| Poetry as Modernization undertakes a new interpretation of contemporary Chinese poetry, especially the "Misty Poetry" of the "Lost Generation" of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).;The hostility which experts of Chinese descent held toward Chinese Communists, along with the rise of Cold War propaganda, further contributed to the ignoring of 20th century poetry from the Chinese Mainland, a pattern which still stands as an obstacle to the world's understanding of modern China and its current generation. The assumption that the Communists had annihilated the long poetic tradition of the Chinese people went unchallenged.;As it happened, however, the trauma of the Cultural Revolution gave unique power to the poetry of Shu Ting, Bei Dao, Gu Cheng, Jiang He, Yang Lian, Mang Ke, Xu Jingya and their friends. These so-called "Misties" advocated self-discovery and through their individual suffering they not only rediscovered their lost selves, but also consciously assumed their social responsibilities toward their countrymen. Above all, they were inspired to break out of their long walled-in culture, and to renew the century long search for China's modernization which had been started by Chinese intellectuals in the 1930s. The "Misty Poetry" brought modernism to China, so rekindled the debate as to whether modernism could help the cause of China's modernization.;There are amazing parallels between China's "Lost Generation" and that of America's. Ezra Pound, with his dream of a "new beginning" for American culture, discovered Chinese Tang Poetry, which became the heart and soul of an Imagisme which later blossomed into modernism. What is perhaps most fascinating is that modernism came back to aid in China's modernization.;At the turn of the century, the combined genius of Arthur Waley and Ezra Pound toppled stubborn Orientalist biases and established a "sublime status" for Chinese poetry, one which provided a great inspiration for many Western poets and scholars. In the 1960s Gary Snyder, Kenneth Rexroth, among other Americans, began a campaign to enrich the American imagination with Chinese poetry. But a careful study will reveal that in both cases they focused exclusively upon classic Chinese poetry. |
