Modern Chinese New Poetry and Classical Poetry Traditions
Summary
This book consists of four chapters. The first three chapters analyze the influence of Chinese classical poetry traditions on modern Chinese new poetry from a macro-perspective while the last chapter uses case studies to illustrate the influence of traditions on individual writers from a more micro-perspective. Together, these four chapters provide a multilayered elaboration on the complex relationship between traditional Chinese poetry and modern Chinese poetry. The author argues that Chinese modern new poetry does not completely deviate from Chinese classical poetry traditions, but draws nourishment from Chinese and Western poetry traditions and continues to form new traditions.
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Contents
- Foreword by Wang Furen
- Introduction: Modern Chinese New Poetry and Classical Poetry Traditions
- I. Modern Chinese New Poetry: Challenges in Writing and Interpretation
- II. Focusing on the Noumenon of Chinese New Poetry
- III. Tradition: A Key Word in the Chinese New Poetry Development in the Past Century
- IV. Modern Chinese New Poetry and Classical Poetry Traditions
- V. Old Traditions and New Traditions
- Chapter 1 Objectification and the Cultural Characteristics of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- I. Xing and Modern Chinese New Poetry Generating
- Two Cultural Origins of Modern Chinese New Poetry Generating
- Patterns of Poetry Expressions: Evoking Emotions with Objects and Emotions Flowing with the Changing Objects
- The Creative Subjectivity Mechanism of Modern Poets
- Xing and the Symbol Technique
- II. Bi and Rhetoric Devices of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Distant Metaphor and Near Metaphor
- Two Features of Near Metaphor
- Variations of Tradition
- III. The Tradition of Bi-Xing and Objectification of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Objectification Analysis
- Objectification of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- IV. The Rival Growth of Subjectivity and Objectification
- Subjectivity Analysis
- Subjectivity Trend of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Rival Growth of Subjectivity and Objectification
- Chapter 2 Historical Forms of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- I. Qu Sao and Free Forms of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- “A refuge to outlive the longest night”
- Free Qu Sao Style in Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Freedom Comparison in Chinese and Western Contexts
- II. Poetry of the Wei, Jin, and Tang Dynasties, Ci of the Song Dynasty, and Conscious Forms of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Towards Pure Poetry
- Life and Art
- Challenges
- III. Poetry of the Song Dynasty and the Anti-traditional Tendency of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Poetry of the Song Dynasty: A Cultural Prototype of Anti-traditional Poetry
- Anti-traditional Chinese New Poetry
- Limitations, Transformation, and Transcendence
- IV. Airs of the States, Yuefu, and Ballad Tendency of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Ballad Tendency of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Historical Foundation of Ballad Tendency of Chinese New Poetry
- Features of Ballad Tendency of Chinese New Poetry
- Freedom, Consciousness, Anti-tradition, and Ballad Tendency
- Chapter 3 Traditional Culture and Text Structures of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- I. “Discernment” and “Forgetting”: The Literary Pursuit of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- “Discernment” and “Forgetting” Cycling
- Two Modes of Thinking under Two Kinds of Poem Rules
- Between “Discernment” and “Forgetting”
- II. Harmony and Dissonance: Metrical Features of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Harmony and Dissonance
- Harmony Pursuit of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Dissonance Features of Modern Chinese New Poetry
- Chapter 4 Individual Poets in Chinese Cultural Traditions
- I. Hu Shih: Slow Flow of Two Poetry Cultures
- Between Contingency and Clear Direction
- Two Poetry Cultures: The Living and the Dead
- From Dead Poetry to Living Poetry
- II. Guo Moruo: Free and Conscious Forms of Chinese Poetry Culture
- Free and Conscious Styles of Poetry
- Cycling of Free and Conscious Forms: Guo Moruo’s Poetry
- Rival Growth of Free and Conscious Forms: A Glimpse of Guo Moruo’s Spiritual Structures
- III. Wen Yiduo: Self-deconstruction of the Traditional, Psychological Structure
- “A Simple Chinese”
- Coexistence of Two Kinds of Poetic Ideas
- Conflicts: From Emotions to Art
- IV. Xu Zhimo: Modern Reconstruction of Classical Ideals
- A Son of Nature
- A Soul of Nature
- Natural Ideal
- V. Li Jinfa: Communication and Non-communication
- Symbolism: Baudelaire and Mallarmé?
- Tradition as a Personality Temperament
- Obscurity and Non-communication
- VI. Dai Wangshu: The Century of Sickness of a Chinese Soul
- Love and Privacy: A Sample Analysis
- A Sentimental and Worried Tone
- Pure Poetry or Prose Poetry
- VII. He Qifang: “Jiaren Fangcao” in the Western Storm
- Self-satisfaction, Self-respect, and “Jiaren Fangcao”
- Chinese and Western Cultures, and the Modern Choice
- Characteristics of He Qifang
- VIII. Bian Zhilin: The Sight Downstairs
- A “Cold-Blooded Animal” Label
- A Cold, Detached Tone
- Cultural Characteristics of Bian’s Poetry
- IX. Liang Zongdai: Glory of Subjectivity and Enchantment of Objectification
- Starting from “Subjectivity”
- Misreading of “Objectification”
- Interaction and Intertwining of Chinese and Western Poetics
- X. Ai Qing: “An Abandoned Child” and Rebel of Chinese Tradition
- Ai Qing, “An Abandoned Child”
- Anti-tradition of the Avant-garde Art
- Ai Qing’s “Reed Flute”
- Maturity during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression
- XI. Feng Zhi: Distant Metaphor and “The Most Outstanding Lyric Poet”
- Beyond Emotional Sensations
- Distant Metaphor and Organization of Ideas
- Cycling of the Subjectivity Process
- XII. Mu Dan: Anti-tradition and New Traditions of Chinese New Poetry
- Obscurity and Modern Poetics
- Vernacular, Spoken, and Prose Poetry
- Traditions: Past, Present, and Future
- XIII. Yuan Kejia: Modernization in Chinese Context
- Modernization of Chinese New Poetry
- Modernization Is Not Westernization
- Democratic Poetry and People’s Poetry
- Dramatization and Experience
- XIV. Ren Hongyuan: Choice of a Contemporary Academic Poet
- A Chinese Academic Poet
- Ren Hongyuan as an Academic Poet
- “Double Transcendence”
- Of Life and Culture
- XV. Lu Xun: “Cheering for New Poetry” against Tradition
- Rationality and Dialogue
- Divergence from Early Vernacular New Poetry
- Lu Xun’s New Poetry Criticism: An Evaluation
- A Critique of History and a Reflection of Reality
- Appendix: Modern Characteristics of Chinese Modern Poetics
- Postscripts for the Previous Chinese Editions
- Index
Li Yi
Modern Chinese New Poetry and Classical Poetry Traditions
Translated by Wang Sue
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Li, Yi, author.
Title: Modern Chinese new poetry and classical poetry traditions / Li Yi.
Other titles: Zhongguo xian dai xin shi yu gu dian shi ge chuan tong. English
Description: New York : Peter Lang, 2024. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2023056030 (print) | LCCN 2023056031 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433198953 (hardback) | ISBN 9781433198960 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433198977 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Chinese poetry—20th century—History and criticism. | Chinese poetry—History and criticism. | LCGFT: Literary criticism.
Classification: LCC PL2332 .L46813 2024 (print) | LCC PL2332 (ebook) | DDC 895.11/509—dc23/eng/20240126
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023056030
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023056031
DOI 10.3726/b20061
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
The German National Library lists this publication in the German National Bibliography; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
Cover design by Peter Lang Group AG
ISBN 9781433198953 (hardback)
ISBN 9781433198960 (ebook)
ISBN 9781433198977 (epub)
DOI 10.3726/b20061
This edition is an authorized translation from the third revised edition of the book originally published in Chinese
Published by arrangement with Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd.
All rights reserved.
© 2024 Peter Lang Group AG, Lausanne
Published by Peter Lang Publishing Inc., New York, USA
info@peterlang.com - www.peterlang.com
All rights reserved.
All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.
Any utilization outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.
This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.
This publication has been peer reviewed.
About the author
Li Yi, Ph.D., is dean and professor at the College of Literature and Journalism, Sichuan University, China. He serves as vice president of China Modern Literature Research Association and vice president of China Lu Xun Research Association. His research includes modern Chinese poetry, Lu Xun and modern Chinese literary, and artistic trends studies.
About the book
This book systematically outlines the complex relationship between modern new poetry and classical poetry traditions of China for the first time. Since its Chinese first publication in 1994, this book has been an important reference for the study of Chinese modern new poetry.
This book consists of four chapters. The first three chapters analyze the influence of Chinese classical poetry traditions on modern Chinese new poetry from a macroperspective while the last chapter uses case studies to illustrate the influence of traditions on individual writers from a more micro-perspective. Together, these four chapters provide a multilayered elaboration on the complex relationship between traditional Chinese poetry and modern Chinese poetry. The author argues that Chinese modern new poetry does not completely deviate from Chinese classical poetry traditions, but draws nourishment from Chinese and Western poetry traditions and continues to form new traditions.
This eBook can be cited
This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.
Foreword by Wang Furen
When I was directed to the field of modern literary studies, I had passed the stage of loving poem reading and writing. Rough life has blunted my keen senses toward poetry. Therefore, I cannot say I read extensively in the field of modern poetry research. Yet, to my knowledge, Li Yi’s book Modern Chinese New Poetry and Classical Poetry Traditions is an excellent piece of modern poetics. I read the manuscripts he sent me all at once, although I have already delayed the publication of this book. Each chapter made me feel amazed and I enjoyed the pleasure of fresh ideas. It is no exaggeration to say his book is full of inspiring sparkles throughout. This is much beyond my expectations.
Poetry appreciation requires poetry critics to be as sensitive and imaginative as poets, easily to be touched by specific objects. This is a challenge in poetry studies. But, such poetry critics are often described as somewhat narrow-minded or stubborn, which, of course, is a perception from some of our slower readers. If we do not feel what they feel or cannot imagine what they imagine, it is hard for us to understand they could talk much about a single image or word of a very short poem. It is like the amplification of a tiny thing as the whole big world. However, at the same time, poetry critics are responsible for helping readers understand the meanings and ideas of poems because poetics is always for those who do not understand poetry so well. If the poetry critics themselves are super emotional in every detail, sad at the sight of the moon, tearful at the sight of the flowers, and showing all kinds of human feelings associated with any plain verses, readers may not be able to follow their thoughts. In such a case, it would be reasonable if they feel the poetics is too narrow and too romantic. Poetics, as a theory, should have a theoretical depth, a bird-view position, and an overarching framework that accommodates subcategories of different varieties. In my opinion, such a framework for the study of Chinese new poetry has been absent. When studying Guo Moruo, Guo Moruo’s standards would be applied. When studying Feng Zhi, Feng Zhi’s standards would be applied. Consequently, such research became fragmentary and disorderly. It either probed into just one poet ignoring all others, or praised all poets along the way; thus, losing the value of research. The greatest contribution of Li Yi’s book to the study of Chinese new poetry is to establish a powerful framework of modern poetics. It might not be the only reasonable framework; yet, it is a frame with its own logic. This framework is not imposed arbitrarily on its targets but reflects the features of Chinese new poetry development. One such remarkable feature is the comprehensive integration of three different forces: (1) the Chinese classical poetry tradition, (2) the Western poetry tradition, and (3) the individual pursuit of modern poets. When Li Yi analyzed Chinese new poetry from this framework, his research gained a grand view and no longer made people feel trivial. However, this macroscopic tolerance did not make Li Yi lose his keen sense of poetry but rather made him feel more nuanced and specific about modern poetry. I believe everyone who reads the complete book without any bias will feel the same.
No poets’ writing can be separated from their traditions, but in our previous understanding, traditions seem to be confined to the traditions of Chinese classical poetry. Traditions are the integrated foundation on which poets rely their writing. Both ancient Chinese poetry and Western poetry are the poetic traditions on which modern Chinese poets set off, yet they play different roles in different historical periods. Poets have different perspectives on them. When new poetry emerged, poets saw an opportunity to develop Chinese new poetry with the traditions of Western poetry. Therefore, they advocated learning from Western poetry by introducing works and theories of Western poets. They also attempted to apply experience and theories of Western poetry to their poetry writing. However, when they did, they could not eliminate the traditions of classical Chinese poetry. Furthermore, they could not escape the restraints of traditional thoughts and the Chinese language.
Details
- Pages
- XX, 400
- Year
- 2024
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781433198960
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781433198977
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9781433198953
- DOI
- 10.3726/b20061
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2024 (May)
- Keywords
- modern Chinese new poetry classical Chinese poetry Western poetry traditions
- Published
- New York, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, Oxford, 2024. XX, 400 pp.
