Mu Dan And English Modernist Poetry

In the history of the 20^th century Chinese poetry, Mu Dan undoubtedly occupied an extremely important position. He has, to some extent, become an indispensable topic for poets, critics and poetry lovers in general. Firstly, as a poet, Mu Dan synthesized the achievements of the "New Verse" since "May 4^th Movement", leading the modernization process of Chinese "New Verse" in the 1940s and leaving behind him valuable experience for "New Verse" writing. Secondly, as a translator, he published such a large number of translated poems in verse form in the 1950s and 1960s that his name is forever on the list of the most outstanding poery translators in China. Therefore, when we either study the development of 20^th century Chinese poetry or discuss the achievements of Chinese poetry translation, Mu Dan is a figure that we could never bypass.In the past 60 years, the study of Mu Dan has made great progress in terms of the collection of his data, close interpretation of his texts as well as the research on his translation. The critics have launched thorough discussion centering on different subjects concerning Mu Dan. But as to the relationship between Mu Dan and the English modernist poetry, the present studies are still far from satisfying. Previous studies tend to discuss him as the one member of the "nine poets" school in relation to the English modernist poetry. This has not only ignored the differences among the English modernist poets, but also ignored the differences among the "nine poets" in their acceptance of the foreign influences. By using the influence study method widely employed in comparative literature, my dissertation aims to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between Mu Dan and the English modernistic poetry, and then further explores the way of Chinese poetry development.This dissertation first examines the development course of English modernist poetry, trying to give a chronological account of its characteristics, its representative poets and critics. The research finds that, the rise of English modernist poetry was not only related to the upsurging world-wild modernistic literature movement throughout the world, but also to the actual needs of domestic poetic circle. In rebelling against the romanticism tide, the English modernist poetry had gradually formed its own esthetic standpoint such as the preference for the urban theme, the esthetic interest in "ugliness", the innovation of artistic skills as well as the combination of international and the vernacular colors. It also should be mentioned that such critics as T.S.Eliot...