The poetry addict: Utz Rachowski as poet, political prisioner, and counselor

Authors

  • Louise Stoehr Stephen F. Austin State University
  • Ingo Stoehr Kilgore College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25094/rtp.2019n26a546

Keywords:

poetry as drug, police state, exile, prison literature, protest literature.

Abstract

Closely analyzing selected poems, this article traces the major phases of the five-decade-long career of contemporary German poet Utz Rachowski. First, East Germany’s paranoid repressive police force declared five of Rachowski’s poems to be subversive. Second, with his prison poems, Rachowski asserts his subjectivity against objectifying punishments. From this phase onward, the metaphor “poetry is a drug” helps us to understand the role of poetry for Rachowski. Third, his exile led to a sense of loss of home expressed in mature poetry. Finally, taking on responsibility for a dog during his 2012 stay in the United States reconfirmed Rachowski’s belief in trust, giving his poetry new productivity and a gentler tone. Outside his poetic career, Rachowski counsels people who have suffered under the state repressions

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Original in English.

Author Biographies

Louise Stoehr, Stephen F. Austin State University

Associate Professor, German
Languages, Cultures, and Communication

Ingo Stoehr, Kilgore College

Instructor of English

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Published

2019-01-25

How to Cite

Stoehr, L., & Stoehr, I. (2019). The poetry addict: Utz Rachowski as poet, political prisioner, and counselor. Texto Poético, 15(26), 88–119. https://doi.org/10.25094/rtp.2019n26a546