Analysis On The Existentialism In Mu Dan's Poetry

Mu Dan is the representative of"Chinese New Poetry"in the forties of the twentieth century and is also one of the most outstanding poets in Chinese poetry history of the twentieth century. Since the eighties of last century, the research on Mu Dan's poetry has made great achievements, but there are still many undiscovered blind spots to be unearthed and researched.There are sporadic expressions about the relation between Mu Dan's poetry and the Existentialism in the academic circle, but they are pretty superficial and simple. Some complex relation indeed exists between the Existentialism and Chinese literature in twentieth century. Although Mu Dan didn't describe the Existentialism in his poetry directly and clearly, we can find the latent Chinese-style Existentialism by analyzing his poetry particularly. This paper intends to interpret the Existentialism embedded in Mu Dan's poetry on the basis of close reading about his poems. The following are the main points of this thesis:Introduction: This part will introduce the research on Mu Dan, the relation between the Existentialism and Chinese literature in twentieth century, and the"juncture"at which Mu Dan's poetry connects with the Existentialism.The first chapter attempts to discuss Mu Dan's discovery from the soul adventure from three gradually deepening levels. Specifically speaking, the three levels are the encounter with the nothingness, the contemplation on the being in the war and the discovery of the general living dilemma. And it is from the very three levels that this paper will elaborate the Existentialism refracted from Mu Dan's poetry. Mu Dan encountered with the nothingness in an early phase and began to think about it in the metaphysical way, which started his contemplation on the being. Besides, the war in which Mu Dan lived naturally urged him to concern about the living at that time in the perspective of the Existentialism. At the same time, the continuous enrichment of living experience helped Mu Dan move his contemplation on the deeper levels and discover the general living dilemma.The second chapter mainly interprets"the individual living situation in the perspective of the Existentialism"that appeared Mu Dan's poetry. The coincidence between Mu Dan's poetry and the Existentialism lies in their delicate attention to the survival of the individual. The self-deceptive individual, the dissimilated individual and the absurd individual constitute the unique living picture in Mu Dan's poetry. While the self-deception, the dissimilation and the absurdity are exactly what the Existentialism tries to disclose. Mu Dan expressed it poetically according to the real social context.The third chapter intends to illuminate Mu Dan's breakthrough strategy that he sought after expressing"the discovery of the soul"and"the living situation". The dialectical view about life and death, mainly composed of the fighting against despair and the living towards death, is the firm resistance to the nothingness of survival. The calling for raiders is Mu Dan's strategy to fight against the self-deception and the dissimilation. While the appearance of God glinting time and then in Mu Dan's poetry is his strategy for the ultimate salvation after his discovery of the general living dilemma. A series of Mu Dan's poems reflect his efforts to the soul salvation of human beings and to his assuming the responsibility for the society in the harsh times.In recent years, Mu Dan's poetry becomes a hot academic research, which of course partly because his enduring exploration of the artistic expression of poetry, but his deep and unique thought undoubtedly plays a much more important role here. The Chinese-style Existentialism in Mu Dan's poetry accords with our inquiry of our own living status and enriches our thought. The illumination Mu Dan lighted for us is when describing the living dilemma of human beings, although Chinese writers didn't shape strict ideology system like western philosophy, the depth of their thought still deserves enough approval.