The Lyrification of Science etc.: On Some Aspects of H. M. Enzensberger's Poetry

Abstract

Hans Magnus Enzensberger (born 1929) has long been re garded as the leading poet and essayist writing in the German language. One of his most remarkable and outstanding contributions to world literature is his successful, indeed stunning, attempt at reuniting the seemingly disparate and irreconcilable realms of poetry and modern science, i.e., of C.P. Snow's near proverbial “two cul tures.” The present article investigates --with a wealth of examples mainly from Enzensberger's most recent collection of poems, Die Geschichte der Wolken ("The History of the Clounds”) of 2003 these unique and seminal endeavors, including their development over the years and decades which culminates in the lyrical appropria tion of present-day chaos theory. In addition, the poet's equally innovative and closely related creation of the novel genre of the “prose ballad” is discussed and illustrated. Enzensberger, whose works have been translated into over two dozen languages, is now been considered for the Nobel Prize. (RG)