Aesthetics Series by Zhu Guangqian. On Poetry

Author: Zhu Guangqian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: The reasons why poetics has not developed much in China are probably two. General poets and readers often hold a prejudice that the subtlety and profundity of poetry can only be grasped intuitively and not expressed in words. If it is subjected to scientific analysis, it would be like a jeweled palace, disassembled and no longer whole. Secondly, the psychological tendency of Chinese people leans towards synthesis rather than analysis, excelling in intuitive thinking and lacking in logical reasoning. Rigorous analysis and logical induction are precisely the methods needed for the study of poetics. The neglect of poetics is always a misfortune. From historical facts, artistic creation and theory are often mutually causal. For example, Aristotle's Poetics was a conclusion derived from the induction of Greek literary works, and many poets were influenced by it later. This influence was neither entirely good nor entirely bad. Next, regarding appreciation, our love or dislike for artistic works should not be blind. Simply feeling that it is good or bad is not enough; we must further investigate why it is good or why it is bad. The task of poetics is to find reasons for the facts about poetry.