In her introduction to Modern Chinese Poetry
Michelle Yeh generally favours the self-identifying
Modernists over the Chinese Nativists although
there are conservative elements amongst the Modernists
and radical inclinations within the traditionalists
and radical inclinations within the traditionalists
Writing about Yang Mu
she says (that) by using the third-person masculine pronoun
in the first etude, the third-person feminine pronoun
in the second, and the third person reptilian pronoun
(coined by the poet) in the last, the poem connotes
that just as beauty is beyond gender, it is (also) beyond
the polarization of good and evil. Beauty transcends
the polarization of good and evil. Beauty transcends
Which is not exactly a Modernist notion (is it?)
If I had been writing the introduction
I would have redirected this examination of Yang Mu
by excluding him from the anthology altogether
and so redefining Yang and his contribution to poetry
.
Steven Taylor
Picture Nick Victor
Picture Nick Victor
.
Excellent 👍
Comment by Malcolm Paul on 25 February, 2025 at 6:20 am