{"id":14123,"date":"2017-12-13T17:20:24","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T23:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/?p=14123"},"modified":"2017-12-13T17:21:13","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T23:21:13","slug":"untitled-after-gertrude-and-alice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/archives\/14123","title":{"rendered":"\u201cUntitled\u201d (After Gertrude and Alice)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following poem by Christian Yde Frostholm\u00a0has been\u00a0translated from the Danish\u00a0by Karen\u00a0Havelin.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I want to give you something as if it were flowers,<\/p>\n

but specifically not flowers.<\/p>\n

A rose that for anything in the world is not a rose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I see you against the light in the next room<\/p>\n

and I know that in a photograph you would have become<\/p>\n

an impenetrable flat shadow<\/p>\n

or the view behind you would have faded,<\/p>\n

but from where I sit,<\/p>\n

I can just discern and return<\/p>\n

your smile in the darkness,<\/p>\n

and still get a glance of the city behind you.<\/p>\n

I see the world partly through your silhouette.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I like a view but I like to sit with my back turned to it.<\/p>\n

I think that if you know who wrote that<\/p>\n

you might also know<\/p>\n

where I found the quotation.<\/p>\n

It is Stein quoted by Toklas written by Stein.<\/p>\n

If you know who the flowers are meant for<\/p>\n

you might also know that a rose<\/p>\n

sometimes is just a rose.<\/p>\n

I guess there are flowers on all kind of graves,<\/p>\n

but there are none in any of the images of<\/p>\n

Gertrude and Alice\u2019s grave that you can find<\/p>\n

on for instance FindAGrave.com:<\/p>\n

Gertrude\u2019s grave in one entry, and Alice\u2019s in another,<\/p>\n

and only a single cyclamen<\/p>\n

on Stein\u2019s side of the stone. A stone is a stein<\/p>\n

is a rock is a boulder is a pebble.<\/p>\n

I think that you might already know<\/p>\n

that this is Hemingway, and that he is angry.<\/p>\n

I think that if it\u2019s really<\/p>\n

on Alice B. Toklas\u2019 and Gertrude Stein\u2019s grave<\/p>\n

that the flowers are growing<\/p>\n

in the photograph by Felix Gonzalez-Torres<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled\u201d (Alice B. Toklas\u2019 and Gertrude Stein\u2019s Grave, Paris), 1992,<\/p>\n

then Felix Gonzalez-Torres has also seen the headstone,<\/p>\n

on the front of which it reads Gertrude Stein, and no year,<\/p>\n

and on the back of which it reads \u201cAlice B. Toklas,<\/p>\n

San Francisco April 30, 1877 (in English)<\/p>\n

and: \u201cParis, 7 mars 1967\u201d (in French).<\/p>\n

And thus the stone is also a part of the picture<\/p>\n

the Felix Gonzalez-Torres way<\/p>\n

somewhere in the space between photograph and non-title.<\/p>\n

All other images show the stone<\/p>\n

fronted by an empty, almost parched spot<\/p>\n

where the flowers were growing according to Gonzalez-Torres,<\/p>\n

but no one mentions Alice,<\/p>\n

or they show the back of the stone,<\/p>\n

not mentioning Gertrude,<\/p>\n

not in connection to the grave at least,<\/p>\n

only in connection to the fact<\/p>\n

that Alice B. Toklas was Gertrude Stein\u2019s<\/p>\n

secretary, housekeeper, confidante, muse, editor, critic<\/p>\n

and, let us perhaps try to find an even more adequate word \u2013<\/p>\n

like a footnote<\/p>\n

just like her death is a footnote to the death of Stein,<\/p>\n

behind her back.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez-Torres photographed the flowers<\/p>\n

and the dark brown soil between the plants,<\/p>\n

in what in most reproductions appears to be twilight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hues are saturated and the overall effect<\/em><\/p>\n

is anything but lugubrious. It is an homage<\/em><\/p>\n

to love made in the time of death,<\/em><\/p>\n

to a same-sex couple in a time<\/em><\/p>\n

when the right to be that was <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 as it still is \u2013<\/em><\/p>\n

under continuous assault\u2026\u201d,<\/em><\/p>\n

Robert Storr writes in his article<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen This You See Remember Me\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I will give you something, as if it were flowers,<\/p>\n

but specifically not flowers,<\/p>\n

but there is no other word.<\/p>\n

I will give you flowers as if they were flowers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Jeg vil give dig noget, som om det var blomster,<\/p>\n

men pr\u00e6cis ikke blomster.<\/p>\n

En rose, som for alt i verden ikke er en rose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jeg ser dig i modlyset i det tilst\u00f8dende rum<\/p>\n

og ved at du p\u00e5 et fotografi<\/p>\n

enten ville v\u00e6re blevet en \u2028uigennemtr\u00e6ngelig flad skygge<\/p>\n

eller at udsigten bag dig ville v\u00e6re blevet udvasket<\/p>\n

men herfra hvor jeg sidder kan jeg pr\u00e6cis<\/p>\n

ane og geng\u00e6lde dit smil inde i m\u00f8rket<\/p>\n

og se byen bag dig i det samme blik.<\/p>\n

Jeg ser verden delvist igennem din silhuet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I like a view but I like to sit with my back turned to it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jeg t\u00e6nker at hvis du ved hvem det er<\/p>\n

s\u00e5 ved du m\u00e5ske ogs\u00e5 allerede<\/p>\n

hvor jeg har hentet dette citat.<\/p>\n

Det er Stein citeret af Toklas skrevet af Stein.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hvis du ved hvem blomsterne er til<\/p>\n

s\u00e5 ved du m\u00e5ske ogs\u00e5 at en rose<\/p>\n

nogle gange bare er en rose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jeg t\u00e6nker at der er blomster p\u00e5 alle slags grave<\/p>\n

men at der ikke er nogen p\u00e5 de billeder af<\/p>\n

Gertrude og Alice’s grav som findes<\/p>\n

for eksempel p\u00e5 FindAGrave.com:<\/p>\n

Gertrudes grav for sig og Alice’s for sig<\/p>\n

og kun en enkelt cyclamen<\/p>\n

p\u00e5 Steins side af stenen. A stone is a stein <\/em><\/p>\n

is a rock is a boulder is a pebble.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jeg t\u00e6nker du m\u00e5ske allerede ved<\/p>\n

det er Hemingway, og at han er vred.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jeg t\u00e6nker at hvis virkelig det er<\/p>\n

p\u00e5 Alice B. Toklas\u2019 og Gertrude Stein\u2019s grav<\/p>\n

blomsterne vokser p\u00e5 Felix Gonzalez-Torres\u2019 billede<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled<\/em>\u201d (Alice B. Toklas\u2019 and Gertrude Stein\u2019s Grave, Paris), 1992,<\/p>\n

s\u00e5 har Felix Gonzalez-Torres ogs\u00e5 set stenen<\/p>\n

p\u00e5 hvis forside, der kun st\u00e5r Gertrude Stein og intet \u00e5rstal,<\/p>\n

og p\u00e5 hvis bagside der st\u00e5r: \u201cAlice B. Toklas,<\/p>\n

San Francisco April 30, 1877\u201c (p\u00e5 engelsk)<\/p>\n

og: \u201cParis, 7 mars 1967\u201d (p\u00e5 fransk).<\/p>\n

Og s\u00e5 er stenen ogs\u00e5 med p\u00e5 billedet<\/p>\n

the Felix Gonzalez-Torres way<\/p>\n

et sted i mellemrummet mellem fotografi og ikke-titel.<\/p>\n

Alle andre billeder viser stenen<\/p>\n

med en bar, n\u00e6rmest afsveden plet foran,<\/p>\n

hvor blomsterne voksede if\u00f8lge Gonzalez-Torres,<\/p>\n

men ingen n\u00e6vner Alice,<\/p>\n

eller ogs\u00e5 viser de stenens bagside<\/p>\n

og n\u00e6vner ikke Gertrude,<\/p>\n

i al fald ikke i forbindelse med graven,<\/p>\n

kun i forbindelse med<\/p>\n

at Alice B. Toklas var Gertrude Steins\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

sekret\u00e6r, husholderske, fortrolige, muse, redakt\u00f8r, kritiker<\/p>\n

og, lad os nu bare pr\u00f8ve at finde et mere d\u00e6kkende ord,<\/p>\n

som en slags fodnote<\/p>\n

ligesom hendes d\u00f8d er det til Steins d\u00f8d,<\/p>\n

bag om ryggen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gonzalez-Torres fotograferer blomsterne<\/p>\n

og den m\u00f8rkebrune jord imellem planterne,<\/p>\n

i et lys der i de fleste gengivelser<\/p>\n

forekommer tusm\u00f8rkeagtigt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hues are saturated and the overall effect<\/em><\/p>\n

is anything but lugubrious. It is an homage<\/em><\/p>\n

to love made in the time of death,<\/em><\/p>\n

to a same-sex couple in a time<\/em><\/p>\n

when the right to be that was <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 as it still is \u2013<\/em><\/p>\n

under continous assault\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

skriver Robert Storr i artiklen<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen This You See Remember Me\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jeg vil give dig noget, som om det var blomster,<\/p>\n

men pr\u00e6cis ikke blomster,<\/p>\n

men der findes ikke noget andet ord.<\/p>\n

Jeg vil give dig blomster som om det var blomster.<\/p>\n

CHRISTIAN YDE FROSTHOLM & KAREN HAVELIN<\/a><\/h6>\n
<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following poem by Christian Yde Frostholm\u00a0has been\u00a0translated from the Danish\u00a0by Karen\u00a0Havelin.   I want to give you something as if it were flowers, but specifically not flowers. A rose that for anything in the world is not a rose.   I see you against the light in the next room and I know that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1425,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[54],"tags":[36],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Jypy-3FN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14123"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14125,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14123\/revisions\/14125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}