'Self' in poetic narratives: A study of contemporary Chinese long poems in Taiwan as exemplified by works of Luo Fu, Luo Men, Chen Kehua, and Feng Qing

This dissertation discusses an important but neglected aspect of contemporary Chinese Poetry in Taiwan: the figuration of "self" in poetic narratives. Identity, subjectivity, and estrangement are the central concerns. Instead of rendering precise what the self is, this dissertation investigates how the self is constituted through the poet's narration. This should yield a view of the self that interacts with the sociopolitical circumstances of the island in the period from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. During this period, two of the most provocative issues have gained increasing notice: the status of Taiwan in relation to Mainland China and the emergence of the feminine against patriarchal convention. This thesis underlines, hence, the need to probe the aspect of identity in an era marked with the attributes of "polyphony," "multivoicedness" and "plurality."; In this regard, Anthony Paul Kerby's elucidation of the dialectic between "narrative and the self" is taken as a framework for the investigation. His claim that the self is "a social and linguistic construct, a nexus of meaning rather than an unchanging entity" is observed throughout this dissertation. Interrelated with this observation is a focus on the implied poet's stance, the speaker's perspective, the narrating voice, and the shifting position of the self. Together, the four elements are analyzed for the discussion of the central concerns.; Four Chinese poems published in the period are discussed in detail: Luo Fu's "The Non-Political Totem," Luo Men's "Time and Space Sonata," Chen Kehua's "Portrait of Ladies," and Feng Qing's "The Actress." Examples from some 20th century Anglo-American poems are drawn upon to illustrate the various constructions of the self as they relate to the poems analyzed. By dealing with these poems, the present study is intended to launch, hopefully, a substantial scholarly treatment of the poetic narratives. An approach like this may provide impacts on the way the self is constituted in contemporary Chinese poetry that negotiates the sociopolitical climate of Taiwan.