnternational Studies) and
lrolessor ol law Mary Anne Case
(Lniversity ol Chicago Law School)
are the 8osch lublic lolicy lellows.
1he spring 200! listinguished
\isitors include composer Lukas
loss and lormer LS ambassadors
Martin lndyk and lennis koss.
P
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o
t
o
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h
e
n
r
y
h
e
r
r
m
a
n
n
f
o
r
E
v
e
n
t
P
r
e
s
s
A
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e
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t
u
r
At the American Academy we get a daily close-up ol works-in-progress, a
proximity that has led us to hold the intermittent products ol creativity
in high regard. Sometimes those nrst images are especially intense - as in
\ard ust's lade 0ut" (a study lor his novel 1/c wca|/cr ir 8cr/ir), which
we published in the summer ol 2001. 0r they are abrupt, as were the lrag-
ments ol Mozart's unnnished string quartets discovered by lellow Chris-
topher \olll and perlormed at the lans Arnhold Center in March 2001
under his musicological guidance. 0ther times a moment no longer rel-
evant to a narrative strategy is preserved, as in onathan lranzen's hilar-
ious Long laragraph Concerning lenise Lambert's lnability to 8uy
za 1able lor ler lining koom " (almost, but not quite, included in 1/c
Ccrrcc|icrs), printed in our Spring 2002 issue. Such outtakes disclose
much about an author's working methods and the artistic choices he or
she must constantly conlront - the choice between a specinc outtake's
imaginative power and its possible awkwardness, or even irrelevance, in
the integrated whole .
A writer who saves his or her nctional discards accords them a spe-
cial signincance. lor this issue we asked several past, present, and luture
lellows and guests to share their reluctant ara/icrcra - notably nov-
elists ellrey lugenides, llisabeth McCracken, and onathan Salran loer.
ln addition, poet/translator lierre oris gives us insight into the poet-
ic process ol laul Celan, and literary scholar Svetlana 8oym extends the
analogy to her work as an amateur photographer. ln the next issue we shall
make a historiographic point when we question the omission ol several let-
ters lrom the published correspondence between 8etty Scholem and her
son Cershom.
lid we leave anything out As this year's authors and scholars peer
out on the \annsee, writing, renecting, or just biding their time until the
right phrase or argument occurs, we are especially thanklul lor the Acad-
emy's vantage point on the sundry works-in-progress, keeping in mind
Coethe's admonition to 7elter that \e cannot know when a work ol
nature or ol art has been nnished, we must surprise them in the process ol
being created so as to understand them to some degree."
Ta|in on the 0utta|e
By Gary Smith
0utta|es are ideas removed or omitted
- in music, a teW bars ot a score, in ti|m,
a ta|e |ett on the cuttin room t|oor. The
Cerman corre|ate comes trom the Cree|
ara||oea. that Which is |ett out trom
the tina| Wor|. Some scho|ars Wi|| assert
that these are otten more interestin than
the tinished Wor|, Which \a|ter Benjamin
tamous|y deemed "the death mas| ot its
conception. Certain|y the actor Adrian
Brody must have thouht so When his
brea|throuh pertormance in Terrence
Va|ic|'s !|e !|| Red ||e ended up on
the cuttin room t|oor. The ti|mma|er
(Who Was a 0istinuished Visitor at the
Academy |ast year) Was compe||ed to
abride the ti|m by severa| hours. Since
Brody's ste||ar pertormance in Roman
Po|ans|i's !|e ||a|si, Who Wou|dn't
Want to screen Va|ic|'s outta|es`
0utta|e
trrrrrv rtcrirrs, who held a 8erlin lrize lellowship at the American
Academy in 2000-01, won a lulitzer lrize this year lor his novel
Mi/csc\ and, most recently, the Dic wc/| literature prize. le is also
the author ol 1/c \irir 3aicics le lives in 8erlin.
Cultural critic and comparative literature prolessor svrrt rovx, this
lall's Cillette Company lellow, is the author ol Ccrrcr |/accs M;|/c/c
ics cj |icr;a; |ijc ir kassia (199), 1/c |a|arc cj Ncs|a/ia (2001), and,
most recently, Nircc//a a Ncic/
rtizrrrn xccrcxr will be Anna-Maria lellen lellow at the Acade-
my next spring. Niara |a//s a// Jicr Aair, the story ol a vaudeville duo,
won a rr award last year. She is also the author ol ncrcs car na|. w/a|s
car narr; 3|crics and 1/c Ciar|s ncasc, which was nominated lor a
Xational 8ook Award in 199o. McCracken currently teaches at the lowa
\riters' \orkshop.
torn srr rorr, who visited the Academy in the spring ol 2003,
is the author ol the best-selling novel |icr;|/ir is |//arira|c. 1he antho-
logy he edited, A Ccricrcrcc cj 8irs Jriira/ |ic|icr ar |cc|r; |rsirc
o; /csc/ Ccrrc//, includes essays by oyce Carol 0ates, Lydia lavis, and
kick Moody, among others, and received awards lor its superb design.
rorr rirrrr toris, 8erlin lrize lellow this semester, is author ol
numerous volumes ol poetry, and, most recently, ol A Ncra |cc|ics
|ssa;s, published this 0ctober. le is translator ol laul Celan's 8rca|/|arr
and 1/rcasars and the editor, with erome kothenberg, ol |ccrs jcr
|/c Mi//crriar 1/c Iriicrsi|; cj Ca/ijcrria 8cc/ cj Mccrr |cs|rccrr
|cc|r;, in two volumes.
The Contr|butors
The 8erlln Journal 3
1he Spirit ol letroit, you see, wasn't the only ngure making midnight trips
across the city's racial divide. lor some time now, according to immy's sis-
ter lelen, her brother had been exhibiting the telltale signs ol lorbidden
love. lvery Monday night he dresses up and goes out. le puts on cologne.
immy. 1hen he comes back two, three in the morning and doesn't say a
word. ll l ask he says he went to the movies."
8ut why wouldn't he tell you" asked 1essie.
l'll tell you why. 1wo weeks ago me and the girls went over to the kooster-
tail. \e just wanted to have a drink and look out at the water. \e get there
and the place is jammed. lveryone's there to see this little kid. Couldn't
have been more than twelve. And he's blind! You should've seen him. Sun-
glasses, white jacket, cute little thing. 8ut boy could he play the harmoni-
ca. Anyway, there was no place to sit. My leet were killing me, so we decid-
ed to leave. 8ut just as we're going out, guess who l saw"
immy."
And not just immy." She stage-whispered. A rairc."
You're kidding."
le's always been that way, 1essie. Likes the colored music. le's got all
kinds ol records. 1hey're making them right over on \est Crand. Some
new record company in somebody's basement. Motown. Supposed to be
a big deal."
0r it went something like that. My old lnglish prolessor, lmil 8rustein,
used to make lun ol expositional dialogue, but l nnd that my newlound lit-
erary gilt doesn't come lree ol conventions. \hat are conventions, any-
way, but genetic markers in the body ol literature Moving into a new cen-
tury, into new lorms, we carry bits ol the old. lhylogeny recapitulates
ontogeny. Anyway, this much is clear. lelen did go to the koostertail one
Monday night and she did see her brother with an attractive black lady.
ler name was Leslie \ashington and she worked as a bank teller. lvery
lriday, immy lapanikolas took his paycheck to the lmmigrant 8ank at
Mack and Conner. 8ehind the gilded bars ol window number three, Leslie
\ashington took the check, examined the endorsement on the back and
asked, Small bills" immy nodded. 1his went on lor months. lach week
their eyes met only brieny. 1heir hands never touched. Sometimes immy
went to another window. le didn't notice the dillerence. le didn't like
banks. lor years he'd kept his money in a sock stulled behind the radiator.
ligh above the teller's windows an eagle clutched a brass clock in its tal-
ons. immy was staring up at this clock one week when suddenly he heard
a low, musical voice say, l hope you're saving some ol that."
V.11|-s-r
Jeffrey Eugen|des
rrrr rnr, in the living room on Sundays, the dynamics began to change.
\hereas originally it had been Milton and leter Aristos holding the lib-
eral line against ohnny 1atakis and lather Mike, now Milton shilted on
signincant positions. lor instance, when the 8rown vs. 8oard ol lduca-
tion decision came down, Milton began inching himsell ever so slightly
across the love seat toward immy. lt's not lor the lederal government to
decide. 1his is the Lnited 3|a|cs. Xot the kepublic ol \ashington l.C."
\hen latriarch lakovos marched with kev. ling in Selma, Milton prevar-
icated, keligious leaders should stay out ol politics." \hat are you talk-
ing about, Milt Civil rights isn't a political struggle. lt's a moral one." And
Milton, waiting until lather Mike had lelt the room, 1hese priests just
want to tell everybody what to think. Maybe that worked back in the old
country where nobody could read. 8ut it doesn't work over here."
lakovos is right," leter Aristos insisted. Civil rights isn't just about the
raircs. lt's about the constitution."
8ut at that point an amazing thing happened. immy lapanikolas, who
never ventured an opinion during Sunday debates, spoke up. Sitting, as
usual, in a chair he'd carried in lrom the dining room (not lor him a place
on the couches), immy lapanikolas stared into his collee cup and said,
1he Xegroes lought lor this country like everybody else. All they want is
to have the same opportunities. 1hey want to go where they want and eat
where they want."
At this Milton smiled. Since when did you become such an authority on
the coloreds"
ln his low-status chair immy blushed deeply. le mumbled some-
thing noncommittal and excused himsell to go to the bathroom. lor the
moment, the political discussion stopped, upstaged by this new revelation
ol secret leelings.
l guess it's true," ohnny 1atakis said.
Looks like it," said Milton.
3a Number Seven Fall Z003
.-, .1a,. j.mm, laao.|e|as ee| |.s a,e|-e| e |- lmm.ao 8ao| a Vae|
ao1 6eoo-. 8-|.o1 |- .|1-1 !as e o.o1eo oom!- |--. l-s|.- las|.oeo
ee| |- e|-e|. -ram.o-1 |- -o1es-m-o eo |- !ae| ao1 as|-1. Sma|| !.||s`
j.mm, oe11-1. !|.s o-o eo e meo|s. ae| o--| |-. -,-s m- eo|, !.-,.
!|-. |ao1s o-.- eoe|-1.
8|-ss.o
le looked up. 1hrough the barred window, he saw, in slices, Leslie \ashington's lace. ler
eyes peered through separate slots, each lid brushed with powder like a moth's wings. ler
nose was obscured, but he could see the corners ol her lull, red lips. lut away a little each
week," she said. \ith interest, it adds up."
immy lapanikolas lell in love in installments, on the savings plan. lach week he came in and
cashed his check and each week, alter deliberating, he slid twenty dollars back under the win-
dow. Leslie \ashington recorded his deposits in an account ledger and, each quarter, showed
him interest earned. lt was the neat way Miss \ashington lolded bank notes that got to him,
her assiduousness in always counting out the amount twice and the way she wet her lorenn-
ger on a tiny wedge ol sponge. lis attraction slowly built up, compounded by weekly returns
ol eye contact and lunded by a steady now ol nirtatious teasing. At home immy sometimes
looked in his account book just to see her carelul addition.
1hey met, brieny, lor collee, and it was a disaster. 1hey were both aware ol curious and dis-
approving looks lrom other customers. 1hey parted, intending to go no lurther, but the next
week they went out again. 1hey never brought up the dillerence in their skin colors, but it was
always there, the great lact, and they might never have been able to continue il they hadn't dis-
covered the only thing that brought the races together in letroit: music.
1he koostertail restaurant curved along the riverlront in a space-age sine wave ol shining
glass. ln summer people went there to watch the hydroplane races but, on Monday nights
in the early o0s, the action was all inside. immy and Leslie saw 1he 1emptations lrom ten
leet away. 1he next week they saw 1he \elvelettes and 8arrett Strong, also 1he Contours,
1he lour 1ops, and 1he Marvelettes singing llease, Mr. lostman." 1hey saw 1he lrimettes
belore they became 1he Supremes. 1hey saw a young singer name Marvin Caye who didn't
want to sing Motown, who wanted to be a crooner like Sinatra or Xat ling Cole, but here he
was, making a living, singing Moonglow" with the Marquees. 1hey saw unior \alker, 1he
Spinners, the lsley 8rothers, and il they didn't see them they heard them on records at home.
0nce in a while, alter making love, Leslie \ashington would put on Message lrom a 8lack
Man" by 1he 1emptations, and they would lie there together, this Creek short order cook and
this black bank teller, listening to songs about lreedom and equality, and leeling that they
were doing their part, here, with this, Leslie's head on immy's chest. Lots ol musicians were
coming through letroit in those days. Ceorge Clinton, imi lendrix, even Xeil Young, play-
ing with a band called the Mynah 8irds. American music begins in letroit, not Xashville,
not Chicago, not Xew York - letroit - lrom Motown through lunk to jungle to house, Les-
ter 8angs wrote lor Creem there, Madonna was born there, and letroit is where latti Smith
went to recharge. And now we've got lminem and 1he \hite Stripes. immy lapanikolas
had never been with a colored woman belore. 1here were lots ol interesting discoveries, the
spongy coil ol her pubic hair, the amplitude ol her lips, plus a kind ol voodoo moment, dur-
ing climax, when her eyes rolled into the back ol her head. ln bed with Leslie \ashington he
sang along to the new music, or she did, or they sang together.
1he next morning, back in the kitchen, he told no one about it. le tried to lorget about the
previous night, to lose Leslie \ashington's scent ol lorest mushrooms in the smell ol lrying
bacon, but the bubbling grease was a kind ol percussion, and soon immy was singing into
his spatula . . . - "l got sunshine on a cloudy day," - . . . swiveling on one heel now, grabbing
eight pieces ol bread and popping them in the toaster . . . - \hen it's cold outside l got the
month ol May,"- . . . lilting his right leg, kicking it back . . . - "l hear you say - what can make
me leel this way,"- . . . to spin gracelully back to the grill . . . - My girl. 1alkin' 'bout my girl.
My girl."
\hat the hell's he singing in there" Milton asked.
l don't know what," said lelen, but l know who to."
3 Number Seven Fall Z003
...i_.. ....i._
|otes tor an 0ttVodern Vanitesto
Svet|ana Boym
The 8erlln Journal 3g
. . ._. .j c.
lt's not my lault. Communication error has occurred," my computer
pleads with me in the voice ol Lady \ictoria. lirst it excuses itsell, then
urges me to check my connections, to lollow the instructions carelully. l
don't. l pull the paper out ol the printer prematurely, shattering the image,
leaving its outtakes, stripes ol transience, inkblots and the traces ol my
hands on the prolessional matte" surlace. 0nce, the disoriented computer
spat out a warning across the image lo Xot Copy," an involuntary water
mark that emerged lrom the depth ol its disturbed memory. 1he commu-
nication error makes each print unrepeatable and unpredictable. l collect
the computer errors. An error has an aura.
1o err is human. ln advanced technological lingo, the space ol
humanity itsell is relegated to the margin ol error." Yet, this margin
ol error is our margin ol lreedom. lt's a choice beyond the multiple choic-
es programmed lor us, an interaction excluded lrom computerized inter-
activity. 1he error is a chance encounter between us and the machines.
1he art ol computer erring is neither high-tech nor low-tech. lt is broken-
tech. lt cheats on both technological progress and on technological obso-
lescence. And any amateur artist can allord it. Art's new technology is a
broken technology.
las Art" itsell become a mere outtake, a long lootnote to human
history ln the LS it is technology, not culture, that is regarded as a space
lor innovations. Art, it seems, has overstayed its welcome. 8ut amateur art-
ists, immigrants lrom the disintegrated homeland, survive against all odds.
0lten they cross the border illegally and, like diasporic repo-men, try to
repossess what used to belong to them, to reconquer the space ol art.
1he amateur artist aspires neither to newness nor to a trendy belat-
edness. 1he prenxes avant" and post" appear equally outdated or irrel-
evant in the current media age. 1he same goes lor the illusions ol trans."
8ut this doesn't mean that one should try desperately to be in." 1here is
another option: not to be ca|, but cjj. As in oll-stage, oll-key, oll-beat and
occasionally, oll-color. 0ne doesn't have to be absolutely modern," as
kimbaud once dreamed, but oll-modern. A lateral move ol the knight in
a game ol chess. A detour into some unexplored potentialities ol the
modern project. 8roken-tech art doesn't thrive on destruction. At times l
give my printer a mild spanking, push it to the limit. l want to handle it
manually, as a craltsman handles his tools but without the craltsman's laith
in the materials. Yet l would never wish to return to the anxieties ol leaking
pens and inkblots on the gridded paper ol my childhood. 8roken-tech art is
not Luddite but ludic. lt challenges the destruction with play.
. . .o.., coi... .j....
\ith his inimitable, oblique lucidity \alter 8enjamin wrote about the
importance ol short shadows. 1hey are no more than the sharp, black
edges at the leet ol things, preparing to retreat silently, unnoticed, into
their burrow, their secret being." Short shadows speak ol thresholds, warn
us against being too short-sighted or too long-winded. \hen we get too
close to things, disrespecting their short shadows, we risk obliterating
them, but il we make shadows too long we start to enjoy them lor their
own sake. Short shadows urge us to check the balance ol nearness and dis-
tance, to trust neither those who speak ol the essences ol things nor those
who preach conspiratorial simulation.
8roken-tech art is an art ol short shadows. lt turns our attention to the sur-
laces, rims, and thresholds. l have accumulated hundreds ol photographs
ol windows, doors, lacades, back yards, lences, and sunsets in dillerent cit-
ies - all stored in plastic bags under my desk. l re-photograph the old snap-
shots with my digital camera, and the sun ol the other time and the other
place casts new shadows upon their once glossy surlaces stained by lemon
tea and the nngerprints ol indillerent lriends. l try not to use the pre-pro-
grammed special ellects ol lhotoshop, not because l believe in authentic-
ity ol craltsmanship, but because l equally distrust the theory ol universal
simulation. l wish to learn lrom my own mistakes, let mysell err. l carry the
pictures into new physical environments, inhabit them again, occasional-
ly deviating lrom the rules ol light exposure and locus.
At the same time l look lor the ready-mades in the outside world,
natural" collages, and ambiguous double exposures. My most mislead-
ing images are olten straight photographs." Xobody takes them lor what
they are, lor we are burdened with an alterimage ol suspicion. Lntil recent-
ly we preserved a naive laith in photographic witnessing. \e trusted the
pictures to capture what koland 8arthes called the being there" ol things.
Xow images appear to us as always already altered, a lew pixels missing
here and there, erased by some conspiratorial invisible hand. Moreover,
we no longer analyze these mystilying images but resign ourselves to their
pampering hypnosis. 8roken-tech art reveals the degrees ol our sell-pixel-
ization, lays bare hypnotic ellects ol supposedly cynical reason.
_ c.o., .....
ln our endless errands through the world we pass by the anony-
mous buildings ol our common modernity, a part ol the other lnterna-
tional Style not commemorated in the masterpieces but inhabited in the
outskirts ol \arsaw, letersburg, 8erlin, Sarajevo.. 1hese buildings, olten
indistinguishable lrom one another, compose an outmoded mass orna-
ment ol global culture. 1hat is only at nrst glance, ol course. ll we look clos-
er we see that no window, balcony or white wall is alike. leople in these
anonymous dwelling places develop the most nuanced language ol minor
variations, they expose singular and unrepeatable outtakes ol their ordi-
nary lives: a lace curtain hall-raised, a lampshade in the bright color ol
retro 19o0s hangs at a certain angle, a potted nower that knew better days,
a piece ol a risque underwear hung on a string here and there. 1he inhab-
itants are ready to welcome us without obsequious smiling, they dream ol
normality, ol connecting to the world. 1he satellite dishes spread out ol the
ruined balconies like desert nowers.
. ...., . ....
ll in the 1980s artists dreamed ol becoming their own curators and bor-
rowed lrom the theorists, now the theorists dream ol becoming artists.
lisappointed with their own disciplinary specialization, they immigrate
into each other's territory. 1he lateral move again. Xeither backward nor
lorward, but sideways. 1he amateur's outtakes are no longer excluded but
placed side by side with the non-outtakes. l don't know what to call them
anymore. 8ut the amateur's errands continue. An amateur, as 8arthes
understood it, is the one who constantly unlearns" and loves, not posses-
sively, but tenderly, inconstantly, desperately. Cratelul lor every transient
epiphany, an amateur is not greedy.
1he Original. \ery Iillerent
Opening to |.aaa a||s 4||
0.- 4a.o. Belore Any ol the
Actual Hain Characters
Showed Ip
By E|i abeth VcCrac|en
cnrrrr :
1his story - like most ol the stories in the history ol the
world - begins lar away lrom les Moines, lowa.
Quigley, age 83, is walking down a
street in San Luis 0bispo. She is on
her way to the \algreen's at the end
ol the street to buy some canned lood lor her cat, 1ommy. 1omorrow she'll
disappear, but lor now here she is: her light brown hair cut into a page boy,
a red beret tilted toward one ear. 1here's a rhinestone pin alnxed to the
beret. ln lact, anywhere a body might sport a pin, kose does: at her throat,
on the lapel ol her jacket, on the breast pocket ol her plaid shirt (which is
itsell shot through with gold thread). 0ne pin is shaped like a teddy bear,
one (though it's uly and kose is ewish) like a Christmas tree, only a lew
ornaments missing. She is wearing so many glittery paste pins that you
can't tell whether she has lorgotten how many she's put on, or whether she
just wants to shine.
lven her blue eyes, since cataract surgery and lens implants a lew
years ago, gleam like glass sapphires. She no longer needs glasses.
kose is not quite right, the whole neighborhood knows that. lt's
about all they know. 1hey know she moved in two years ago, and they know
she was once married. ler cat, 1ommy, is named alter a husband (dead
departed), though kose only occasionally mentions the human animal's
name: 1homas Quigley, always the lull name. 1his makes him sound like a
historical ngure, a minor and illegible endorser ol the leclaration ol lnde-
pendence. leople assume that 1homas Quigley was the human version ol
1ommy the cat, redheaded, and a bully. 1his is, in lact, accurate.
1he day belore kose disappears, her neighbors watch her dangle
one toe oll the curb, turning her body lelt and right like a child warned
about the sudden dangers ol tralnc. 1hey decide she is being absentmind-
ed, as usual. keally, it's the opposite: she wanders daily into the world to
study it, street corners and supermarkets and even salesclerks who are too
young to have been born, never mind employed, back when 1homas Quig-
ley walked the earth. Still, she hopes with enough attention she can make
these things mean something to her.
36 Number Seven Fall Z003
\ernon Ames, kose's only lriend in the neighborhood, lives next
door, a nice, never-married man ol 7, retired alter many years ol running
a stationery store. lis younger sister calls him once a week to try to con-
vince him to move to Leisureworld, the adult community" near 8altimore
where she lives with her husband.
lt sounds like the world's most boring amusement park," \ernon
tells her. Like there's a roller-coaster made out ol armchairs, in lront ol an
enormous 1\."
lor lete's sake, \ern," she says. 1here are plenty ol kinds ol leisure."
\ernon isn't interested. Leisureworld sounds like a good way to
round up all the old people, is what he thinks. 8esides, old people have
always bored him. 8ecoming old himsell has not changed his mind.
le makes a lew exceptions. lor instance, skinny kose next door,
who is dally and almost morbidly girlish. \ernon does not love kose. Xot
that he's too old lor love, not at all, but kose is an excessively eccentric
woman, a painter, not his type. lt isn't her age, she wouldn't have inter-
ested him nlty years ago. Still, they're good lriends, and \ernon plays the
gentleman caller. kose subscribes to the old-lashioned theory that a man's
attention to a lady is always beautilul and suspect. She believes that her
girlish company is recompense lor all the things \ernon does lor her. And
really, she's right.
Sometimes \ernon walks with kose, but mostly he rescues her. le
has turned oll the stove when a burning tea kettle has set oll the smoke
detector (the bottom ol the kettle melted into molten, aluminum nuggets).
le has tried to explain things to the police when kose has lorgotten the
intricacies ol her burglar alarm, which has only ever caught one intruder:
kose, blithely tossing her beret onto the kitchen table. ln lact, she seems
to think all alarms are benign messages lrom heaven that she cannot deci-
pher and so does not try. Sometimes she phones \ernon, but olten as not
he hears the noise and comes over to nnd kose going through her house,
lilting up books and antimacassars as il she might nnd the source ol noise
there, in a bored and only mildly curious manner.
le even helps kose look lor 1ommy, though \ernon hates cats, and
1ommy is not an especially lovable example ol the species. \ernon hasn't
seen 1ommy in six months. 1he cat must be dead. Still, kose walks onto
her porch in one ol her weird outnts - a long housecoat over a sweater and
jeans, the kind ol nat sneakers that \ernon associates with young girls -
calling, 1ommy! linnertime, 1ommy!
1he past means nothing to kose, \ernon thinks. She mentions Quig-
ley lrom time to time, but not siblings or parents or college. le knows she
has no children. Sometimes it seems kose doesn't have a past: every day is
a brand new one. lvery day is simply part ol the present. 1ommy has been
gone lorever, but it seems like he's just recently turned up missing: she sees
him bellying beneath the hedges, she hears him call at night. ln this way
she has her heart broken daily.
lasy lor a person like that to disappear - what anchors you to a place
unless it's people All kose has is an A\0L cat. \ernon teases his sister,
but il one Saturday passed without her calling up with news ol a resident
Leisureworld widow who's lonely, sweet, and pretty, \ernon would start
to leel like kose: an inconsequential person who lives in no-one's memory,
whose own memory seems perilously unpopulated. You can't start every
day lresh in the world the way kose does.
Va.o 6e.os
The 8erlln Journal 3y
1hat's why \ernon helps search lor 1ommy, and why he sometimes
thinks it breaks his heart worse when the cat doesn't show. le wants kose
to have 1ommy back, to keep her in this world a little longer. A cat like
that doesn't disappear all at once. \ernon has started to see 1ommy every-
where in the neighborhood, like kose does: he comlorts himsell the same
ways. Maybe someone has taken him in. Maybe 1ommy is happy in a new
neighborhood, terrorizing lresh birds, killing a dillerent dynasty ol mice.
Any day now, he might come skulking back to his old haunts, like any
hometown criminal.
Vernon
is wrong about at least
one thing, ol course:
kose has had lots ol
pasts. 8elore she moved to \ernon's neighborhood, she lived, brieny, in
llorida, a misguided attempt at retirement. She'd thought she'd know
plenty ol people there, all her lile she'd heard ol acquaintances moving to
llorida, but once there discovered that these people were dead or imagi-
nary or living on the other side ol the state. 8elore that, she had an apart-
ment on the Lower \est Side ol Manhattan, which was where she'd nrst
noticed the soltening ol her memory - that was one ol the things that had
sent her south in the nrst place, the way Xew York no longer looked lamil-
iar. Some days she believed the city was changing, other times she realized
she was. And belore Xew York, she lived in Ceorgia with her late husband's
sister, latie, and belore that in Calilornia with 1homas Quigley himsell.
She came back to Calilornia on purpose, to get her memory back.
ln llorida, she'd begun to think ol her memory as a physical thing
- or at least resident in physical things. lerhaps she could nnd her mem-
ory tucked in a Calilornian mailbox, one nailed right to the side ol her
house. ler mailboxes in Xew York and Sarasota were completely wrong,
little locked metal sales in a row. ln Xew York they roosted on the wall ol
her lobby, in Sarasota, they stood on poles at the end ol the development
driveway. lither way, you had to journey to check them, and then you
might lorget to look, or lorget that you'd already looked that morning.
0r her memory could be in a movie theater - she and 1homas
Quigley went to movies all the time - underneath a lolding seat, maybe,
or curled around the lit clock above the exit. She remembered Calilornia
as a place where the windows were always open, never shut against crime
or the weather. lt struck her as good lor the brain and spirit, as il memo-
ry were itsell a lorm ol weather that might blow across your cheek at any
moment. She had a cousin who moved to Arizona lor his lungs, she might
as well move to Calilornia lor her brain. \ho cca/ think in the horrible
llorida heat
She thinks it's working. She leels much more hersell in Calilornia.
kose has her incidental pasts, too, which she has lelt behind (along
with her umbrella, the change still in the nst ol the man at the newspaper
stand, the unmailed unstamped letter at the lunch counter). ler Xew York
cleaning lady, 8etty, believes kose to be dead, since one day she arrived to
clean and lound the apartment empty. (lilthy, too, and so 8etty cleaned it,
thinking she'd save the security deposit lor the grieving lamily.) 1here are
dozens ol people kose has met on busses - cross country, cross-town, she
never learned to drive - to whom she gave her address, lrequently a collage
ol her street address in Ceorgia plus some other town and zip code. 1here
is the young married couple in Sarasota who cheated kose out ol $200,
promising that they could help her return to Xew York. 1hat was the bee in
her bonnet lor one solid week, and she told them, l just need to get back
to the city, that's the important thing. low wonderlul that you're willing
to help."
1hat was three years ago. ll anyone really knew kose, il anyone had
been attendant, they would have seen: she has been losing her memory
lor 1 years, since she was o8. 8ut latie, her sister-in-law, is dead now,
and her neighbors in all the previous cities can only wonder what became
ol her, and \ernon, sweet \ernon, never knew kose when she was a clear-
headed young woman writing vicious letters to people she believed had
wronged her.
1hat's one ol kose's last secrets: the illness that has been diligently
jumbling her brain (it won't even leave it in the same jumble lrom day to
day, some days it's more ordered than others) has made her a much nicer
person. 1he llorida sun, the Calilornia sun (one and the same, ol course,
no matter that its intentions have lately seemed kinder) has lelt her brown
and lrail and nutty as peanut brittle, and as sweet. Mostly, anyhow. She can
still ny into sudden rages. 1hey are no longer the comlort they used to be:
sometimes she lorgets why she got so mad in the nrst place and is lelt with
only her anger and dread, as il someone else in the room were yelling at her.
\hen she can, she stops hersell.
lt isn't that the illness attacked the nasty parts ol her nrst, it's just
that kose has discovered, over the last nlteen years, that il you need to be
rescued it helps to be polite in advance. Moreover, it turns out being res-
cued improves you, gives you laith in humankind, lor Cod's sake, which
had previously been so disappointing lor so long.
Mail clots kose's mailbox. 1he house is dark. She doesn't answer her
phone or her door. She doesn't walk to \algreen's, she doesn't look lor
1ommy. \ernon tries to peer through the windows, but can't see past the
venetian blinds.
1he police are tired ol kose. 1hey have been over so olten when she's
set oll her alarm. 8ut \ernon calls them anyway.
le goes with the two policemen to kose's door. 1hey ring the bell.
Xothing. So the younger policeman jimmies the lock. \ernon had assumed
they'd break down the door, but it's a cheap lock that only takes a min-
ute to crack. 1he alarm goes oll, but by now \ernon knows the code.
1he house is hot as a locked parked car, silent without air-conditioning.
0ne ol the cops turns on some lights. Clothing hangs in every window,
dangling lrom the curtain rods. lere is kose's entire wardrobe, block-
ing out the light. ler clothes don't seem any narrower without her in
them: there are cut-out gingerbread koses hanging lrom the windows,
lrom noor lamps, lrom door lrames.
1he three ol them walk through the house to the back bedroom.
ln the bed is a ngure as small as a child, under a quilt in the Calilornia
heat, a pair ol black shoes shaped like ballet slippers poking up at the
bottom, due south ol the closed eyes and set mouth.
She isn't dead, even though she is clearly a woman who could
have died alone. ler eyes open. lxcept lor her leet and head, she is
completely covered by her quilt, as il she were naked and modest. 8ut
she certainly isn't naked-when they pull her lrom the bed, they'll dis-
cover that, lrom the waist down, she is wearing underwear, pantyhose,
two pairs ol pants (light chinos under blue jeans), three belts bypass-
ing all available loops. Xot modest, either: above the waist she wears
a black cardigan, which is over a sheer red blouse, which is over a
black brassiere worn backwards. A not-dead, not-naked, not-modest,
terrined woman.
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A0An AN0 LvL li~J toq~t|~ |a,,il, o aaa, ,~a.
3~iaq hliaJ ~Jaa a~~ |aJ to ~~ L~` a;tac|~ o
|~ coo~J t~~t| o |~ aqqiaq ~ia, h~at. ~aJ
h~iaq J~a L~ a~~ |aJ to |~a |o t;,iJ |~ |;=
haaJ a |o ;a~aoaahl~ aaJ aoqaat aaJ Joaiq|t
qo. 1t a qooJ.
Ua~ Ja, t|~ |a,,, co;,l~ l~aa~J o aa a,,l~ t|at
co;lJ c;~ all iqaoaac~. 1qaoaat to t|~ iJ~a t|at
aot all iqaoaac~ i haJ t|~, at~ o t|~ ;it. .;~
~ao;q| t|~, ac;i~J ahol;t~ aol~Jq~. L~ naal=
l, a ahl~ to qa, t|~ ,;,o~ o ;~iaq t|~~ i
ao ,;,o~} aaJ ~Jaa qot |i |~aJ ao;aJ ~~ ill it
J~,~aJ oa |o ,o; J~na~ ,o; t~a}. |~, ;aJ~tooJ
~alo;, aaJ nait;J~ a;lti=aiahl~ calc;l; aaJ
la;q|t~ at t|iaq t|at a~a`t ;aa,. ;t|~ao~ t|~,
~~ c;~J o t|~i hliaJa~ aaJ J~aa~. ~aJ c;~J
too o t|~i aaital ~licit,.
uat ~ac| oaJ~~J ava 1 gottan myaalt into7
it t|~, o;q|t t|~a t|~, J~,ai~J t|~a t|~,
t|~ oa~ t|iaq t|~a t|~, J~hat~J aho;t |o oa~J
|at. 1t a haJ. |~, |oll~~J at ~ac| ot|~ oa t|~
o,,oit~ iJ~ o t|~ JaJ~a to |ic| t|~,`J ~il~J
~ac| ot|~.
You'ra ugly1 You'ra atupiu anu uiokau1
~iat~l, t|~, ,a,~J to JoJ to qi~ t|~a hac
t|~i lac o iq|t aaJ |~aiaq. |~, ,a,~J "(~t ;
h~ li~ ~ ;~J to h~." 3;t ~ ~;~J t|~a o iqao~J
t|~a o ia,l, a~~ a ~ac|~J h, t|~i ,a,~
h~iaq J~a aaJ hliaJ |ia~l.
|~it|~ ~Jaa ao L~ ca~J aho;t h~iaq iq|t ao
JiJ t|~, ca~ aho;t t|~ o~=ah;aJaac~ o h~a;ti;l
t|iaq t|at co;lJ h~ ~~a aaJ |~aJ ia t|~ olJ. |oa~
o t|~ ,aiatiaq aoa~ o t|~ hoo o a;ic aot ~~a
aat;~ it~l a ca,ahl~ o ,oiJiaq aa, ;t~aaac~
i t|~, JiJa`t nt |a~ |a,,ia~.
~Jaa ~at looiaq o L~ oa~ aiq|t a t|~ a~l,
aaa~J aaiaal |aJ t|~i nt J~aa. L~ a |ia aaJ
~at to |ia.
"1`a |~~" |~ tolJ |ia h~ca;~ |i ~,~ ~~ co=
~~J it| nq l~a~. ~ ~ac|~J |i |aaJ o;t ia oat o
|ia ~~liaq o |~ ac~ |~ h~at.
.|~ tolJ |ia "o; a~ i~ aaJ qooJ."
~ tolJ |~ "o; a~ h~a;ti;l." ~lt|o;q| |~
JiJa`t |~a |ia h~ca;~ |~ ~a ~~ t;~J it|
oll~J ;, nq l~a~.
The 8erlln Journal 3
o Number Seven Fall Z003
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11 uA5N'1 L0N 8Lf08L ta atrongar animala atart-
au to nat ta uaakar animala tuo by tuo. At prat
Noa triau to kaap tam apart anu uaa imaalt naar-
ly killau in an attort to aava an animal uoaa kinu no
longar aiata. 8ut ultimataly a oonoauau tat givan
ta uuinuling aupply ot toou aoma uoulu ava to ba
aaoripoau ao tat otara migt aurviva. 8y ta tima
ta uorlu au uriau out ta atrongaat animala uara
lika 8uaaian uolla - uitin tair balliaa uara ani-
mala uit animala uitin tair balliaa. - anu ta vaat
ma]ority ot ta apaoiaa tat au antarau ta ark uara
atinot.
0noa ta rain au atoppau Noa aant out a uova
uio raturnau uit an oliva brano lika tia ona. ha
aant ta uova out again anu again it raturnau uit
an oliva brano. ha aant ta uova onoa mora anu tia
tima it uiun't raturn. 1ia uaa ta aign tat tara uaa
grounu on uio to builu ta uorlu anau.
0n lanu ta animala tounu it impoaaibla to ralin-
quia ta abita tay au aoquirau uuring tair uaa-
paration. uila it uaa no longar naoaaaary tor tair
aurvival ta atrong oontinuau to attaok ta uaak.
1a uaak oruau tay olung tay ooulu not aat a maal
uitout tinking it uiatantly tat it migt ba tair
laat. Not avan Noa ooulu aaka ta uaaparation. ha
atoou by ta uinuou ona nigt unabla to tall aalaap.
(ha aruly avar alapt.} 1a branoaa ot ta traaa
raaoau upuaru anu a talt a 0iokaring in ia atom-
ao uio a miatook tor ungar avan toug a'u
gorgau imaalt an our batora.
1t uaan't ungar but ta mamory ot ta uova. Noa
au aant it trom ta ark tor a tiru tima anu uan
it raturnau uit anotar oliva brano in ita baak a
broka ita naok anu aaoratly took it uoun to ta kito-
an. 1t uaa ta taint baating ot ta uova tat a talt
by ta uinuou ta uova uio au ooma baok proviuing
abaolutaly no raaaon to tink tat ta Lart uaa again
raauy tor animal lita.
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0N L0AN
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A5 1hL LLLN0A8Y 10uL8 0f 8A8LL as bui.Jinq toa.J
thn sy thn.n as a oountn.~oonst.uotion unJn.~
q.ounJ. .u..oinq Jnn,n. anJ Jnn,n. ~ usinq on.y
o.uJn shon.s .in thosn bno.n you anJ ba.n hanJs
~ as anothn. oii.i,ation: thosn ho .inJ in
si.nnon. -abbis qan sn.nons in si.nnon anJ thni.
oonq.nqations qossi,nJ his,n.nJ anJ .annntnJ in
si.nnon bnatinq thni. ohnsts onon a yna. si.nnt~
.y). tonnn.on as ,.aotionJ in si.nnon ~ haqq.inq
as Jonn ith unnoinq .i,s. bon.s noannJ si.nnt.y.
|t nJJinqs qua.tnts ,.aynJ si.nnt.y ~ on..ists .an
unst.unq bos on. unst.unq on..os ha.,ists oonbnJ
hai. that asn't thn.n. .abins n.n bo.n si.nnt.y
thny o.inJ but si.nnt.y) anJ ,no,.n JinJ si.nnt.y
thny uttn.nJ thni. .ast o.Js in si.nnon). |s ith
thn on. no onn as unJn.stooJ.
hn on. as Jnst.oynJ o. its a..oqanon but thn
tunnn. as not s,a.nJ o. its huni.ity. hn ,.ayn.s
atn. a.. n.n si.nnt. |s n.n thn ou.sns.) |t a on.~
tain ,oint thosn bu..oinq thn tunnn.'s outn. sub~
u.bs naJn a .onq tu.n anJ su.aonJ. biqht dooJnJ
thn tunnn. anJ thn inhabitants ~ ho haJ nnn. in
thni. .ins snnn thn Jay ~ n.n b.inJnJ thny o.inJ
thny a.nJ out anJ into thn o..J anJ n.n .uit~
u. anJ nu.ti,.inJ.
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00'5 1N518uL110N5 10 L01 anu oonpany uere etrene~
ly unanb|quous: "A5 Y0u fLLL f80n 5000n 00 N01 1
8LLA1 00 N01 L00K 8ALK." "|nu ubat | ue uo?" Lot
askeu. "AN0 uhA1 1f Y0u 00" uou eoboeu.
|s tbey deu tbe danes ron tbe o|ty bo|leu tbe
sueat on tbe baoks o tbe|r neoks. Lot's u|e ooulun't
res|st tbe tenptat|on to bave a look at tbe uestruo~
t|on beb|nu ber. Juat a paak, sbe tbouqbt anu sbe kneu
better sbe kneu ubat sbe uasn't supposeu to uo sbe
kneu tbere uoulu be oonseguenoes but sbe u|u |t any~
uay anu uas |nstantly oonverteu |nto salt. Her banu
na|u turneu arounu to look or ber anu beoane
bersel a p|le o pepper. Lot's n|eoe ubo uas run~
n|nq u|tb tben turneu anu beoane salsa. H|s brotb~
er beoane boney b|s s|ster oatsup b|s our nepbeus
|rpaobsbau uoner eboyak|n anu tb|zk|yabu beoane
u|jon nustaru oreany ranob u|pp|nq sauoe rosenary~
|nuseu ol|ve o|l anu nanqo obutney respeot|vely.
H|s qreat~aunt born as tbe last puuule~rennants o
tbe lloou evaporateu beoane uasab|.
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"LL1 nY L0LL 0" noaaa tolu arao again attar
aving in0iotau upon ia paopla yat anotar orri-
bla plagua. "1 uill not lat your paopla go" arao
raaponuau on baalt ot ia paopla. 1ia tima ou
ualivarau ta plagua ot blinunaaa upon ta Lgyptiana.
1ay ualkau troug ta atraata - motara ot oiluran
tair oiluran granutatara - tair arma in tront ot
tam orying "0arknaaa1 0arknaaa1" Anu ao ta plagua
baoama knoun aa uarknaaa.
Lao aaaovar uan ua ratall ta atory ot ta
plaguaa ua uip our pngara in ta uina anu tan tap our
plataa tranatarring a portion ot ta auaatnaaa in mam-
ory ot all ot toaa trougout iatory againat uom ua
ava in0iotau graat auttaring in aoanga tor our aata-
ty. "ua ara aata1 ua ara aata1" ua tall ouraalvaa anu
aao otar. Anu ao ta plagua aa baooma knoun aa our
aataty.
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0N L0AN
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~ L ~JL U ~ha|aa ~ll ;aJ~ t|~ ia,~ioa
t|at |~ |o;lJ cic;aci~ |ia~l a a aa o t|~
co~aaat h~t~~a t|~ ,~i| ~~o,l~ aaJ JoJ. ~ JiJ it.
;t|~ao~ |~ ,oc~~J~J to cic;aci~ |i oa 1|=
aa~l. ~aJ |~a 1aac a hoa |~ cic;aci~J |ia. ~aJ
|~a |i c|ilJ~a |aJ c|ilJ~a |~ cic;aci~J t|~a
too. |o oa~ a a~ oa t|i oaJ~;l co~aaat.
o t|i Ja, = loaq at~ t|~ co~aaat it~l |a
h~~a oqott~a = t|~ ,actic~ o cic;aciioa i ali~
aaJ ~ll ia t|~ ,~i| ait|. "1t` ao~ |,qi~aic"
~ a, t,iaq to ;ti, t|~ c;io; act. U "|~
alt~aati~ i ;aattacti~." U ,~|a, aot Ji=
t;hiaql, "1 aat a, iJ` ,~ai to loo li~ aia~."
u|oa a~ ~ t,iaq to coaiac~ ~aJ ~all, J~,it~
all coata, ci~atinc ~iJ~ac~ |, Jo ~ coatia;~ to
Jo it ~aJ |at h~caa~ o all o t|o~ o~ia t|at
~ha|aa o ~at|;iaticall, ~iq|t,=i~J
1t i oal, t|i lat ;~tioa t|at ~~a to |a~
a qooJ aa~.
1a 1 aa ac|~oloqical t~aa Jico~~J a al=
l~t li~ t|i oa~ ia t|~ ,oiait, o |at i h~li~~J
to h~ ~ha|aa` qa~ ia ~hoa. ~ ,o; caa ~~ t|~
"l~at|~" i act;all, a;a~o; o~ia ~a toq~t|=
~. Uahoa Jatiaq coohoat~ t|~ claia t|at t|i
aaa=,;~ i t|~ ;it o ~ha|aa` laho. |~ ohio;
~,oa~, "~ll o t|o~ cic;aciioa = all o t|at
h~li~ all o t|at ,aia = aaJ o littl~ to |o" u~
;qq~t ;c| Jo;ht~ qi~ t|~ all~t a qooJ ;h aaJ
taaJ hac. a
The 8erlln Journal
a Number Seven Fall Z003
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JAL08 fLLL 1N L0vL u11h 8ALhLL anu uantau to marry
ar. "5ura" 8aoal'a tatar aaiu "but prat you'va
gotta uork tor ma tor aavan yaara." 5o Jaoob uiu it.
5avan yaara latar uan a littau ia briua'a vail at
ta marriaga oaramony a tounu tat 8aoal'a tatar
au pullau a taat ona marrying ott ona ot ia otar
uaugtara Laa.
"1 uantau " Jaoob tolu 8aoal'a tatar.
"5avan mora yaara" 8aoal'a tatar aaiu.
5o Jaoob uiu it.
5avan yaara latar uan a littau ia briua'a vail
at ta marriaga oaramony a tounu tat a au baan
oouuinkau again. 1ia tima a aoquirau 8aoal'a
youngar aiatar.
"1 uantau 8aoal" Jaoob aaiu.
"5avan mora yaara" 8aoal'a tatar aaiu.
5o Jaoob uiu it.
5avan yaara latar ta taoa banaat ta vail
balongau to 8aoal'a oouain. 5a uaan't unattraotiva
or uaak or ignorant. Jaoob au knoun ar aa a oilu
anu tan again yaara latar by a uall. 1ay talkau tor
oura tat attarnoon about ou uaapita ou muo lita
uaa bainu tam tay talt young anu ou uaapita ou
muo lita uaa aaau ot tam tay talt olu.
"1 uantau 8aoal."
5avan yaara latar a marriau 8aoal'a aaoonu-oouain.
"1 uantau 8aoal."
"5avan mora yaara."
ha uorkau tor 8aoal'a tatar tor aity-traa yaara
batora a littau ta vail to aaa ta taoa ot 8aoal.
5a au agau trom a girl into an olu uoman. har ayaa
au iuuan tamaalvaa in ar taoa ar gray air iu
ar aara uaap oraaaaa triau to iua ar mout in tair
tolua. 1n ar olu taoa Jaoob aau ia oun mortality
anu tat uaa anotar raaaon to lova ar.
1at nigt uan tay uara alona in tair bau
Jaoob aakau 8aoal to oovar ar taoa uit ta vail. 5a
uiu anu a ramovau it again ravaaling ar taoa. ha
aakau ar to uo it again anu aa uiu. Anu a ravaalau
ar taoa again. ha movau ta vail ovar ar braaata
anu tan ravaalau tam. ha ravaalau ar aouluara anu
ar bally. ha ravaalau ar anklaa anu ar knaaa ar
tiga anu ou baautitul a tougt moving up tat
tara uaa alraauy a vail ot air. ha ravaalau ar mout
batora vailing it again tia tima uit ia oun mout.
1ay oonuuotau tair lita togatar by ta prinoipla
ot ta littau vail atruggling aluaya to ravaal aao
otar. Apropoa ot noting Jaoob uoulu ualk out ta
tront uoor anu tan oall to 8aoal trom ta yaru "1
lova you anu 1'm ooming oma1" 1n ta miuula ot a oon-
varaation 8aoal uoulu aolaim "0 it'a you1 1'm ao
glau it'a you1"
Anu uan yaara latar Jaoob loat ia mamory
8aoal uiu too. 1ay apant all uay on ta aota togat-
ar 0ipping troug ta poto albuma ot tair livaa.
1ay ooulun't ramambar tair trianua or tair tamily
or ta violat uraaa 8aoal uaau to lova to uanoa in or
ta traa-linau pat to ta aaa but toaa paopla anu
balonginga anu plaoaa oontinuau to ovarualm tam uit
appinaaa aa a uaau aun uoulu oontinua to aat ta
aart tor aigt miraouloua minutaa.
Jaoob au bougt a vaaa tor 8aoal. 0r aa au
bougt it tor im. 1ay ooulun't ramambar. 1t uiun't
mattar. 1t uaa tara. Anu uila tay kapt maaning to
pll it uit 0ouara it aluaya atoou ampty. "uat an
abaolutaly baautitul vaaa" tay uoulu aay to aao
otar ualigting in it nauly anulaaaly. 1ay apant
tair uaya notioing tinga about it tat tay au
notioau only a momant batora touoing it aaitantly
tanuarly aa it tor ta prat tima. "1t raally ia amaz-
ing" tay uoulu aay aluaya maaning it mora. "uat
uiu ua avar uo to uaaarva auo a baautitul ting7"
gg
A88AhAn LL0 15AAL to a sno.uJnJ s,ot anJ .itnJ a
nin .in this onn. hn anqn.s o.inJ anJ thni.
tna.s n.. into |b.ahan's nyns b.inJinq hin. |s
thn nin as about to a.. a shn,hn.J intn.~
nnnJ anJ to.J |b.ahan that uoJ as satisnnJ
ith his Jnnonst.ation o aith.
|b.ahan's in Sa.ah hna.J that |b.ahan haJ
tann .saao to on. hin as a sao.inon anJ shn
t.an.nJ to sna.oh o. thnn. uhnn shn .naohnJ
nnb.on shn as ino.nnJ that hn. son haJ bnnn
s,a.nJ. hn qooJ nns as too on.hn.ninq o.
hn. anJ shn JinJ.
uhnn .saao .na.nnJ o his nothn.'s Jnath his
nyns n..nJ ith tna.s that nnn. ou.J na,o~
.atn. Ln.ythinq hn sa o. thn .nst o his .in ~
nn.y b.aJn o q.ass nn.y b.ooJy o.oha.J ~ as
th.ouqh thn n.n o his nothn.'s Jnath.
|s o. |b.ahan: his Jnnonst.ation o aith
oost hin his aith. nn out hinsn. as a na. o
uoJ's bnt.aya.. nn out .shnan. anJ hn out
.saao. |nJ hnn his ohi.J.nn haJ ohi.J.nn hn
out thnn too.
ggg
gg
"LL1 nY L0LL 0" Ncses tclu hatach aain, atet
havin inicteu opcn his pecple yet ancthet hctti~
ble plaoe, "1 .ill nct let ycot pecple c," hatach
tespcnueu, cn behal c his pecple, 1his tiae, ucu
ueliveteu the plaoe c ueath c the iitst uctn opcn
the Lyptians, Anu this cne btcle the caael's bacl,
"uc," the hatach saiu, "sctaa,"
Ncses leu the Je.s cot c Lypt, 1hey tan tca
theit hcaes, talin .ith thea cnly .hat they ccolu
catty cn theit bacls, anu .hen Ncses patteu the -eu
sea, they tan thtcoh, becte it s.allc.eu the
Lyptians .hc .ete chasin thea, 1hey .ete .inueu,
bot tee,
1t .colu be ctty yeats becte the Je.s .ete
allc.eu intc the ncly Lanu, .hich ucu .anteu tc leep
pote c the enetaticn c slaves, 1n that aean tiae
c .anuetin, the Je.s ttieu tc catty cn .ith theit
lives, uespite the a.l.atuness c a ccott cn .heels,
la.yets teestablisheu theit ptactices, aaue ato~
aents, aaue cttones, ttieu tc ccnvince .anuetin
_oties c the innccence ct oilt c .anuetin ueen~
uants, ucctcts aain cpeneu, eu, anu clcseu theit
patients {cn tcllin cpetatin tables), .hc aain
te. sicl at onpteuictable bot teolat intetvals,
uotchets .anueteu anu botcheteu, shceaalets .anueteu
anu te. tich,
1t .as cnly the attists .hc .ete onable tc .ctl,
aintets .alleu in lcn lines, .ith theit easels
cn the bacls c the paintets in tcnt c thea, 1hey
sacleu, they hateu evetythin that .as aaue by any~
cne else, they hiu theit volnetability behinu theit
cettainty. bot they ccolun't paint, 1he ccapcsets,
.hcse shateu ctchestta .as polleu by thtee honuteu
ucnleys, ccolun't ccapcse, 1he .titets elt,
as al.ays, lile .titets, lccleu insiue c thea~
selves, the ptiscnets anu leepets c theit stopiu,
entitely onnecessaty lcneliness, uot they .eten't
able tc atticolate thcse eelins, nct .hile they
.ete .anuetin, Att, the attists leatneu, is nct
eelin, 1t is the cala, uelibetate eptessicn c
eelin, uecte yco can cteate, yco have tc catch
ycot bteath,
(anb}
Number Seven Fall Z003
Number Seven Fall Z003
Congen|ta|
0arkness?
0n and about a Paragraph by Pau| Ce|an
8y P|erre Jor|s
rtt crt, probably the greatest Cerman-language poet ol the second
hall ol the twentieth century, lelt us very lew statements concerning his
poetics. 8esides those parts ol his correspondence that have been pub-
lished to date, there are, except lor a number ol programmatic poems, only
two short essays that permit us to gain some insight into what Celan him-
sell thought he was doing as a poet and what he wanted poetry to be. Lntil
the publication ol his diaries and notebooks - in which we may or may not
nnd relevant material - this is what we have. 0l these, the major essay - and
thus the core statement ol his poetics - is the so-called Meridian" speech,
the address he gave in 19o0 upon recieving the Ceorg-8chner prize lor
poetry. Celan had been writing down his thoughts and taking notes toward
an essay on his poetics lor quite some time. 1he news that he was to be pre-
sented with the prize ollered the occasion to gather these lragments into a
coherent essay - something he did in a comparatively short time. 1he nnal
piece was honed down to roughly 1 pages, enough lor the required thirty
-to- lourty minute public presentation.
laragraph 27 ol the essay is
given below in the original
Cerman and in my lnglish
translation. 1hese lew lines
have behind them a thinking
and writing process ol many
months, during which the
poet took notes, tried out lines,
rejected them, recast the text,
etcetera. 1he writer's behind
the scenes" work can now
be studied in detail in Dcr
Mcriiar |rjassar. \cr
s|ajcr. Ma|cria/icr. the superb
scholarly 1binger Ausgabe" edited by 8ernhard 8oschenstein and
leino Schmull with Michael Schwarzkopl and rgen \ertheimer, pub-
lished by Suhrkamp in 1999. Stanlord Lniversity lress will publish the
lnglish edition in my translation in 200 as part ol its Meridian: Cross-
ing Aesthetics" series. Alter the paragraph you will nnd some ol those hid-
den writings, here specincally three pages lrom an assemblage the editors
called Materialien" - the background writing that went into the compo-
sition ol a specinc text. ln this case the materials" have been assembled
under the title lunkelheit" - darkness, the paragraph's core theme. 1hese
materials" are not only about" the theme ol darkness. 1hey can also be
seen as the rassa ccrjasa, the rircc even, in alchemical parlance - the
dark mass ol materials that enter the poetico-alchemical retort that is the
practice ol writing, to be clarined, honed, purined, until the poetic equiva-
lent ol the alchemist's philosopher's stone is nnally won. My hope is to give
the reader some insight into this translormatory process through which
a given language matter will go until it nnally congeals in what leels like a
simple and spontaneous piece ol writing, in this case paragraph 27 ol 1he
Meridian:"
The 8erlln Journal g
V-.o- uam-o oo1 u--o. -s .s |-o- ao oo1 !-. 1-
u.e|oo .|- uoo|-||-. .e:oo--o. |ao!-o S.-
m.. ao 1.-s- S-||- oo.-m.-| a!- |a s.e| |.- o.e|
| -oas ao-ao` . -|ao!-o S.- m.. |.- -.o le
.eo lasea| :o :..--o. -.o le. 1as .e| .e -.o.- /-.
!-. l-e Se|-seo -|-s-o |a!-. |- oeos -ee|-: as |-
maoo- 1- e|a o.so- oeos -o a.seo|s} e-ss.eo|
uas .s. |ao!- .e|. o-oo o.e| 1.- |eo-o.a|-. se 1ee|
oe|| 1.- 1- u.e|oo om -.o- 8--ooo o.||-o aos
-.o- ..-||-.e| s-|!s-ooe-o-o -o- e1- -m1-
:o-e1o-- uoo|-||-..
la1.-s ao1 -o|-m-o. . .s eemmeo e1a, e -eae|
e-, e .s e!seo.,. 4 |.s e.o -m. m- e
oe-. a!o|, !o |aso sem-|.o e-o-1 o |--
so11-o|,` -m. m- e oe- a |.o- !, lasea|. a |.o-
|a l -a1 sem- .m- ae .o l-e S|-se.. |- oeos
-ee|-: as |- maoo- 1- e|a o.so- oeos -o a.seos
e-ss.eo| |ueo -eae| os e eo |ae| e e|a.,.
as o- ma|- a e-ss.eo e ..} !|.s .s. l !-|.-.-. . oe
|- eeo-o.a| 1a|o-ss. |-o |eo-.- |- 1a|o-ss
a.!o-1 e e-, e |- sa|- e ao -oeeoo- !, a
-|as s-|-e-a-1 1.saoe- e sao-o-ss.
6 Number Seven Fall Z003
The Poem |s 8orn 0ark Pau| Ce|an
Darkness
The congenital darkness of the poem
661 101 A 1 (Folder caption), Ms.
Ofn the darkness of the poetic
207 380 102/64 A 6/7 17.8.59, Ms.
I renouncc From experience I promise myself to make do without all too many borrowed
concepts. Furthermore I will try to here and in what follows) in view of the today-
ness of the poem to renounce all and any etiology:. I have the poem before me
[[in front of me]].
Imagination and experience, experience and imagination, in view of the darkness of
the poem today, make me think of a darkness of the poem qua poem, thus of a consti-
tutional, a congenital darkness. In other words: the poem is born dark; it comes, as the
result of a radical individuation, into the world as a piece of language, thus, with, i.e., as
far as language manages to be world, laden with world.
17.8.
162 103/61 A 15,1 Ms.
There exists, believe a on this and on the far side of all esotericism, hermeticism, etc., a
darkness of the poem. Even the most exoteric, the most ' open poem - and I believe
that today , particularly in German, such, in places even distinctly porous, totally
translucent poems are being written-has its darkness, has it qua poem, will ! I underline
qua poem ! comes, because it is the poem, dark born. Into the world. A congenital, con-
stitutive darkness, then ., that belongs to the poem today.
This today that - permit me this distinction - mine, yours and the more spacious, which
we have in common: when I cannot conceal from you (and from me), that I do not know,
how I
104 A 15,2 Ms.
- the morrow -
59, 280, 518 Timestead
takes the
422 105 A15,3 Ms.
The poem coming into the world comes laden with world into the it, the world.
55, 305, 234/615
313, 339
The 8erlln Journal y
172 111/33 F102,1 Ms.
. speak in (on?) the strangest matter. Danton (who fnds into death by his own grace)
projects brotherliness into irreality: 'Thou You cannot prevent that in the basket = You
see, it is a borrowed quotation and a mortal word exiled into infnity: the poetic are ,
that is the place that are the in the darkness scattering quotation marks. -
The strangeness the darkness, of poetry comes from this: from the direction in which
it moves.- the estranged around it hurrying through, directed toward whats strang-
est./
hurrying through - something impatient, - not: impetuous - inheres probably in all
of us -: we do lie beneath the ruins of the scales on which we are weighed. -
/ Here, in this context, i.e., abruptly, should come a phrase by Pascal, which I, even
more abruptly, quote via Shestov: ne nous reprochez pas le manque de clart ... That is,
if not the congenital, then however the /zugeborene/born-with-it darkness of the poem.
It has nothing to do with obscurantists, even academic ones. -
with which I absolutely do not believe to have to mean an over the creation of a
suprapersonal relation. -
376/530 112 F102,2 Ms.
precise
small place
inimical to civilization
without origin -
240/410, 401,
747, 843; 704,
747
84, 650/748
259, 422, 11/708
121, 136, 153,
825
60/582
Ms. A 17,2 106 300 318
An even the most 'exoteric, the most open poem is dark; and, permit me this maybe
not totally superfuous indication: if any bo one poet was a vir clarus, it was Hld-
erlin.
648
471