HOW TRUE TO LIFE IS BIOGRAPHY?
31
I'll conclude with a few lines from
The Name,
a novel or "fictiona l
autobiography" of a second-generation Holocaust survivor. The main
character and narrator, Ama li a, is haunted by the biography of her
father's first wife, who died in the Holocaust, and who chases her like a
dybbuk. Ama li a and jerusalem are juxtaposed in this novel, imprisoned
in preconceived biographies, in historical or ritual plots. Through the last
pages of
The Name
the narrative, the narrator, and jerusalem are in a
motion of opening, of ripening acceptance:
As if a barrier was removed from the eye. The destruction exposed
on the slopes, caustic, uncovered, as if this is the Covenant, and also
the conso lation. For there is no repair for the break. And there is no
instant repentance. Only acceptance. What wi ll be and what is and
what was. Death here is conso lation. The break hidden between us,
King Who causes death and restores life....
Sabbath.
Ending
The Name
with the word Sabbath was for me a secret con–
versation with the poetic autobiography of Paul Celan. His last posthu–
mous poem ends with the word Sabbath. Written during the six months
after his on ly visit to Israe l and Jerusa lem, and before his suicide, this
excruciating last cycle of poems echoes the sites of jerusalem, trying to
write his own poetic autobiography into the place and its biography.
The attempt did not rescue Celan from his final despair.
In
an intimate
whisper to Celan,
The Name
ends with Sabbath in a feminine voice, and
in jerusalem. And with hope, I hope. Thank you.
Edith Kurzweil:
Thank you, Michal. The last speaker this morning is
Andre Aciman. He was born in Alexandria and raised in Egypt, Italy, and
france. Educated at Harvard, he teaches at Bard Co ll ege and lives in
Manhattan. His memoir
Out of Egypt,
published in
1994,
was received
with great critical acclaim. His presentation is titled "Temporizing."
Andre Aciman:
The Latinate word
cUllctation
is traditionally attributed
to the Roman general, consu l, and dictator fabius Maximus Verrucosis.
It was appended to his name, which has come down to us as fabius
Maximus Cunctator. Fo ll owing the disastrous defeat of Roman troops at
Cannae- one of the bloodiest battles in ancient history-fabius's dila–
tory strategy of dogging the enemy without ever confronting him in Italy
proved successful in wearing down Hannibal's forces, ultimately making
possible Scipio's bolder move which put an end to the Second Punic War
