dumbfoundry

Exiled Chinese poet shares influential work [China, US]:

The Browsing Room of the Knight Library was packed Monday for the reading from Bei Dao, one of China's most treasured writers in the 1970s. In 1976, Bei Dao's poetry was instrumental in the formation of the April 5 Democracy Movement and later, the Tiananmen Square demonstration. Bei Dao was also the poet that started a particular style of poetry called "menglong shi" or "misty poetry." [...]

The Voice of Bei Dao - R A I N T A X I o n l i n e:

One has to be patient with Bei Dao's poetry. Most of us know of Chinese poetry only indirectly, from Gary Snyder, Kenneth Rexroth, Ezra Pound, and others who have attempted to glean from the ancient world something holy or stable in the chaos of today. Bei Dao's China, however, is 1200 years removed from the ethos these American poets have plumbed; thus his poetry should no more resemble that of the Tang Dynasty masters than John Ashbery's should resemble Beowulf. Bei Dao's lines are also not what anyone only familiar with contemporary American poetry would expect to hear: Bei Dao is one of the creators of a new tradition in Chinese poetry, making him seem all the more innovative when placed alongside poets in this language. While some of his lines could be lifted from Paul Celan or César Vallejo, we have here what we want, if not expect, from a translated author of great magnitude: something very foreign. Indeed, Bei Dao's poetry employs a totally different approach to language itself, rendering his work all the more individual. While many readers will find themselves sliding across his poetry, when his poetry catches them its hold is strong. [...]

Poems by Bei Dao

This entry was posted by eeksypeeksy on Thursday, October 21, 2004 at 8:42 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.