Abstract
For modern Chinese poetry, or poetry written in vernacular Chinese, 1920 is a year of great significance. In this year, Hu Shi, one of the major exponents of the New Literature Movement, published Experimental Poems ,1 the earliest single poet’s book of poems written in vernacular Chinese, in which his translation of Western poems was also collected. In his 1931 review of Hu’s book and the first decade of modern Chinese poetry, Liang Shiqiu remarked, “Modern poetry is foreign poetry written in Chinese.”2 While this statement may be controversial, Liang concluded that there was a translational relationship between modern Chinese poetry and Western poetry in the 1920s, which started, unforgettably, with Hu’s translation of George Gordon Byron, Anne Lindsay, and Sara Teasdale, and his Chinese rendition of Edward FitzGerald s English translation of the Rubáiyát. Having acknowledged Hu’s practice of and contribution to modern Chinese poetry, Liang boldly asserted, “The influence of foreign literature is beneficial. We should embrace its invasion of Chinese poetry without reservation.”3 He continued to criticize his contemporaries for weighing the linguistic medium of new poetry, namely the vernacular, against its artistic quality. A critic associated with the group of l’art pour l’art poets mainly influenced by English romantic poetry, namely the Crescent poets, Liang was covertly steering his ambitious critique against the artless slogan poetry produced by irritable left-wing writers in late 1920s and early 1930s Shanghai, as he was at the time deeply preoccupied with his polemic against the left-wing writers who sought to popularize and classify literature for the purpose of proletarian revolution.
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Notes
Hu Shi, Changshi ji (Experimental Poems) (Shanghai Shanghai dongya tushu guan [Shanghai East Asia Library], 1920).
Liang Shiqiu, “Xinshi de gediao ji qita” “The Style of New Poetry and Others” Shi kan (Poetry Journal) 1 (1931), p. 81.
Yanbing (Mao Dun), “Wenxue shang de Gudian zhuyi, Langman zhuyi he Xieshi zhuyi” “Classicism, Romanticism, and Realism in Literature”), Xuesheng zazhi (Students’ Journal) 7.9 (1920), p. 1.
See Leo Ou-fan Lee, The Romantic Generation of Modern Chinese Writers (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973), pp. 177–178.
Guo Moruo, “Geming yu wenxue” (“Revolution and Literature”), Chuangzao yuekan (Creation Monthly) 1.3 (1927), pp. 6–7. Translation by Leo Ou-fan Lee, pp. 196–197.
Jiang Guangci, “Shiyue geming yu Eluosi wenxue” (“October Revolution and Russian Literature”), in Eluosi wenxue (Russian Literature) (Shanghai: Creation Society Publishing 1927), pp. 20–21.
See Yijia (Qu Qiubai), “Geming de langmandike” (“Revolutionary Romanticism”), in Huahan, Diquan (Underground Spring) (Shanghai: Hufen shuju, 1932), pp. 1–7;
Lu Xun, “Wenyi yu geming” (“Literature and Revolution”), Yusi (Treads of Words) 4.16 (1928).
See Ziping, “Langman zhuyi” (“Romanticism”), Chen Bao Fujuan (Supplement of the Morning Post) 1240, 1243, 1245, 1247–1248 (1925).
Liang Shiqiu, “Xiandai Zhongguo wenxue zhi Langman de qushi” (“The Trend of Romanticism in Modern Chinese Literature”), Supplement of the Morning Post 54 (1926).
Wen Yiduo, “Shi de gelü” (“The Meter of Poetry”), Supplement of the Morning Post 56 (1926).
For Crescent poets’ discussion on poetic form, see Rao Mengkan, “Xinshi de yinjie” (“The Meter of New Poetry”) and “Xinshi hua” (“On New Poetry”), in Chen Bao Fujuan, 55–56 (1926). See also Liang Shiqiu, “Xinshi de gediao,” Poetry Journal, 81–86.
Wen Yiduo, “Si shui” (“Death Water”), Supplement of the Morning Post 54 (1926), p. 55.
Shen Congwen “Lun Wen Yiduo de Sishui” (“On Wen Yiduo’s ‘Death Water’”), Xinyue (Crescent) 3.2 (1932), p. 7.
Xu Zhimo, “Xinyue de taidu” (“The Attitude of The Crescent”), in Crescent 1.1 (1928), pp. 3–10.
Feng Naichao “Jieji shehui de yishu” “Art in the Class Society”), Tuohuangzhe (Pathfinder) 1.2 (1930), pp. 671–692;
Lu Xun, “Xinyue she pipingjia de renwu” (“The Task of the Crescent Critics”), Sprout Monthly 1.1 (1930);
Lu Xun, “Yingyi yu wenxue de jieji xing” “Hard Translation and the Class Character of Literature”), Sprout Monthly 1.3 (1930), pp. 65–90;
Lu Xun, “Sangjia de zhibenjia de fazougou” “A Stooge of the Capitalist”), Sprout Monthly 1.5 (1930).
See Li Zhao (ed.), Lu Xun, Liang Shiqiu lunzhan shilu (A True Record of the Polemic between Lu Xun and Liang Shiqiu) (Beijing: Hualing chubanshe, 1997).
Shi Zhecun, “You guanyu benkan zhong de shi” (“Another Passage about the Poems of Les Contemporains”), Les Contemporains 4.1 (1934), p. 7.
Shi Zhecun, “Xiandai Meiguo wenxue zhuanhao daoyan” (“Preface to the Special Issue on Modern American Literature”), Les Contemporains 5.6 (1934), pp. 834–838.
Robert Frost, “My November Guest,” in A Boy’s Will and North of Boston (Stilwell: Dover Trift, 2006), p. 3.
Shi Zhecun (trans.), “Wo shiyiyue de laike” “My November Guest”), Xiandai 5.6 (1934), p. 1199.
see Fai Yip, “Baichuan guihai de da xiongjin: Ji Shi Zhecun xiansheng” (“A Man With a Big Mind: In Memory of Mr. Shi Zhecun”), in Xinshi ditu sihuiben (A Personal Map of New Poetry) (Hong Kong: Cosmos Books, 2005), p. 114.
see Shi Zhecun (trans.), “Ximu” (“Dusk”), Les Contemporains 5.6 (1934), p. 1208.
Shi Zhecun, “Shaliwen” Les Contemporains 1.2 (1932), p. 230. “Suudae,” Shi’s typo, was originally printed on the journal.
Shi Zhecun, “Xiandai zayi (yi)” (“Recollecting Les Contemporains [1])”), Xin wenwenxue shiliao (Historical Materials of New Literature) 1 (1981), p. 217.
Shi Zhecun, “Wei Zhongguo wentan caliang Xiandaide huohua” (“To Strike the Modernist Sparks in China”), in Shaoshang de jiaoji (Footprints on the Sand) (Shenyang: Liaoning jiaoyu chubanshe, 1995), p. 180.
Shi Zhecun, “Guanyu Lu Xun de yixie huiyi” (“Some Memories of Lu Xun”), in Yiwang yu jiyi (Oblivion and Memory) (Hong Kong: Cosmos Books, 2008), pp. 150–153.
See Pufeng, “Suowei ‘xiandai shenghuo’ de ‘xiandai’ shi” (“The So-called ‘Modern Poetry’ of ‘Modern’ Life”), Chuban xiaoxi (Publication Newsletter) 29 (1934), pp. 11–16.
For other left-wing poets’ critiques on the modernists, see Sun Zuoyun, “Lun xiandaipai de shi” “On the Poetry of the ‘Modernists’”), Qinghua zhoukan (Tsinghua Weekly) 43.1 (1935), pp. 56–65;
Pufeng, “‘Jiuyiba’ hou de xinshige yundong” (“Poetry Movements after the ‘September 18th Incident’”), Gaijin banyuekan (Improvement Bimonthly) 1.4 (1939), pp. 184–187;
Ren Jun, “Guanyu Zhongguo shige hui” (“About the China Poetry Association”), Yuekan (Monthly) 1.4 (1946), pp. 31–36.
For the discussion about translation, see Wong Wang-chi, “Fanyi yu jieji douzheng: Lun 1929 nian Lu Xun yu Liang Shiqiu de lunzheng” (“Translation and Class Struggle: On the 1929 Debate Between Lu Xun and Liang Shiqiu”), in Fanyi yu wenxue zhijian (Between Translation and Literature) (Nanjing: Nanjing daxue chubanshe, 2011), pp. 299–333.
See Huang Wanhua, “Cong ‘zuoyi’ dao ‘xiandai’: jiaohui zhong de yanxu yu zonghe” (“From ‘Left-Wing’ to ‘Modern’: Continuation and Integration at the Intersection”), Jinan xuebao (Jinan Journal) 10 (2012), pp. 34–40.
See Cheng Ching-hang, “Yijiu wuling niandai Xianggang xinshi gaiyao” (“An Outline of Hong Kong Poetry of the 1950s”), in Wuling niandai Xianggan shixuan(An Anthology of Hong Kong Poetry of the 1950s) (Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Books, 2013), p. 13.
For more on Huang Wen’s poetry, see Elaine Ho, “Connecting Cultures: Hong Kong Literature in English in the 1950s,” New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 5.2 (2003), pp. 13–25.
Huang Wanhua, “Zhanhou Zhongguo zuoyi wenxue de sanzhong xingtai jiqi wenxueshi yiyi” (“Tree Forms of Postwar Left-Wing Literature in Chinese and Their Significance in Literary History”), Wen shi zhe (Journal of Literature, History, and Philosophy) 3 (2013), pp. 32–33.
Li Kuang, “Yanyu” (“A Swallow’s Words”), Xingdao wanbao (Sing Tao Evening News), December 14, 1951.
Yu Huai (Stephen Soong), “Shi yu qinggan” (“Poetry and Emotion”), Renren wenxue (Everyman’s Literature) 12 (1953), p. 53.
Changting, “Shi he dui shi de ganying” (“Poetry and Sensibility”), Everyman’s Literature 13 (1953), p. 63.
Yu Huai, “Shi yu qinggan,” passim. For the more details about the right-wing poets’ argument regarding emotion in poetry, see Chi-tak Chan, “Lin Yiliang shilun yu 50 niandai Xianggang xinshi de zhuanbian” (“Stephen Soong’s Poetics and the Transformation of Hong Kong Poetry in the 1950s”), Zuojia (Writers) 11 (2001), pp. 85–93.
For more discussion about Stephen Soong’s apolitical tendency, see Zijiang Song “Yuan Shuipai yu Lin Yiliang bianyi de Meiguo shige” (“Yuan Shuipai’s and Stephen Soong’s Anthologization and Translation of American Poetry”), Xiandai Zhongwen wenxue xuebao (Journal of Modern Literature in Chinese) 11.1 (2013), pp. 60–63.
See Ping-kwan Leung, “Modern Hong Kong Poetry: Negotiation of Cultures and the Search for Identity,” Modern Chinese Literature 9.2 (1996), pp. 224–227.
Lin Yiliang (Stephen Soong), “Shi de jiaoyu” (“Education of Poetry”), in Lin Yiliang shihua (Lin Yiliang on Poetry) (Taiwan : Hongfan shudian, 1981), pp. 47–52.
For the authorship of this poem, see Roland Soong, “Shiren qingyi yu ‘Lin Yiliang’ de youlai” (“Friendship of Poets and the Creation of ‘Lin Yiliang’”), Nanfang dushi bao (Southern Metropolis Daily), April 9, 2013.
Ronald Mar, “Meiyue xiaoshuo pingjie” (“Monthly Fiction Review”), Wenchao (Literary Waves) 1.2 (1944).
Ronald Mar, “Meiyue xiaoshuo pingjie,” Literary Waves 1.4 (1944).
Ronald Mar, “Weishenme shi xiandai zhuyi?: Du Jiaqi, Ma Lang, duitan” (“Why Modernism?: Conversation between Chia-chi Tu and Ronald Mar”), Xianggang wenxue (Hong Kong Literary) 224 (2003).
Ronald Mar, “Meiyue xiaoshuo pingjie,” Wenchao 1.4 (1944).
For more on Literary Waves, see Wanhua Wang, “Cong Wenchao dao Wenyi xinchao: yitiao buke hushi de wenxueshi xiansuo” (“From Literary Waves to Literary Currents: A Non-Negligible Trace in Literary History”), Shandong shehui kexue (Shandong Social Sciences) 217 (2013), pp. 9–11.
Ronald Mar, “Shanghai, Xianggang, Tianya: Ma Lang, Zheng Zhengheng duitan” (“Shanghai, Hong Kong, Overseas: Conversation between Ronald Mar and Ching-hang Cheng”), Hong Kong Literary 322 (2011), p. 85.
Ronald Mar, “Renlei linghun de gongchengsi, dao women de qixialai!” (“Mechanics of Human Souls, Come to Our Flag!”), Wenyi xinchao (Literary Currents) 1 (1956), p. 2.
Ronald Mar, “Fenqin de langzi” (“The Drifters Who Burnt the Lutes”), Literary Currents 1 (1956), p. 16.
See Cao Juren, “Xuwu zhuyi: Huise Ma” (“Nihilism: The Pale Horse”), Literary Currents 1 (1956), pp. 10–12.
see Wai-ping Yau, “Wenyi xinchao yijie xiandai zhuyi shizuo de xuanze yu quxiang” (“A Study of the Translation of Modernist Poetry in Literary Currents”), Journal of Modern Literature in Chinese 11.1 (2013), pp. 75–84.
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Song, Z. (2015). Translation, Cultural Politics, and Poetic Form: A Comparative Study of the Translation of Modernist Poetry in Les Contemporains (1932–35) and Literary Currents (1956–59). In: Sun, Y. (eds) Translation and Academic Journals. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137522092_7
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