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All-<br>
<br>
Since Richard wasn’t able to join us on Friday, I will attempt a short
report on our lively discussion of <i>Eight Contemporary Chinese
Poets.<br>
</i> <br>
Though several group members are scholars, translators, and aficionados
of contemporary Chinese poetry, many of us have had little exposure to
Chinese poetry; thus, our readings for Friday’s meeting and last week’s
historic reading on campus by eight Chinese poets and their translators
provided a broad introduction to the field. That introduction was
enriched during our meeting by a lengthy discussion of the social,
cultural, historical, political, and aesthetic contexts in which the
day’s readings were written, read, translated, and studied. <br>
<br>
The Chinese poetry experts among us offered a brief history of twentieth
century poetry in China, beginning with a discussion of the “official”
Maoist verse sanctioned by the state. From this groundwork of proletariat
realism, we went on to discuss the so-called “Misty” poets of the 1970s
and 1980s, some of whose work is included in <i>Eight Contemporary
Chinese Poets. </i>The term “Misty” refers to work that stood in
opposition to the state sanctioned poetry of the period and which was
thought to be more opaque than the straightforward and plain style of the
official verse. These poets explored emotional and intellectual subject
matter, using poetry as a means of articulating individual, internal
experience. The Misty poets influenced a new generation of poets who
continue to work outside the realist aesthetic that has defined much of
the Chinese poetry of the twentieth century.<br>
<br>
Turning to the text, we spoke at length about the work of Zhai Yongming.
Yongming is a leading woman poet in China and was among the poets who
read here last week. We focused our discussion on Yongming’s early work,
considering the influence of Sylvia Plath and other confessional writers.
Andrea Lingenfelter, who read translations of Yongming’s work at the
event last week, distributed copies of her translation of one of
Yongming’s central poems, “Premonition” (called “Foreboding” in <i>Eight
Contemporary Chinese Poets</i>). The two different translations provided
the group with opportunities to discuss the particulars of Chinese syntax
and linguistic structure.<br>
<br>
At out next meeting, poet Xi Chuan will join the group to discuss his
work and that of his fellow poets. A selection of Xi Chuan’s work is
included in <i>Eight Contemporary Chinese Poets </i>and online at
<a href="http://www.thedrunkenboat.com/summer06.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.thedrunkenboat.com/summer06.html</a><i>. </i> That meeting
will take place at 3pm on May 4th.<br><br>
<br>
Nancy Kuhl<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Nancy Kuhl<br>
Associate Curator, The Yale Collection of American Literature<br>
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library<br>
Yale University<br>
121 Wall Street<br>
P.O. Box 208240<br>
New Haven, CT 06520-8240<br>
Phone: 203.432.2966 <br>
Fax: 203.432.4047</body>
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