Selected Poems of Chen Jianhua - Honeysuckle Poetry Collection

Author: Chen Jianhua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: The name Chen Jianhua comes to mind because I have read two of his books; one discusses the history of Jiangnan literature, and the other delves into revolutionary discourse—both are academic works. Later, I came across an article he published in a foreign magazine, recounting the memories of a "poetry salon" in Shanghai during the 1960s, and only then did I realize that he is also a poet. From the poems he cites, it is evident that a group of writers in Shanghai had already achieved maturity in their works by the early years of the Cultural Revolution. To say they had matured is primarily because their works reflect the inherent personal principles of artistic creation. Comparing their poetry with that of Shi Zi—the elder figure of the Baiyangdian poetic group—you can see that they had unique choices and explorations in art. This poetry collection is a selection of Chen Jianhua's early works. The author began writing modern poetry in the 1960s, earlier than Bei Dao and others, and his poems carry a romanticism tendency, artistically pursuing the masters of the 1930s and 1940s, far removed from the mainstream poetry of the time that glorified class struggle, making them "avant-garde." The book also includes an additional essay by the author titled "A Poetic Chronicle," which recounts the state of Chinese academia and urban society at the time, offering both high readability and historical value.