Introduction by MYRA SKALREW
Languages are living organisms, according to George Steiner. Barbara
Goldberg, in Transformation, comes into her true landscape as she moves
between languages, exploring the evolution of her restless and profound
journey. At long last, she can call on her multiple resources-poetry and
prose, humor and tragedy, life in this century cast in the shadow of "19th
Century Vienna." The hidden memories of loved ones. "Even the dead"
who "can't keep a secret."
Languages-French, English, German, Hebrew. The divergent syntax of
each. All the while, "Fear is the ravenous wolf at my door. Sometimes I
throw him a scrap, in the shape of a poem." None of this prevents her from
tackling these translations-"as satisfying to create as an original (well, a lot
of the time!)." We go from Rilke's "Saltimbanques" in French to Israeli
poems in Hebrew, including from Iraq, to her long shared life and work with
Moshe Dor. The collection includes interviews and Barbara Goldberg's work
as International Editor for the Word Work Series including poetry from the
Kurdish, Ancient Greek, the French of Jean Cocteau, and
Spanish/Mexican.
As I write this I am drawn back to Walter Benjamin and George Steiner, as
if a "pure language…like a hidden spring seeking to force its way through
the silted channels of our differing tongues" will emerge. Transformation is a
powerful element in that journey, worthy of our attention.
[Note: After Babel: Aspects of Langua
