In the Shadow of Nihilism In H.-G. Gadamer, Hermeneutics and Poetics. Selected Works (trans. by Halina Petrosaniak). Kyiv: Yunivers [Universe], 2001, pp. 258-273.

Gadamer explores the absence of great storytellers among Germans, emphasizing instead the strength of German lyric poetry, which adequately reflects cultural achievements. He emphasizes that the boundaries of “Germanness” are defined by language, not politics, and that poetry cannot be fully conveyed by translation. Analyzing the works of Benn and Celan, Gadamer concludes that German poetry expresses a break with the consciousness of historicism and a loss of harmony that leads to the reign of dissonance.

Oleksandr Lukovyna