The Poetry of Mu Dan

Abstract

This dissertation aims to delineate the main characteristics and development of Mu Dan’s poetry in the context of the modernization of Chinese literature, and from the perspective of the self-completion of an individual poet. My four chapters cover Mu Dan’s creative life, emphasizing the “problem areas” that cut deep into his writing: his choice of subject matter, his use of form, and the profound biographical, aesthetic, moral and socio-political implications of his poems. The overall assessment of Mu Dan’s achievement will be supplemented by detailed discussions of an array of “isolated elements” of his poetics: genre and rhetoric, wit and emotion, the use of irony and satire, symbolism and realism. These elements together forged Mu Dan’s idiosyncratic style and his formally coherent method of expressions. My research will also explore the intriguing subject of influence and continuity in Chinese poetry, which I believe is one of the key problems for the study of Mu Dan, and how it was that Mu Dan achieved the highest order of “self-understanding” through the creation of an authentic poetic language. This study will start with revaluations of the critical and popular reception of Mu Dan, the so-called “Mu Dan Phenomenon,” against the background of our pragmatic, consumer society where lyric poetry has become increasingly marginalized. How are we to respond to the hostilities brought forth by today’s hedonistic culture? This is the challenge confronting the conscience and creativity of all contemporary poets. Any study of Mu Dan must be concerned to pass on his legacy, for the sake of the uncertain future of lyric poetry in today’s world. Show more