Armand Schwerner
Armand Schwerner was a Belgian-born poet and scholar, who immigrated to the United States in 1936. Initially pursuing a medical career, he shifted his focus to literature, ultimately earning a B.A. in French and an M.A. in English and comparative literature from Columbia University. Schwerner became associated with the ethnopoetic movement, exploring the connections among global literatures, particularly those of "primitive" cultures. His most notable work, *The Tablets*, is a series of poetry that presents fictional translations and commentaries on ancient Sumero-Akkadian clay tablets. This innovative series merges satire with serious themes, incorporating invented language and critical footnotes, inviting readers into a complex interplay of history and imagination. Schwerner's work is recognized for its postmodern qualities, drawing parallels with influential poets like Ezra Pound. Additionally, he was an accomplished translator and musician, contributing to the cultural landscape through his teaching and performances. He passed away in 1999, leaving behind a distinctive legacy in contemporary poetry.
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Armand Schwerner
Writer
- Born: May 11, 1927
- Birthplace: Antwerp, Belgium
- Died: March 1, 1999
Biography
Armand Schwerner was born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1927. His family immigrated to the United States in 1936. Schwerner’s first language was French; he learned English as an adolescent in the U.S. In 1945, Schwerner entered Cornell University, intending to prepare for medical school. He served in the U.S. Navy between 1945 and 1946, briefly attended the University Genève, and finally received a B.A. in French from Columbia University in 1950. He studied anthropology at Columbia for two years, but ultimately changed his discipline to English and comparative literature for an M.A. in 1964. Columbia offered a venue that put him easily in touch with avant-garde poets of the time. Between 1961 and 1974, Schwerner was married to Doloris Holmes, with whom he had two sons.
Schwerner has been associated with the ethnopoetic movement, which focused on drawing out relationships among the literatures of world peoples, especially “primitive” peoples, especially as these relationships appear in work from Vajrayana and Zen Buddhism. His work has also been identified as definitively postmodern, a term that is particularly apt for his Tablets series. Like other ethnopoets, he felt that the true representation of his work lay in its oral performance, thus connecting it with the oral literature of ancient people.
Schwerner’s major achievement is The Tablets, a poetry series. Twenty-six segments were published at intervals throughout his life. The Tablets purport to be a translation of and scholarly commentary on a series of (fictional) clay tablets from the Sumero-Akkadian period, the most ancient period of known writing. In writing them, Schwerner created a metapoetry in which he satirizes pedantic scholarship while at the same time introduces a number of serious themes. These include invented words, passages which the ancient author is supposed to have obliterated, and lengthy footnotes of critical commentary. Some contain characters, and all invite the reader into Schwerner’s playful fiction, although below the conceit and word-play lie serious considerations of the world, both ancient and modern. The density of these works with their multiple levels of reference put them in the powerful tradition of Ezra Pound’s Cantos or William Carlos Williams’s Paterson, long diffuse poems which were published at intervals during their writers’ lives.
Schwerner also did a number of translations, including a highly praised translation of Sophocles’ Philoctetes as well as translations from Native American and other tribal works. In addition to teaching at a variety of schools, including at the City University of New York, Staten Island, Schwerner also performed as a musician. He was the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships. He died in 1999.