University of Alberta ccSELF'IN POETIC NARRATIVES: A STUDY OF CONTEMPORARY CHINESE LONG POEMS IN TAIWAN AS EXEMPLIFIED BY WORKS OF LU0 FU, LU0 MEN, CHEN KEHUA,AND FENG QING YUCHI TANG O A thesis submined to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial filfillrnent of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of COMPARATIVE LITERATURE, RELIGION, AND FILMIMEDIA STUDIES Edmonton, Alberta FU2000 National tibw Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographk Services senrices bibliographiques 395 Wefiington Street 395, rue WMmgton ûtîawaON K1AON4 Ortawa0l3 K1AW Canada canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une Licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pemettant a la National Li'brary of Canada to Biblotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distriiute or seil reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of diis thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantid extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract This dissertation discusses an important but neglected aspect of contemporary Chinese Poetry in Taiwan: the fiaouration of "self' in poetic narratives. Identity, ssubjectivity, and estrangement are the central concems. Instead of rendering precise what the self is, this dissertation investigates how the self is constituted through the poet's narration. This should yield a view of the self that interacts with the sociopoliticai circumstances of the island in the penod from the late 1980s to the early l99Os. During this period, wo of the most provocative issues have gained increasing notice: the statu of Taiwan in relation to Mainiand China and the emergence of the ferninine against patnarchal convention. This thesis underlines, hence, the need to probe the aspect of identity in an era marked with the attributes of "polyphony," "multivoicedness" and 'cplurality." In this regard, Anthony Paul Kerby's elucidation of the dialectic between "narrative and the self' is taken as a fisunework for the investigation. His claim that the self is "a social and linguistic construct, a nexus of meaning rather than an unchanging entity" is observed throughout this dissertation. Interrelated with this observation is a focus on the implied poet's stance, the speaker's perspective, the narrating voice, and the shifting position of the self. Together, the four elernents are analyzed for the discussion of the central concems. Four Chinese poems published in the penod are discussed in detail: Luo Fu's "The Non-PoMcal Totem," Luo Men's ''Tune and Space Sonata," Chen Kehua's "Portmit of Ladies," and Feng Qing's "The Actress." Examples fiom some 20' century Anglo-Amencan poems are drawn upon to illustrate the various constructions of the self as they relate to the poems analyzed. By dealing with these poems, the present study is intended to launch, hopefully, a substantial scholarly treatrnent of the poetic narratives. An approach like this may provide impacts on the way the self is constituted in contemporary Chinese poetry that negotiates the sociopolitical climate of Taiwan. Acknowledgement 1 am deeply gratefbl to rny supervisor and co-supervisor, Prof Edward D. Blodgetî and Prof K. K. Leonard Chan, for their supenrision, inspiration, and encouragement that make possible the completion of this thesis. 1 am also indebted to Prof Nasrin Rahimieh, Prof Jenn-Shan Jack Lin, and Prof Karl. S. Y Kao for their valuable comments, suggestions, and corrections. My special th& go to Prof Milan V. Dimic and Prof Paul Robberecht for their critickm and generosity. My hdelt appreciation to the Department of Comparative Literature, Religion, and FiidMedia Studies for the professional training and warrnth it has given to me over the years of my study. Finally, my loving thanks to my family for their constant moral support throughout my writing of this thesis. Table of Contents In traduction 1 Chapter One 32 The Historical Self: A Study of Luo Fu's "The Non-Political Totem -Visiting Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Late Residence" Chapter Two The Exiled SelE A Study of Luo Men's "Tirne and Space Sonata -Viewing Canton-Kowloon Railway fiom a Distance" Chapter Three The Lonely Self: A Study of Chen Kehua's "Portrait of Ladies" Chapter Four The Played Self: A Shidy of Feng Qing's "The Actress?' Conclusion Bibliography Appendices 1: English Translation of the Selected Chinese Poems II: The Selected Chinese Poems Introduction I This dissertation is a study of the self that is constructed in the contemporary Chinese long poem in Taiwan. Identity, subjectivity, and estrangement fiom social &or communicative bounds are the central issues. Brought together, the issues are examined with respect to the unfolding of a problematic self in a turbulent context. Rather than organized to defme what the self is in a precise mariner,' this dissertation investigates how the self is constituted through the poet's narration. The investigation should yield a view of the self that interacts with the sociopolitical circumstances of the island in the period tiom the late 1980s to the early 1990s. In this regard, Anthony Paul Kerby's elucidation of the dialectic between "narrative and the self' helps to provide the fiamework for the investigation? Following his lead, the implied poet's stance, the speaker's perspective, and the speaking voice are analyzed to relate these issues and narration. To exempli@ the contemporary poet's constitution of the self', four ' It would be a dubious undertaking to offer a definition of a "true" self since the self is believed here to be constructed through narration, a work of interpretative creation. Nmative and the Selfis the title of Kerby's book that wil1 be referred to throughout this dissertation. poems published in the period by four poets-luo Fu (%%, 1928-), Luo Men (=?y, 1928-), Chen Kehua (RZq, 1961-), and Feng Qing (II*, 1950-)-are discussed in the following chapters? Examples fiom some twentieth-century Anglo-American poems are also drawn upon to elaborate the selves in the poetic narratives. Thus, Luo Fu's "The Non- Political Totem-Visiting Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Late Residence" is interpreted with a view to Robert Lowell's (19 17-1 977) "For the Union Dead" and Robert Penn Warren's (1905-1989) "A Way to Love God." Luo Men's 'Time and Space Sonata-Viewing Canton-Kowloon Railway fiom a Distance" is compared with Elizabeth Bishop's (191 1- 1979) "Over 2,000 Illustrations and a Complete Concordance" and "Questions of Travel." Chen Kehua's "Portrait of Ladies" is read together with Ezra Pound's (1 885-1 972) "Portrait d'une Femme," William Carlos Williams's (1 883- 1963) "Portrait of a Lady," and also T. S. Eliot's (1888-1965) "Portrait of a Lady." Finally, Feng Qing's "The Actress" is juxtaposed with Anne Sexton's (1928-1975) "The Play." Arranged in this way, this dissertation aims to place particular importance on the role of narration to the very constitution of the self. II According to Kerby, the self has already been acted upon by the The four poems are published in 1990, 1988, 1987, and 1989, respectively . other's narrative: "we have aheady been nmated fiom a third-person perspective pnor to our even gaining the cornpetence for self-narration" (6). The self cannot but confiont itself with a horizon of expectations, or rather, constraints. Related to the explicit or conscious narrative, the drama of this social existence in which the self is situated is the prenarrative in Kerby's word! The narrative "generally relates back, directly or indirectly" (39) to the prenarrative. Thus, the self remains "inseparable from the narrative . it constnicts for itself or otherwise inherits" (4). The self has to and, indeed, must exist in and with the prenarrative. The prenarrative, Kerby emphasizes, "cm and does serve as a corrective or guide for the act of narration" (42). To narrate the self, therefore, is to draw out the prenarrative it cannot but embody. Similarly, to make explicit the prenarrative is to give shape to the self. While proposing "a configuration that serves to organize worldly events into meaningful sequences and purposes" (Kerby 43), the self is attending to something that exhibits itself according to its own perspective. This entails the reIated argument that nmation is the constitutive process by which the prenarrative is conceptualized and the self inscribed. Hence, Kerby remarks: "it is in and through various forms of narrative emplotment ' The term "prenarrative" is used synonymously with '6semi-narrative" and "quasi-narrative" in Kerby. They denote Kerby's perception that "life is inherently of a narrative structure1' (40). that our lives-and thereby . our very selves-attain meaning" (4). Put brîefly, narration ascribes significance to the self. Thus, the self is constructed. It is, to quote Kerby, "a social and linguistic constmct, a nexus of meaning rather than an unchanging entity" (34). The notion of nexus implies that the self emerges to be what it is through the subject position it occupies in the narrative. It is constituted by what is cast back in its narration, by the interplay of the narrative and the prenarrative. There can be hence a plurality of positions, depending on the various stances, perspectives, and relations that the self is subject to. This variety is evident in the employrnent of personal pronoms, in the "dialogical unity of '1' and 'you'" (Kerby 78), in particular? Kerby cornes to recognize therefore "identity in difference" (37): The self is, in its formation and nature, different and changing, and at times, irreversibly transformed.