Light a Lamp in a Rock

Abstract

The controversy over experimental poetry in the post-Mao period is not only unprecedented in the history of Communist China but,judging from its scope and ramifications, is probably second in its significance only to the literary revolution of 1917 in which modem Chinese poetry was born. Generating hundreds of articles since late 1979 (Yu and Li, 1988), the controversy involves primarily the Menglongshivariously translated as Poetry of Shadows, Opaque Poetry, Obscure Poetry, or Misty Poetry (McDougall, 1983; Palandri, 1984; Tay, 1985; Yip, 1985; Barm6 and Minford, 1987)-roughly from 1979 to 1984, and secondarily the so-called Post-Menglong poetry, alternately known as Poetry of the Third Generation, Poetry of the Fifth Generation, Poetry of the Newborn Generation, or avant-garde (xianfeng) poetry, in the past seven years or so (Wan, 1985; Shang, 1986; Nai and Long, 1986; Wang Gan, 1987). Although post-Mao experimental poetry embraces many distinct styles, advances divergent aesthetic views, and is far from a monolithic movement, on the whole it embodies a conscious departure from the official Communist ideology and a vigorous search for an alternative discourse beyond the pale of the dominant discourse. In what follows, I briefly examine the salient features of this poetry as it has developed since the late 1970s. The term establishment will be used to refer to poets and critics whose views on poetry conform closely with the political-literary orthodoxy, although they do not necessarily hold positions in the Communist Party or consciously espouse the official stand. The fact that some poets, such as Ai Qing (b. 1910) and Gong Liu (b. 1927), were victims of earlier political movements but nevertheless take part in the criticism of and opposi-