Abstract
This chapter offers a critical analysis of the poetry and poetics of Xia Yu (Hsia Yü 夏宇), a leading poet in the Chinese-speaking world. By focusing on the themes, language, and formal innovations of her work to date, I highlight the unique style and contributions of the poet.
My poetry doesn’t do anything, it’s a pure desire for words.
Xia Yu (2018, book cover)
What I mean is very very good poetry or else everything is wasted.
Xia Yu (2013, p. 169)
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Notes
- 1.
From “Never See You Again Is Not a Bad Concept” (永不再見不失為一個好概念) in 88 Self-Selected Poems (88首自選). All translations are mine unless noted otherwise.
- 2.
A well-known exception is Li Qingzhao (李清照; 1084–1155), who often depicts drinking, on both happy and lonely occasions, in her poetry.
- 3.
The three poems are “Saw” (鋸子), “A Can of Fish” (魚罐頭), and “Gangster A” (歹徒甲).
- 4.
Under the penname Li Gedi (李格弟), Xia Yu is an award-winning pop song lyricist. Some of her lyrics are widely known; besides “Painfully Happy,” other examples are “I Am Ugly, But I Am Gentle” (我很醜, 可是我很溫柔) and “Please Give Me a Better Rival in Love” (請你給我好一點的情敵).
- 5.
There are no page numbers; therefore, the poems are identified by the order in which they appear in The Axis of Spine (2019).
- 6.
Ventriloquy (1999, p. 20); translation by Steve Bradbury in Fusion Kitsch (2001a, p. 25); I made one modification—deleting the word “Boredom” at the beginning of Line 6 to reflect the original.
- 7.
“Manifesto I: Filming Must be Finished at the Scene of the Story” (宣言一: 攝影必須在故事的發生地完成), Romance as Sudden Enlightenment (羅曼史作為頓悟) (2019).
- 8.
“Lead the Goat, Regrets End” (牽羊悔亡), Salsa (1999).
- 9.
“The Ripest Rankest Summer” (最熟最爛的夏天), Salsa (S. Bradbury Trans.). See also, “The Ripest Rankest Juiciest Summer Ever,” in Xia Yu’s Fusion Kitsch, p. 13. Xia, Y. (2014). Salsa (S. Bradbury, Trans.). Zephyr Press. (Original work published 1999).
- 10.
No. 29 in The Axis of Spine.
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Yeh, M. (2023). Xia Yu, the Supreme Stylist. In: Wu, Cr., Fan, Mj. (eds) Taiwan Literature in the 21st Century. Sinophone and Taiwan Studies, vol 5. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8380-1_6
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