Journal article
Rendering Rilke: Rilke's afterlives in modern English-language poetry
- Abstract:
- It is paradoxical that Rilke, who felt no affinity with English, and indeed despised American culture, has had such a profound and broad reception in various English-speaking countries. Rather than tracing the longitudinal tendencies, this contribution focuses on recent developments, highlighting the often radical conversations that take place within translations and versions of Rilke in the English language. The first section explores the reception in general terms and suggests ways of thinking about the extraordinary uptake over the last two decades. A second section explores concrete examples: especially the dialogical relationship of a number of poets from different English-language traditions (Scottish, English, Australian, American). In close readings from collections over the last two decades, and drawing on interviews and essays, it demonstrates how Rilke is used by contemporary poets to treat some contemporary issues quite alien to Rilke’s own thinking, thus testing the limits of authority and kinship. A Conclusion examines how the German tradition has also worked its way out from under the shadow of Rilke’s achievement and asks what this reception tells us about the importance of Rilke for posterity.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 709.0KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1353/mln.2026.a993972
Authors
- Publisher:
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Journal:
- Modern Language Notes More from this journal
- Volume:
- 141
- Issue:
- 3
- Pages:
- 676-704
- Publication date:
- 2026-06-27
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1080-6598
- ISSN:
-
0026-7910
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
-
2441412
- Local pid:
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pubs:2441412
- Deposit date:
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2026-07-03
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- © 2026 Johns Hopkins University Press. This is an Open Access article.
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