ABSTRACT
A three-part long-poem, Nach der Natur (1988) marked W. G. Sebald’s debut in literature and, like his subsequent prose writings, it defies facile clas sification. The title itself is intriguing. “Nach der Natur” suggests “after (the end of) Nature” or even “after Nature’s place (in a row)”; also “toward Nature”; and if the etymology of “nach” is taken into account, then “near Nature” is likewise imaginable. Considered as an expression, the title signifies “(painted) from life,” and this additional sense crops up in an important passage of this unusual book. Regretfully, the obliquely provocative German subtitle, Ein Elementargedicht, is missing from this American edition of After Nature (as Michael Hamburger has rightly entitled his accurate and engaging version). With this subtitle, the author stresses the unity of his tripartite project and ironically likens it to a “primer.”
