A Discussion of Taiwan New Poetry Clubs’ Continuity and Dissolution

This essay intends to discuss Taiwan literary history from the point-of-view of New Poetry Clubs in Taiwan, as well as explain the continuance and dissolution of Taiwan New Poetry Clubs immediately prior to- and following the Second World War. By means of Pierre Bourdieu’s concept “the field of struggle”, it becomes clear that the motivating principle behind the formation of these poetry clubs was not, in fact, the struggle for market competitiveness as a defining feature; instead, it was social and political powers which were the key factors. The structural models by which these groups adhered to can roughly be organized under two classifications: “aesthetic” and “pragmatic political”. Those poetry clubs which could be classified as “pragmatic political” would employ a style that reflected both societal themes, as well as the personal preferences of the poets themselves. Thus, the content of their written works was not a reflection of the poetry club itself; indeed, affiliation with such clubs provided “a feather is one’s cap”, with the formation of such groups often originating from “non-literary” pursuits. In contrast, “aesthetic” poetry clubs which found themselves at conflict with “pragmatic political” clubs in the literary field would often change their surface-affiliation, thus allowing them to continue along with their own proceedings unhindered. Through historical observation and literary analysis of of New Poetry Clubs from the 1920’s and onwards, including the 1930’s poetry groups “Saline Land” and “Windmill Poetry Society”, the 1940’s “Silver Bell Society” and the 1960’s “Li Poetry Society”, one may discover pre-war and post-war poetry club formations follow completely different models. Taiwan pre-war poetry clubs adhered to the “pragmatic political” model, whereas “aesthestic” model quickly became the norm in the post-war period. These two groups would later find themselves at constant opposing ends of conflict.