Counter-traditional Women Poets

Emily Dickinson and Li Qingzhao were respectively considered as the greatest women poets in American and Chinese literary history. The former led a reclusive life but vaulted into prominence after she died in 19th century in American. The other lived in the war-ridden Song Dynasty during which she had a happy life in her early years and tough experience when she was old, leaving a battery of immortal poems and ci-lyrics. In spite of the fact that they lived in totally different countries, social systems as well as historical periods, there is one similarity between them: counter-traditional spirit. Critics have respectively read these two poetesses from these perspectives: rhythm, image, rhetoric, language, subject, achievement, etc. Focusing on different themes, this paper exclusively makes a comparative study on these two poetesses and employs the Anglo-American feministic literary critic method to analyze their texts, thus revealing the causes of the similarities and differences in their counter-traditional spirit and displaying the discrepancy between the western identity, culture and tradition and those of the eastern. After making a brief introduction of these two poetesses' works and study on them, the paper firstly compares their love lyrics. Both of them have the courage to love and hate by expressing their aspiration for true love boldly though in different degrees. Secondly their nature poems which present their unique view on nature are compared. Thirdly, their works of distinctive motifs, such as death, religion, philosophical thinking, politics, patriotism and theory on lyrics, are presented. By emphasizing how these two poetesses demonstrate their counter-traditional spirit in lyrics of distinctive themes, this paper analyses the causes of the similarities and differences in their counter-traditional spirit in three aspects: social background, personal experience and their views on love and marriage. This kind of progress reflects the difference resulting from culture and time periods between east and west, as well as the awakening of feminism.