A STUDY OF POETIC LANDSCAPES IN DANYING’S
POEMS
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Su Jui-Lung,
for all of his supports, mentorship, and commitment to this study project over the past
3 years. He is broad-minded and was responsive to my interpretations of modern
poetry, and kept me on the right track through the whole project. I also want to thank
Danying (Madame Liu Baozhen) for devoting time and efforts in the interviews. Her
dedications to modern poetry and graceful attitude toward life impressed me and
inspired me in many perspectives. Finally, I would like to express my wholehearted
appreciation to my family in Taiwan, and Singapore as well. Without their supports
and encouragements, I would not be able to overcome all the pressure and continue my
study as a new mother.
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Abstract
This thesis makes the claim that poetic landscapes in Danying’s poems reflect her
cultural nostalgia and her quests for subjectivity. The poetic landscapes indicate
Danying’s perceptions of the world and can be seen as an interface where she
interprets her cultural nostalgia and her lurking fears of being rootless as an overseas
Chinese. The continuous quests for a cultural root and
the sense of belonging are
implied in the landscape of memory, which is represented in melancholic statements
similar to the feminine expressions of “guiyuan”(
) in traditional Chinese literature.
Her anxiety about being rootless, on the other hand, is implied in the landscapes of
exile where the poetic speakers wonder lonely in the desolate fields or isolated cliffs.
The landscapes of body display how Danying recollects her subjectivity by converting
body images into natural landscapes. The poetic landscapes, therefore, encapsulate her
reconciling with the world and her reconstruction of subjectivity.
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... iii! ! iv! Abstract This thesis makes the claim that poetic landscapes in Danying’s poems reflect her cultural nostalgia and her quests for subjectivity The poetic landscapes indicate Danying’s perceptions... perceptions of the world and can be seen as an interface where she interprets her cultural nostalgia and her lurking fears of being rootless as an overseas Chinese The continuous quests for a cultural... root and the sense of belonging are implied in the landscape of memory, which is represented in melancholic statements similar to the feminine expressions of “guiyuan”( ) in traditional Chinese