"This is an anthology of vernacular verse written in China between 1918 and 1949, which has been translated into English by Herbert Batt and Sheldon Zitner. Over 200 poems from more than forty authors are presented. The selections trace the...
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Universitätsbibliothek der Eberhard Karls Universität
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"This is an anthology of vernacular verse written in China between 1918 and 1949, which has been translated into English by Herbert Batt and Sheldon Zitner. Over 200 poems from more than forty authors are presented. The selections trace the development of the new form of verse that arose during the May Fourth Movement, as part of a transformation of Chinese culture. Innovative writers produced a new poetry written in the common vernacular, baihua, meaning "plain speech"--Thus breaking with centuries of literary tradition that prized the classical form. The collection spans the period up to the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, when the imposition of censorship by Mao arrested the production of experimental poetry on the mainland. Taking a broad perspective, the anthology presents poets of all political allegiances and poetic schools, from committed Communists to Nationalist poets who escaped from Mao with Chiang Kai-shek. There is a rich selection of poetry by women, including poems by well-known writers Bing Xin and Chen Jingrong, and the first English translation of poetry by the novelist Ding Ling. "The rise of vernacular verse in China in the early twentieth century coincided with a period of intense social dislocation. While ours is not a history book, the momentous social and political transformation in early twentieth-century China is the backdrop (in a sense even the engine) of the rise of New Poetry. Many of the poems were written in response to political and/or social events: imprisonment, battle, Japanese burning of villages and bombing of cities, wanderings through the war-ravaged countryside, and the deprivations of the poorest peasants of the great northwest. Other poems speak of the authors' experiences of the joys and sorrows of parenthood and family life, often set against the backdrop of war. The goal is to give a nuanced picture of the astonishingly rapid development of vernacular verse in China from its first appearance during the May Fourth Movement through 1949, the year of Mao's takeover and his imposition of censorship."--
