(a) before the theory?
Some western comparative literature researchers point out that the literature of different nationalities will achieve the same goal in the process of parallel development. This phenomenon is indeed reflected in literary works. Although Chinese and western poems have different cultural connotations, we can still find each other's shadows from them. China's poetry has been in the leading position in the world for a long time. For a long time, western poetry has been more or less influenced by China's poetry. Although China and foreign countries have their own systems in ancient and modern times, there are still some connections, and they are not (and cannot be) completely isolated. ?
Let me start with China's classical poetry and modern British and American poetry, because the influence of China's classical poetry on the West began with the English translation of China's poems. ?
Judging from Pound's translation of China and the translated works of some British and American translators, the artistic conception of China's poems gradually penetrated into their poetry creation, and China's poems were gradually accepted and studied by them. Pound, a famous American imagist poet, once said that a "new Greece" was found in China literature, which led to a new "Renaissance". China's classical poetry not only influenced their creation, but also influenced their poetry creation theory. ?
China's poems are good at describing scenery, expressing emotions, setting off the atmosphere or creating artistic conception, while British and American poems focus on describing the reaction caused by scenery in people's minds, thus expressing their subjective consciousness. This is the difference caused by their different thinking modes. China people pay attention to expression, while westerners pay attention to reproduction. The theory of poetry literature developed under the command of this way of thinking is naturally quite different from poetry creation. In the East, represented by China, the theory of artistic conception and the theory of enlightenment were formed, while in the West, the theory of typicality was formed. Therefore, China's poems pay more attention to the creation of artistic conception, and pursue the effect of expressing everything, which gives people unlimited room for reverie. This kind of poem appeared because the traditional way of thinking in ancient China was intuitive. Even now, China people still pursue the creation of artistic conception when writing poems. Too white makes no sense. Of course, the pursuit of straightforwardness in some contemporary new human writers' works is another matter and cannot be generalized. After all, these people do not represent the mainstream of China's poetry creation. ?
China's poetry pays attention to implication, taking lightness as beauty, while British and American poetry is more unrestrained and wins with emotional agitation. A prominent example is the handling of love, where the characteristics of Chinese and western poetry can be fully reflected. China poets describe love as "frowning, but thinking" and never express that kind of love, while western poets will shout "You are my sun, and the fire of love makes me anxious." It is hard for China people to accept this outspoken attitude, and the essence of the difference lies in their different aesthetic orientations.
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