Ludwig Strauss: An Approach to His Bilingual Parallel Poems

This book is devoted to the study of the bilingual parallel poems of Ludwig Strauss (Aachen 1892 Jerusalem 1953) created between 1934 and 1952 in Palestine/Israel and which exist in two variants, a Hebrew and a German version, one of which is the original and the other a self-translation. The aim of this study is to compare the versions and their interpretation based on Strausss theoretical essays on poetry and translation, his political writings and works of literary criticism. Special attention is paid to Strausss concept (linked with the idea of messianic redemption) of poetry as a fore-image of a future true community of men and as the earthly expression of the Absolute directed at interpreting divine revelation and its translation into human language. In examining Strausss experiments with self-translation, by which he aimed at establishing a dialogue between languages, and between people and nations, this study considers the two processes of translation: from divine speech into human language and from one human language into another.