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EXTENSION SECTION: 2
DISTINCTIVE FORMS OF EXPRESSION IN
MODERN POETRY TEXTS VII. Coexistent Structure: The Interweaving of the Classical and the Modern Luo Qing’s Tianjingsha and Luo Fu’s Reading Du Fu on the Bus also employ the same method, dismantling Ma Zhiyuan’s Tianjingsha and Du Fu’s Wen Guanjun Shou Henan Hebei and embedding them word by word and line by line into each section. Luo Fu “Reading Du Fu on the Bus”35 Beyond the sword, news suddenly arrives of the recapture of Jibei Sweeping poetry books in sudden joy and madness Youth as companion, good to return home This kind of fusion of classical and modern is mostly a re-interpretation of classical poetry from a modern perspective. There is creativity, yet the “framework” of the classical text still exists simultaneously. Modern poets, under the framework of “classical poetry” or “archetypal narrative structures,” carry out integration and innovation, whose psychological basis lies in “reconstructive imagination.” This “coexistence structure” is formally constrained by a framework; in content, however, it often extends rather than overturns or subverts the original classical poem or archetypal story. Otherwise, it would belong to the category of “parody.” VIII. Parody: The Subversion and Transformation of Texts Hong Hong “Fairy Tale Poems Written for Nono”37 Little Red Riding Hood The Sheep Who Guard the House Snow White Cinderella The Tortoise and the Hare Sleeping Beauty This poem integrates several well-known fairy tales into a sequence. Based on the “archetypal narrative structure” of fairy tales, it reinterprets them from a more worldly perspective. However, the author does not attempt to overturn or negate the values of the original narratives. Works such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty merely “review” the original stories again without critical or ironic intent. Therefore, they cannot be considered parody. Luo Renling “I Met Snow White in the Vegetable Market”38 That was this morning. I met Snow White in the vegetable market. She looked aged and melancholic, busy bargaining with a green apple. After being awakened by the prince’s kiss, Snow White must age in reality, becoming a “waist-heavy, wrinkled, clawed old woman” bargaining in the vegetable market. The prince has also grown old, ruined by stock market failure, becoming a broke old man. Through dialogue between a princess and a young girl, the princess declares she “no longer believes in fairy tales.” This statement pierces through the girl’s fantasy, acting as a critique and negation of fairy tales, using reality to puncture dreams—like telling readers that there are no fairy tales in this world, no carefree happiness or romantic ideal marriage. The critical and ironic meaning is strong; this poem is a typical parody. Luo Qing “A Letter of Farewell to a Farewell Letter”39 My dear: Upon taking up the pen I want to write to you Grabbing a sheet of paper Line by line, three or two lines I wrote all the way to here Since it has reached here it can only stop here Thus I stop Wishing you peace and happiness Postscript: What is written in this letter is absolutely unrelated to anything that is not written in this letter Also: If this letter should by chance be seen by historians archaeologists critics editors or voyeurs please do not read it please be magnanimous This poem fully realizes a postmodern conception. The letter contains no content and conveys no information; it deconstructs both the “letter” itself and the function of language. It reads as a mere letter form, but is empty in substance and meaningless in content. Because of this, it connects with the postmodern notion of “the collapse of theme.” It uses a form of parody with some ironic tone, but it does not truly criticize or negate the original model text, Lin Juemin’s “Letter of Farewell to My Wife.” It can thus be regarded as parody only in form and imagery. IX. Game Text When some avant-garde modern poets become aware that the functions of language and written words, beyond “expressing emotion and conveying meaning,” can also possess an additional value of “play,” they therefore begin to experiment with entirely new forms of expression: sometimes deliberately setting traps and leaving blanks to challenge readers’ reading habits and comprehension abilities; sometimes attempting to find various kinds of “interest” through deconstructing line breaks and punctuation relations in poetry; and even breaking down the barriers between modern poetry and practical writing genres, so that poetry may also acquire the function of practical notices. The local “language game poetry” roughly emerged in the mid-1980s, what Luo Qing called the arrival of the “postmodern wave.” As far as the author’s memory goes, several youth poetry magazines with an “avant-garde experimental spirit,” such as Elephant Herd, Fourth Dimension, and Horizon, successively launched new forms such as “fill-in-the-blank poetry,” “connect-the-lines poetry,” “computer programming language poetry,” “meta-language poetry,” “practical genre poetry,” and “collage poetry,” creating a brief period of great excitement. The author will briefly introduce the first five categories. From the early modernist poetic movement’s “visual poetry” of Lin Heng-tai and Zhan Bing, to the postmodern “language games” of Xia Yu, Lin Yao-de, Huang Zhi-rong, Lin Qun-sheng, Qiu Huan, Hong Hong and others, readers have witnessed a kind of “exhausted literature” after “straining language to its limits,” which has shifted from subverting linguistic meaning toward “symbol game” development. Essentially, this is no longer the realm of “poetry,” but rather the field of “semiotics.” Its characteristics are, as theorist Meng Fan states: “In postmodern poetry, one can clearly see the regret that the signifier of linguistic symbols cannot reach the signified… because the signified is continuously deferred backward until it becomes untraceable, resulting in the loss of meaning of the linguistic symbol itself. Once meaning is extracted, the linguistic symbols in poetry become a game of arrangement and combination; and if it is a game, then it does not necessarily need to have a purpose.”40 (1) Fill-in-the-Blank Poetry It is said that one of the Four Great Talents, Tang Bohu, once walked in Hangzhou and arrived at Broken Bridge, where he found an unfinished fill-in poem engraved on the railing: □ see □□ color, □ hear □□ sound. □ go □□ remain, □ come □□ alarm. After reading it, Tang Bohu spontaneously filled in the blanks and completed a superb poem: “From afar, one sees the mountains with color; up close, one hears the water without sound. When spring departs, flowers still remain; when people arrive, birds are not startled.” Tang Bohu thus completed an excellent “painting poem,” yet it contains no character meaning “painting,” which is truly thought-provoking. Although this five-character regulated verse is formally constrained by the written blanks, its content is in fact quite free and could have thousands of possible fillings, and thus thousands of different artistic conceptions. In local modern poetry, riding the “postmodern wave” of the 1980s, some poets introduced “fill-in-the-blank modern poetry,” such as female poet Xia Yu’s “Rhyme”41 (excerpt): I can only, ah, only can In this passage, two “blanks” are deliberately placed, intentionally creating a “language obstruction” that forces readers to pause and reflect. In fact, what words should be filled in these blanks to connect the context may vary from person to person; readers may try to infer the author’s intention, or may simply fill in words based on their own understanding; or these blanks may merely be insignificant “white space.” If the blanks serve as key connectors between contextual meanings—such as content words or verbs—then such deliberate blanking may be meaningful in allowing readers to participate. However, if they are merely function words or sentence-final particles that do not significantly affect meaning, then such blanking is unnecessary. Twenty years later, emerging female poet Yu Zhi’s “Coded Letter”42 shows a significant “evolution,” having learned to leave blanks at key lexical points: Write down with gain and loss I □ you were once a sequence dare not leave □□ The author states that “□□ are codes within the text—words too afraid to be revealed for filling in the blanks; the implicit relations and estimation are what this letter primarily intends to express.” The author also notes that the form was inspired by Xia Yu’s similar works. Netizen Bo Yi Dian Pi offers a sharp observation: “The poetic foundation of non-textual poetry is weak; if viewed from semiotics, one must ask why seeing blanks between lines triggers the impulse to fill them in? Because it is a universal sign: alone it has only extension, but attached to text it gains intension.” (2) Connect-the-Lines Poetry Xia Yu, “Connect-the-Lines”43 envelope thumbtack “Looking carefully up and down, and across left and right, this poem ‘Connect-the-Lines’ has no clues to connect; that is, there is no correct answer, because meaning has been stripped away.”44 This form borrows from primary-school test formats, but in this poem the author deliberately removes all “associative links,” so readers cannot find sufficient signifiers to connect meanings. It is a “false proposition” version of connect-the-lines: since it is not truly poetry, it can only be regarded as pure “language game,” making readers eventually realize they themselves have been played by the author. (3) Computer Programming Language Poetry Lin Qun-sheng, “Silence (POETRY-BASIC)”45 1Φ CLS This is a “work” written in BASIC programming language. Its structure is very simple and reflects how computer programming is composed of “0” and “1.” Essentially, this is not poetic language but programming language; it is different from merely inserting a few lines of code into poetic lines. (4) Meta-language Poetry In linguistics, “meta-language” is opposed to “object language.” Object language refers to a language that describes or discusses certain objects or states of affairs; meta-language is a language that takes language itself as its object of description and discussion.46 This reveals the hierarchical relationship between languages: when explaining the meaning or nature of a certain level of language, one must use a higher-level language; one cannot use the same level of language to explain itself.47 The brilliant dialectical dialogue between Hui Shi and Zhuangzi in the Zhuangzi is precisely meta-language: Zhuangzi and Hui Shi were traveling on the Hao Bridge. Hui Shi’s third question is meta-language, while Zhuangzi’s reply becomes a meta-meta-language, forming layers of questioning. In modern poetry, similar meta-language appears when poets insert evaluative comments as if stepping outside the poem itself, creating comedic effects, such as Xia Yu’s “Love” and Qiu Huan’s “Cooking Night”48: The days of buying flowers have come I obediently bought flowers and placed them in a pair of eyes (omitted) (sorry) (please continue reading) The days of buying seawater have come I obediently bought seawater (very sorry) The bracketed final lines are meta-language, functioning as interpretation and commentary on the preceding object language. Likewise, in Ya Xian’s “Actress”49, bracketed lines serve only as supplementary explanation rather than meta-level judgment; they remain within object language rather than stepping outside it. End Nine. Word Play When some avant-garde modern poets become conscious that the function of language is not only to “express emotion and convey meaning,” but can also carry an additional value of “play,” they begin to experiment with entirely new forms of expression. They either deliberately set up riddles and leave blank spaces, challenging readers’ habits of reading and comprehension; or they attempt to deconstruct line breaks and punctuation relations in poetry to discover various kinds of “interest”; they even break down the boundary between poetry and applied writing styles, allowing poetry to function as practical notices or announcements. Local “word-play poetry” appeared roughly in the mid-1980s, during what Luo Qing called the “arrival of the postmodern trend.” As far as I recall, several young poetry journals with an “avant-garde experimental spirit,” such as Elephant Herds, Fourth Dimension, and Horizon, successively published new forms such as “fill-in-the-blank poetry,” “connect-the-lines poetry,” “computer programming language poetry,” “meta-language poetry,” “applied writing poetry,” and “collage poetry,” creating a highly lively scene for a time. I will briefly introduce the first five types. From the earlier modernist poetic movement, represented by poets such as Lin Heng-tai and Zhan Bing, whose “visual poetry” explored spatial arrangement, to the postmodern wave represented by Xia Yu, Lin Yaode, Huang Zhiyong, Lin Qunsheng, Qiu Huan, and Hong Hong’s “word play,” readers can observe a shift from the exhaustion of linguistic meaning after “straining language to its limits,” toward a development in the direction of “code games.” Fundamentally, this is no longer the domain of “poetic form” but has entered the field of “semiotics.” Its characteristics are well described by poet-critic Meng Fan: “In postmodern poetry, one can clearly observe the regret that linguistic signifiers fail to reach their signifieds… because meaning is constantly deferred backward and ultimately becomes untraceable, the linguistic sign itself loses meaning. Once meaning is detached, poetic language becomes a game of permutation and combination. As a game, it does not necessarily need a purpose.”40 (1) Fill-in-the-Blank Poetry Legend says that Tang Bohu, one of the Four Great Talents, once walked in Hangzhou and reached Broken Bridge, where he found a blank verse engraved on the railing: □看□□色，□聽□□聲。□去□□在，□來□□驚。Tang Bohu improvised and filled in the blanks to complete a wonderful poem: “From afar one sees mountain colors; up close one hears no water sound. When spring departs flowers still remain; when people arrive birds are not startled.” Tang Bohu thus completed an excellent “painting poem,” yet not a single character of “painting” appears in it, which is thought-provoking. This quatrain, while formally constrained at the level of written characters, is in fact highly free in content, allowing countless possible completions and therefore countless possible poetic realms. Modern poetry in Taiwan, riding the “postmodern trend” of the 1980s, saw poets introducing “fill-in-the-blank poetry,” such as Xia Yu’s “Rhyme”41 (excerpt): I can only ah can only In this passage, two blank spaces are deliberately placed, intentionally creating a “linguistic obstruction” that forces the reader to pause and reflect. What exactly should be filled in these blanks to connect the context varies from reader to reader; readers may attempt to infer the author’s intention or simply fill them according to their own understanding. It is even possible that these blanks are merely meaningless “gaps.” If the blanks function as crucial links in meaning—such as concrete nouns or verbs—then leaving them open for reader participation may be meaningful. However, if they are merely function words or sentence-ending particles that do not significantly affect meaning, then such blankness is unnecessary. Twenty years later, the young poet Yu Zhi’s “Cipher Letter”42 shows a clear evolution, leaving blanks at key lexical points: written in ambivalence I □ you were once a sequence afraid to step out of □□ The author herself explains: “□□ is the cipher in the text—words too timid to be revealed, implicit relations and conjectures are what this letter mainly wishes to express.” She also states that the form was inspired by Xia Yu’s similar works. As one online commentator insightfully notes: “The poetic foundation of non-verbal poetry is weak. If viewed from a semiotic perspective, one must ask: why does seeing blanks between lines trigger the impulse to fill them? Because it is a universal sign—when alone it has only extension; when attached to words, it gains intension.” (2) Connect-the-Lines Poetry Xia Yu “Connect-the-Lines”43 envelope thumbtack Upon careful inspection of the lines above and across, this poem “Connect-the-Lines” offers no clues to connect, in other words, no correct answer, because meaning has been stripped away.44 This form borrows the format of elementary-school matching exercises, but the author deliberately removes any semantic relation, preventing readers from establishing connections. It is a “pseudo-problem” version of connect-the-lines: it is not really poetry, but purely a word game designed to make readers eventually realize they themselves have been “played” by the author. (3) Computer Programming Language Poetry Lin Qunsheng “Silence (POETRY-BASIC)”45 1Φ CLS This is a “work” written in BASIC programming language. Its structure is extremely simple and reflects the composition of computer code through “0” and “1.” Fundamentally, this is not poetic language but programming language. It is different from merely inserting a few lines of code into poetic lines. (4) Meta-language Poetry In linguistics, “meta-language” is distinguished from “object language.” Object language refers to a language that describes or talks about certain things or states of affairs. Meta-language refers to a language that uses language itself as its object of description and discussion.46 This reveals a hierarchical relation between languages: when explaining the meaning or nature of a certain level of language, a higher-level language must be used; one cannot use the same level of language to explain itself.47 The famous dialogue between Hui Shi and Zhuangzi in the Zhuangzi is precisely an example of meta-language: Zhuangzi and Hui Shi were strolling on the bridge over the Hao River. Hui Shi’s third question is meta-language, while Zhuangzi’s response becomes a second-order meta-language, generating successive layers of questioning. In modern Taiwanese poetry, similar insertions of meta-language appear, as if the author steps outside the poem to comment upon it, producing a comic effect. For example, Xia Yu’s “Love” and Qiu Huan’s “Boiling Night”48: The day of buying flowers has come I obediently bought flowers and placed them in a pair of eyes (omitted) (sorry) (please continue reading) The day of buying seawater has come I obediently bought seawater (sincerely sorry) The final bracketed lines are meta-language, functioning as interpretation and commentary on the preceding object language. This differs from ordinary parenthetical explanation inserted within poetry, which remains part of the object language rather than standing outside it. For instance, Ya Xian’s “Actress”49: At sixteen her name had already drifted through the city The bracketed lines here are merely supplementary commentary on the preceding text, not a meta-level evaluation that steps outside the poem to judge truth, morality, or value. They function only as parenthetical additions that expand meaning rather than transcend the discourse. (5) Applied Writing Style Poetry Xia Yu, “Social Page”50 Unidentified male corpse notice for claim Modern poetry borrows the expressive form of “applied writing,” and even attempts to “hybridize” the function of applied writing: transmission and communication of information, public announcements, declarations of administrative orders, etc., inevitably raising suspicions of causing cognitive confusion among readers. After “exhausting language and words,” modern poets, through painstaking invention, attempt to borrow forms from different genres in order to give readers a “novel experience” and even amusement; however, this can only be done “occasionally” and should not be deepened, because different genres have different functions and effects. Merely borrowing form and putting on the external garment of form cannot truly cross the boundaries between genres. Notes 1 Jiao Tong, “On the Formal Games of Avant-Garde Poetry,” in Collected Essays on Modern Poetics (II), Department of Chinese Literature, National Changhua University of Education, 1995, p. 178. 2 Wang Dechun, Chen Chen, Modern Rhetoric, Nanchang: Jiangxi Education Press, 1989, pp. 308–309. 3 Jiao Tong, “On the Formal Games of Avant-Garde Poetry,” p. 178, same as note 1. 4 Meng Fan (Chen Junrong), Contemporary Taiwanese Modern Poetry Theory, Taipei: Yangzhi Culture, 1998, p. 222. 5 Reprinted from Chen Kehua, Beautiful and Profound Asia, Taipei: Bookman, 1997, pp. 9–10. 6 Jian Zhengzhen, “Poetry and Montage,” in The Momentary Ecstasy of Poetry, Taipei: China Times Publishing, 1991, p. 52. 7 Reprinted from Luo Men, Selected Poems of Luo Men, Taipei: Hongfan, 1984, p. 185. 8 Reprinted from Shang Qin, Dream or Dawn and Others, Taipei: Bookman, 1988, p. 77. 9 Reprinted from Xin Yu et al. (eds.), How Do They Play Poetry?, Taipei: Er Yu, 2004, p. 234. 10 Meng Fan, Contemporary Taiwanese Modern Poetry Theory, Taipei: Yangzhi Culture, 1998, p. 272. 11 Same as note 10, p. 272. 12 Reprinted from Luo Fu, The Injury of Time, Taipei: China Times Publishing, 1981, pp. 105–107. 13 Reprinted from Luo Fu, The Injury of Time, Taipei: China Times Publishing, 1981, pp. 215–216. 14 You Huan, Xu Huazhong (eds.), Selected Readings of Modern Poetry, Taipei: Wunan, 2004, pp. 318–324. 15 Reprinted from Luo Fu, Snow Falls Silently, Taipei: Elyon, 1999, pp. 122–123. 16 Reprinted from Shang Qin, Thinking with the Feet, Taipei: Han Guang, 1988, pp. 116–117. 17 Reprinted from Luo Fu, Magic Song, Taipei: Penglai, 1981, pp. 25–26. 18 Reprinted from Xu Wenwei et al. (eds.), Online Modern Poetry Chronicle: Poetry Anthology 2000, Taipei: Future Bookstore, 2001, pp. 100–102. 19 Reprinted from Yu Guangzhong, Selected Poems of Yu Guangzhong I, Taipei: Hongfan, 1981, pp. 236–240. 20 From Performance Workshop: http://www.pwshop.com/html/article/godot-0003.html 21 Wang Shide (ed.), Dictionary of Aesthetics, Taipei: Muduo, 1987, p. 523. 22 André Breton, translated by Ding Shizhong, “Second Manifesto of Surrealism,” in Liu Mingjiu (ed.), Futurism, Surrealism, Magical Realism, Taipei: Shuxin, 1999, p. 304. 23 Sigmund Freud, translated by Lü Jun et al., The Interpretation of Dreams, Taipei: Minabel, 2000, p. 342. 24 Reprinted from Bi Guo, Body Consciousness, Taipei: Elyon, 2007, p. 98. 25 Reprinted from Su Shaolian, Shocking Prose Poetry, Taipei: Elyon, 1990, p. 11. 26 Reprinted from Du Shisan, The Language of Fire, Taipei: China Times Publishing, 1994, p. 63. 27 Yan Yuan-shu, On National Literature, Taipei: Student Book Company, 1984, p. 259. 28 Xiao Shushun, “The Meaning of Spatial Layering in Ye Weilian’s Poetry,” in Zhang Hanliang, Xiao Xiao (eds.), Modern Poetry: Introductory Criticism, Taipei: Hometown Publishing, 1979, pp. 377–390. 29 Reprinted from Guan Guan, Selected Poems of Guan Guan, Taipei: Hongfan, 1986, p. 108. 30 Yan Yuan-shu, On National Literature, Taipei: Student Book Company, 1984, p. 277. 31 Reprinted from Yang Mu, Collected Poems of Yang Mu II, Taipei: Hongfan, 1995, pp. 152–153. 32 Reprinted from Yang Mu, Collected Poems of Yang Mu I, Taipei: Hongfan, 1983, pp. 490–495. 33 Yan Yuan-shu, On National Literature, Taipei: Student Book Company, 1984, p. 270. 34 Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p. 125. 35 Reprinted from Luo Fu, Because of the Wind, Taipei: Jiu Ge, 1997, pp. 296–301. 36 Meng Fan (Chen Junrong), Contemporary Taiwanese Modern Poetry Theory, Taipei: Yangzhi, 1998, p. 276. 37 Reprinted from Hong Hong, The Door of Dreamwalking: Selected Works of Hong Hong, Tainan County Government Cultural Bureau, 2007, pp. 26–29. 38 Reprinted from Luo Renling, Code, Taipei: Mandala Creative Studio, 1990, pp. 84–85. 39 Reprinted from Luo Qing, Videographic Poetics, Taipei: Bookman, 1988, pp. 254–257. 40 Same as note 36, p. 270. 41 Reprinted from Xia Yu, Memorandum, online download: http://n5end.blogbus.com/logs/27298518.html 42 From Xihan Literature Forum: http://forum.pon99.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=46912 43 Reprinted from Xia Yu, Memorandum, online download: http://n5end.blogbus.com/logs/27298518.html 44 Same as note 36, p. 271. 45 Cited from Meng Fan, “Postmodern Poetics,” p. 266, same as note 36. 46 Yang Shiyi, Logic and Life, Taipei: Bookman, 1987, p. 123. 47 Same as note 46, p. 124. 48 Cited from Meng Fan, “Postmodern Poetics,” p. 266, same as note 36; also see: http://hermes.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/lctd/asp/theory/theories/4/concept_2_1_1.htm#river 49 Reprinted from Ya Xian, Collected Poems of Ya Xian, Taipei: Jiu Ge, 1986, pp. 149–150. 50 Reprinted from Xia Yu, Memorandum, online download: http://n5end.blogbus.com/logs/27298518.html |
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