Construction Of Cultural Nationalism:Analysis Of Symbolism In Yeats’s Poems

The history of Irish people is full of trials and tribulations,but many world famous literary masters are bred on Irish soil and steeped in Irish culture.William Butler Yeats,as the soul of Ireland,uses poetry as a vessel and holds symbolism as an effective tool to revive Ireland’s national spirit,boost national morale and construct cultural nationalism.Early-on,Yeats suffered from the loss of personal love and his symbolism was not mature.Later-on,Yeats realized the crisis of Irish nation and developed his own literary creation.He re-built Irish identity and made endeavor to construct Irish cultural nationalism for the rest of his life.This thesis consists of five chapters,which are divided into four major parts:introduction,theoretical framework,body and conclusion.The first chapter is an introduction to Yeats,his works,his achievements,and the researches on Yeats in the western and Chinese literary circles so far.The second chapter is the theoretical part and focuses on the origin and development of symbolism,as well as the theoretical sources of Yeats’s poems such as aestheticism,mysticism,and his Mask Theory.Additionally,this chapter introduces Yeats’s cultural nationalism.The third and fourth chapters form the crux of this thesis.The two chapters have parallel forms and carefully select thirteen representative poems of Yeats to analyze the same symbols-rose,swan,and spiritual destination.Poems in chapter Ⅲ and chapter Ⅳ belong to the early and late period of Yeats’s literary career respectively and are sorted chronologically,in order to compare and analyze the development of Yeats’s symbolic connotation and the construction of cultural nationalism.In chapter III,Yeats is immersed in the emotional world of personal happiness and sorrow,and his symbols fall in the stereotype of reproduction and have no innovations.His poems on the first stage cannot get rid of the influence of romanticism and aestheticism.In chapter Ⅳ,Yeats becomes more mature and witnesses the plight of Irish nation.He devotes himself to the construction of his own symbolism and cultural nationalism,and exerts profound influence on the later Irish national poets.Through the same symbols-rose,swan,and spiritual destination,along with a large number of skill-used Irish myths,legends,and folk tales,Yeats constructs his own palace of cultural nationalism on the second stage.He encourages the national morale and reconstructs national identity.In his palace of cultural nationalism,most of his works have become the symbol of Yeats’s eternal love for Ireland,and also become the symbol of the power of independence and freedom.The last chapter is the conclusion,which highlights and deepens the theme.This thesis analyzes the changes of Yeats’s early and late symbolic poems,and the construction process of cultural nationalism,focusing on the representative symbols on his poem collection:rose,swan,and his spiritual destination.The conclusion of the thesis is that after experiencing the personal love and the great love for his nation,Yeats’s cultural nationalism has been constantly improved and developed.Moreover,in the late period,Yeats sang for the nation as a scholar,restored the national spirit of Ireland and established cultural nationalism.Yeats’s greatness lies in his symbolism and cultural nationalism.For the literary world,symbolism poems exert far-reaching influence;for Ireland,cultural nationalism contains everlasting patriotic sentiments.His symbolism and cultural nationalism are like a double helix and make Yeats a great and eternal literary master in Ireland.