Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature

and the ditto old-Arabian epic „Amrilkais“ (1841/1843) were published in Rückert’s lifetime, but they did not find a
ready market. And almost all the rest of Rückert’s translations produced during this second period – the „Quran“
included – e. g. „Djami’s Love Songs (1831/1844-1848)“, „Saadi’s Divan“ (1845/ published 1893), „Saadi’s political
Poems“ (1845/ published 1894), „Saadi’s Bostan“ (1851/ published 1882), the Indian epic „Sakuntala“ (1855/
published 1867) or Hafis Quatrains (1846-1862/1877) remained a long time unpublished.
5. Conclusion
It seems, that Rückert could play his self chosen role as a mediator between different cultures as long as he
gave priority to his poetical capacities, because this talent seems to have been the link between offered foreign
literature and accustomed lyric food. As long as the known poet Rückert shone through the literary texture of exotic
oriental poems, foreign form and content did not become too strange for readership.
In his second phase as „poetical scholar“ Rückert translated in fact more adequate to the oriental originals, but
by following this path of academic life and work he began to „alienate“ his auditory increasingly. But these changes,
corresponded with his own increasing doubts in the chosen role as mediator, as we can read in his poems of the
1830ies, where he is very well aware of the difficulties of intercultural exchange between Orient and Occident.
Nevertheless Rückert should continue in his oriental studies obliviously until the end of his life.
Literature:
Bobzin 2000: Bobzin Hartmut [editor]: Der Koran in der Übersetzung von Friedrich Rückert […], Mit erklärenden Anmerkungen
von Wolfdietrich Fischer. Würzburg:Ergon 3 2000.
Erdmann 1988: Erdmann Jürgen [editor]: 200 Jahre Friedrich Rückert 1788-1866 Dichter und Gelehrter. Coburg: Landesbibliothek,
1988.
Kötting Dagmar: „Dahinter schlief vom Orient mein Strahl“. „Der Scheintod“ eine erste poetische Beschäftigung Friedrich
Rückerts mit dem Orient. Rückert-Studien VII. Würzburg: Ergon, 1993.
Prang 1963: Prang Helmut: Friedrich Rückert. Geist und Form der Sprache. Schweinfurt: Stadt, 1963
Rückert 1837: Rückert Friedrich: Gesammelte Gedichte. Erlangen: Heyder, 1837.
Rückert 1844: Rückert Friedrich: Liebesfrühling. Frankfurt/Main: Sauerländer, 1844.
Schimmel 1987: Schimmel Annemarie: Friedrich Rückert. Lebensbild und Einführung in sein Werk. Freiburg/Brsg: Herder, 1987.
Wendt 1830: Wendt, Amadeus [editor]: Musenalmanach für das Jahr 1831. Zweiter Jahrgang, Mit Tiecks Bildniß. Leipzig:
Weidmann, [1830].
Wiener 1994: Wiener Claudia: Friedrich Rückerts „De idea philologiae“ als dichtungstheoretische Schrift und Lebensprogramm.
Schweinfurt: Stadtarchiv, 1994.
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