Paul Celan lived through some of the worst episodes of modern history, losing his parents at the hands of the German army and surviving a period in a labor camp. The prose writings of this important poet are sparse, but when collected relate a superior artistic consciousness, and a deeply felt poetic response to the horrors of the recent past.
This book provides a comparison of travel writing from two significant periods of global social change - historical (1770-1830) and contemporary (1985-2010) - and explores the cultural impact of an increasingly mobile world.