Synopsis "Transformation (in English)"
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
