A Study of Poems with Identical Titles from the Six Dynasties
Journal
臺灣大學中國文學研究所博士論文
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Abstract
This dissertation focuses on poems written during the Six Dynasties period with titles identical to either poems composed earlier or by contemporary poets. For, in addition to personal expression on the part of the poet, the act of writing a poem with the same title as another author can indicate a number of different relations with the that author: imitation as a method of practice, imitation as a creative endeavor, of a dialogue. From a diachronic perspective, poems with the same title can reflect the formation and development of a literary tradition; from a synchronic viewpoint, the fact of writing under a common title can reveal membership in a common literary clique and point to a dialogue being undertaken with a (whether it be implied or physically) present other.
The argument made here is divided into three parts. First, the fact of poems being written under the same title is taken to be a literary-historical phenomenon. As such, we look at the objective literary environment and the contemporary literary theory that formed the background for such a phenomenon in order to discuss the reasons and psychological motivation for Six Dynasties period poets composing works with title identical to other poems, including the close interaction between members of literary cliques, literary self-awareness, the attention given to study through imitation, reflections on tradition, and the construction of classics. Second, we will look at changes over time in these poems in order to analyze the gradual disappearance of the lyrical tradition from the Wei-Jin period to the Liang-Chen period. This transition from lyricism to a more descriptive style was not simply a natural development; but rather can be seen in the way poets of the Qi-Liang dynasties consciously substitute out or simply blot out lyric elements in their own works of this type and develop a new style on the foundations of earlier poets and poems.This development can be seen in all types of these poems, regardless of whether they are in the style of old yue-fu themes, or written on various themes, nostalgic retrospectives on the past, seasons, or personalities. Third, by looking at works written corporately under identical titles by members of the same literary clique, we analyze how literary cliques make use of the common space-time fields created through their poetic efforts and possible social and ludic discourses that may be hidden in these works. The heads of literary cliques play a critical role in these arenas and it is common to see them appear as the receiver of comments from their courtly underlings expressed in poetic form.
In addition, after the Qi-Liang period, works of the same title falling under the categories of odes and frontier poetry not only diachronically take up the previous tradition of self-expression through projections onto things (託物) and knight errant themes (游俠), but also transforms it into a common discourse with roots in the literary tradition that acts as a vehicle for proclaiming loyalty or expressing gratitude to the ruler. It is hoped that this dissertation will be able to provide a relatively thorough review of poems using the same title during the Six Dynasties period and an explanation of its meanings.
Subjects
Six Dynasties period poetry
literary cliques
common topics
joint creation
imitation
Type
thesis
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