'The Tongue of an Archangel': Poe, Baudelaire, Benjamin

The profound influence of the French renditions of Edgar Allan Poe's poems & short stories, executed by Charles Pierre Baudelaire, on this country's symbolist poets is investigated. The symbiosis between the two writers is studied from the perspective of the relationship between the US & French cultures in the mid 19th century. Baudelaire's translations of Poe's works are examined in the chronological order in which they were published. Special attention is devoted to the collection Histoires extraordinaires ([Extraordinary Stories] Paris, 1856), which is claimed to represent the French poet's "thorough identification" with the American writer. In Histoires extraordinaires, Baudelaire offers the reader his reflections on language, translation, & creative originality. Walter Benjamin's views on translation, the translator's task, & relationship to Poe in theoretizing translation are discussed, making reference to & quoting from "The Task of the Translator" (no bibliographic information provided). It is noted that for Benjamin, translation has little to do with the signifying dimension of language & everything to do with the "unreachable core of mysterious experience." Translation assigns the inaccessible pure language a tongue with which the intent of the original is communicated in another culture. Z. Dubiel