A Comparative Study Of The Way Of Emotional Expression In Chinese And English Romantic Poetry

In both China and Western countries,there exist two kinds of literary creation:One is romanticism,and the other one is realism.With the emergence of romanticism and with emotion as its unique banner,literature has become a mirror of people's souls.When it comes to the origin of Chinese romantic literature,we usually think of Qu Yuan's Li Sao.Li Sao is characterized by powerful imaginations,extraordinary exaggerations and vivid metaphors when Qu Yuan expresses his emotion.English romanticism appeared at the end of the eighteenth century.And Shelley's “Ode to the West Wind” is considered as a treasure of romantic literature.The poet uses the west wind as the central image.Magnificent stanzas and symbolic techniques are utilized to pour out abundant emotion.In recent years,comparative poetics has made great progress in both China and Western countries,but few researches have been undertaken on Chinese and English romantic poetry.The value of Chinese classics becomes all the more conspicuous in the process of comparison and contrast.This dissertation focuses on the emotional expression in romantic poetry of China and England by adopting research methods in comparative poetics.It aims to explore and sort out the general features of romanticism in the two countries.By adopting “parallel study” in comparative literature,Li Sao and “Ode to the West Wind” are to be compared as a case study.From the perspective of thematology,motive and images are utilized to analyze the way of emotional expression.Additionally,the dissertation offers an exploration of the cultural differences from the angle of comparative poetics and cultural interpretation.Based on comparison,firstly,it is found that the nature of Chinese and English romantic poetry is lyrical.Qu Yuan and Shelley both use similar motive such as the“view of life” and “view of time” to express the theme--the pursuit of ideal society.In Li Sao,the author expresses a sense of sadness to the political reform in the State of Chu while “Ode to the West Wind” presents a mood of joy.Secondly,the ways of emotional expression are quite different.The two poems are filled with various images and cultural symbols to show the way of emotional expression.The ones in the former poem are indirect and obscure,while those in the latter are direct and clear.Chinese pay more attention to the integration of emotional expression with society by adopting implicitness and an integration of emotions with scenes on traditional lyricism based on “Lyrical Narrative Theory”;the English pursue personal liberation by focusing on straightforward expression and emotional catharsis.Thirdly,the reasons why they choose different ways are attributed to different attitudes and ideologies.The writing of Li Sao is affected by patriotism,loyalty and talents-treasuring rooted in collectivism,while that of “Ode to the West Wind” is influenced by the spirit of freedom,equality and rebellion contained in individualism.Emotion is the source of life in art,and it is sublimated in romantic poetry.Frederic Jameson holds the view that emotional expression needs to be valued although the elegant culture gradually becomes marginalized in the modern era of thecommodity economy.Therefore,reconsidering the emotional manifestations of Chinese and English romantic poetry and digging out their cultural differences are the innovative points of the study.It is not only beneficial for the transmission of Chinese classics and Chinese literary theory,but also the change from the study of comparative literature to that of comparative culture.