Lecture by Franziska Kraft, September 6, 2015

Franziska Kraft studied classical philology and German literature at the Università per Stranieri di Perugia, the Università degli Studi di Perugia, and the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg. Her academic work focuses on Greek and Roman reception in the lyric poetry of Gottfriend Benn. She completed a dissertation on Rilke and Michelangelo. She currently teaches German, Italian, and Latin to high school students in Singen on the Bodensee.

RILKES MICHELANGELO / RILKE’S MICHELANGELO

Franziska Kraft explores the reception of Michelangelo’s lyric poetry in Germany. Michelangelo’s “Rime” are overshadowed to this day by his monumental achievements in the fine arts. In the 18th century, a period of intense production of translations of the “Rimes” took place in Germany. The principle emphasis of Franziska Kraft’s interdisciplinary study is on the systematic exploration of Rainer Maria Rilke’s translations of Michelangelo. She limns the idiosyncratic aesthetic of this “dialogue” between famous translator and translatee by comparing Rilke’s results with those of his predecessors.

Audio recording

Lecture in German

Michel-Ange: détail de l'étude pour la Sibylle de Libye, 1511


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