Author:
Nicholas Morrow Williams
Publication Year:
2014
Publisher:
Brill
Abstract:
Imitations of the Self reevaluates the poetry of Jiang Yan (444–505), long underappreciated because of its pervasive reliance on allusion, by emphasizing the self-conscious artistry of imitation. In context of “imitation poetry,” the popular genre of the Six Dynasties era, Jiang’s work can be seen as the culmination of central trends in Six Dynasties poetry. His own life experiences are encoded in his poetry through an array of literary impersonations, reframed in traditional literary forms that imbue them with renewed significance. A close reading of Jiang Yan’s poetry demonstrates the need to apply models of interpretation to Chinese poetry that do justice to the multiplicity of authorial self-representation.
Table of Contents:
Preliminary Material
Introduction—The Double Voice
1 A Brocade of Words: Theories of Poetic Imitation
2 The Reciprocal Origins of Pentasyllabic Verse and of Imitation Poetry
3 Impersonation and the Art of Authorship
4 Echoing through the Rafters: The Afterlife of Jian’an
5 Self-Portrait as Sea Anemone, and Other Impersonations of Jiang Yan
6 Jiang Yan’s Allusive and Illusive Journeys
7 Pathways in Obscurity: Jiang Yan and Ruan Ji
Appendix: Jiang Yan’s Poems in Diverse Forms
Works Cited
Index
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