The Luden Spirit In Kay Ryan’s Selective Animal Poems

Known as the contemporary “Emily Dickinson”,the U.S.Poet Laureate Kay Ryan(1945-)is known for her poetry with witty tone,brevity and short length;The Best of It:New and Selected Poems,which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize,contains many animal poems in which animal images engage in several kinds of games.The exploration of these animals for survival gives us the opportunity to detect modern human existence.Therefore,based on the game theory of Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga(1872-1945),this paper explores the luden spirit embodied in Ryan’s animal poems and Ryan’s reflections on people’s survival state as a contemporary intellectual.The main body of the paper consists of three parts.First,the thesis analyzes the spirit of disinterestedness in Ryan’s animal poems expressed in the call for a more rational view of material desire and in the rebel against manipulating powers.The time commodities,food,the neglected “waste” and the consumption-symbol diamond,are reexamined in poems about “endangered” animals.Then the different ways of rejecting powers are discussed in poems about feathered animals.Geese begin to perceive the control power,and flamingos persist in their self-silence counterattack gazing discipline,while birds dare to break through restrictions and compose new compositions.These expose the reality that modern human bodies and minds are modeled by consumerism and the environments.Second,the creative spirit is discussed on two levels,breaking existing rules and refreshing prejudices.The defamiliarization of daily space and animals makes people rediscover the beauty of life.With several juxtapositions,sharks with the parks,jellyfish with generators,pigeons with decorative fountains,unique orders are created to provide new perspectives on everyday life.The appearances of “ugly” animals are subverted,such as that snakes and alligators become artistic representations or heroic defenders.These break down animal stereotypes and deconstruct the hierarchy between humans and animals.Finally,this thesis analyzes the spirit of freedom in Ryan’s poems at the level of the release of imagination and the flowing development of things.The pleasure of walking on the beach or chatting in the air gives birds the freedom to imagine,which activates the readers’ imagination and releases their emotional stress.After that,illusions are created to subvert readers’ expectations and free animals from chronic linear development by magnifying confusing appearances of animals such as zebras and anglerfish.Just as the snake in Eden realizes the complexity of language,these poems imply the poet’s pursuit of freedom and openness and fluidity in the interpretation of poetry.In summary,this paper discusses the luden spirit through the poet’s playful exploration of animal images and the living state of animals.As reflected in these poems,modern people are under great pressure and lose their distinctiveness through rigid thinking and excessive consumption.Against this backdrop,the spirit of disinterestedness helps people re-examine their material needs,break their blind obedience to powers,and face their real needs.The creative spirit with order creating and stereotypes brainwashing defamiliarizes“ugly” animals to reexamine ordinary life and gain a different way to lead men’s lives.Finally,the free spirit in imagination and flowing development frees people from the emotional burden,reconnects with nature,and realizes the flow of meaning in overturning readers’ expectations.The luden spirit in Ryan’s selective animal poems saves people from limited material life,such as the desire for material and power,and provides new perspectives on daily life to regain beauty and vitality.On the other hand,in the constant subversion and reversal of games,the rigid way of thinking and human imagination are liberated.