Hans-Georg Gadamer’s Poetics: Hermeneutics, Language, and the Reading of Paul Celan

Raquel ABI-SÂMARA

University of Macau

Page 128-141

Abstract: This paper investigates Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutics by following his sustained dialogue with modern poetry, especially the work of Paul Celan. Although Truth and Method secured Gadamer’s place in both philosophy and literary studies, its rather diffuse presentation leaves lingering questions about how notions such as the “fusion of horizons,” the “hermeneutic circle,” and the “logic of question and answer” actually operate in practice. The inquiry also turns to Gadamer’s commentary volume Wer bin ich und wer bist du?, which Gadamer devoted to Celan’s Atemkristall cycle. In this commentary, Gadamer provides a chance to see these hermeneutic strategies in action. By tracing Gadamer’s references to Celan throughout his essays and situating them within debates on modern art and music, the paper outlines Gadamer’s poetics as a philosophy of language that stresses the autonomy of the poetic text, the recollection of language, and the productive dissonance of the modern lyric. Celan’s fragmented hermetic prose serves as a striking illustration of Gadamer’s claim that poetry refuses to vanish, insisting instead on endless rereading and a dialogic encounter. In the end, Gadamer’s meditation on Celan uncovers a hermeneutic that is simultaneously philosophical and richly poetic, forging a bridge between philosophy and literature that sheds new light on the challenges of interpreting modern texts.

Keywords: Hans-Georg Gadamer, Paul Celan, hermeneutics, fusion of horizons, poetic language, modern poetry interpretation

DOI: 10.53397/hunnu.jflc.202601010

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