Collection ID: LMC 2767
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Felstiner, John.
Abstract:
The Felstiner, John mss., 1955-2011, consist of the works of writer, translator, and Stanford professor emeritus, John Felstiner (1936- ).
Extent:
8 Boxes
Language:
Materials are in English .
Preferred citation:

[Item], Felstiner, John mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

John Felstiner received his A.B. from Harvard College in 1958 and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1965, joining the faculty at Stanford University the same year. His first book, The Lies of Art: Max Beerbohm's Parody and Caricature (1972), dealt with parody as a critical, creative, and comic form. Thereafter he focused mainly on modern poetry. Teaching North American poetry in Chile in 1967-68 led to Translating Neruda: The Way to Macchu Picchu (1980), which won the Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal, and to an ongoing concern with the practice of literary translation, along with its interpretive, creative, and theoretical implications.

Felstiner's book on the German-speaking Jewish poet, Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew (1995), won the Truman Capote Prize for Literary Criticism. The British Comparative Literature Association gave 1st and 2nd prizes to his Pablo Neruda and Paul Celan translations. His subsequent work Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan (Norton, 2001) won the Modern Language Association's biennial Lois Roth Award for Translation of a Literary Work, the American Translators Association's biennial award for German translation, and PEN West's prize for literary translation. He also co-edited the Norton anthology, Jewish American Literature (2000). This Dust of Words, Felstiner's memoir of his brilliant late-1960s student Liz Wiltsee, inspired a documentary film that has been screened at various festivals. He has held Guggenheim, Rockefeller, NEH, and NEA fellowships, taught literary translation twice at Yale, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Scope and Content:

The Felstiner, John mss., 1955-2011, consist of the works of writer, translator, and Stanford professor emeritus, John Felstiner (1936- ).

Translations and Research Materials are divided into Paul Celan, Pablo Neruda, and Other. Research Materials comprise the bulk of the collection and include original and photocopied Paul Celan documents and correspondence, journal articles on Celan and literary translation, material on Felstiner's books, and drafts of essays.

Correspondents include: Eric Celan; Gisele Celan-Lestrange; Jerry Glenn; Cynthia Ozick; Petre Solomon; Elie Wiesel.

The collection also contains lecture and conference notes as well as course materials from Felstiner's Stanford and Yale classes. In the Audio-Visual series, there are two compact discs and one cassette tape containing musical compositions set to Paul Celan's poetry. Felstiner's essays published in various journals are arranged alphabetically in the Publications series.

Acquisition information:
Acquired: 2012
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into the following series:

  1. I. Translations
  2. II. Research Materials
  3. III. Correspondence
  4. IV. Lecture and Conference Materials
  5. V. Course Materials
  6. VI. Audio-Visual Materials
  7. VII. Publications
Physical location:
ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility)

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Felstiner, John mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@indiana.edu