The Sonnet In China

Sonnet, the oldest form of rhymed verse in Europe, was introduced to China in the 1920s in accordance with the Modern Poetry Campaign in China. Up to now, it has inspired more than one hundred poets who have composed about two thousand of poems in form of sonnet. This is a marvelous literary phenomenon in the history of modern literature in china. As a matter of fact, however, sonnet has always been obscure in the margin of the poly-system of Chinese literature, except for a short-term sensation in 1930s and 1940s. No matter judged from the perspectives of its author, reader or its impact, sonnet cannot be regarded as a successful literary form in China. The law of the development of modern poetry, the restriction of sonnet, its social background and the competence of its author are all the factors responsible for its obscurity in China. This thesis starts by tracing its development and analyzing its position in the history of modern literature in China, and by doing so, it intends to make a through and systematic statement on the reason why sonnet have never been a successful literary form in China.In the introduction of the thesis, the origins and developments of sonnet in Italy and England are introduced, as a contrast and comparison to those of sonnet in china. Then, with the background of the development of modern poetry, the history of sonnet in china is divided into four periods and the representative poets and their works of each period are introduced. Simultaneously, a diachronic analysis is made on the creation and variation of sonnet after it has been transplanted to China.In chapter two, the key point of sonnet creation in china-the loss of its form is dissertated. As a result of the absence of standards on the rhyme and structure of the modern poetry, the norm of the creation of sonnet in china is no more than 'a rough obedience without a rigid discipline', that is, no rigid stipulation on rhyme scheme of a sonnet so long as it is written in fourteen lines.In chapter three, focusing on the external influences on sonnet, an analysis is made on the marginalization of sonnet in China from the aspects of the Chinese traditional culture, the resistance of free verse to rhymed verse, the political andsocial restrains and the decline of the poetry in history. To some extend, sonnet is in accordance with Chinese traditional poetry. Thus, a dilemma is confronted-on one hand, the modem poetry campaign is to introduce new literary forms in order to resist the tradition; on the other hand, though the borrowed sonnet is new to China, but it is still an old form of poetry. And at the same time, sonnet is confronted by the language baffles. New culture is intended to rupture the old, but the language and form of the modern poetry are still under-developed. In such condition, poets are frustrated when confronted by old and new, by the traditional and foreign culture simultaneously. What's more, social and political factors have great impact on the development and transmission of literature. From the 1920s to the early 1970s, China was in disturbance and wars. The objective requirement and the mess psychology during wars determine the margin position of sonnet since in this unfavorable social environment; the issue of creation on such an exquisite literary form could have been easily ignored. Sonnet regained its popularity in the 1980s, but it was still more obscure than the free verse, which has long been standing the leading position in the field of modern poetry. And as a result of the falling of poetry in the later 1990s, sonnet unfortunately came to its end in China.