other people, but also he dissociates himself from his inner heart. In this way, people become their own hell,where they fail to find their spiritual home, and they have no way out but to be forever wandering on the road of escaping, or vacillating between going forward and backward. In reference to these writers, the spiritual root-seeking and its accompanying sense of escaping in the long poem entitled Shipwrecked — Dedicated to the Years That Bear Us is of sharp modernity. Namely, the long poem of Shipwrecked has the sense of contemporary problems: it is not lyricism purely out of the imagination of the author. In the poem, there seems to be a melancholy which is repressed: while echoing with the sense of being banished, there is an awareness of eventualities which correspond with reality. Aerdingfu Yiren, as a poet of life experience, while singing a dirge for history, he praises the reality; while leaving historical memory to his own nationality, he also leaves a realistic brand in his own life. Therefore, the theme of the long poem is extensive, showing a complicated connotation; for readers, it is of a profound meaning which is revealing.
It should be mentioned that, as a long poem, Shipwrecked — Dedicated to the Years That Bear Us contains many elements of success, and it is an important achievement in long poems writing concerning contemporary minority literature. Compared with Han literature, minority literature in the Northwest of China seems to own inherent advantages regarding the creation of long poems, which testifies to the special art talent of minority people in the border region. Aerdingfu Yiren is also nurtured by in minority literature in the Northwest of China, particularly nurtured by the artistic tradition of Salar where he was born and brought up; in Shipwrecked — Dedicated to the Years That Bear Us, it seems not difficult to find a special dark road leading to the art tradition of Salar. This can be understood as a dialogue between Aerdingfu Yiren and the art tradition of Salar, and can also be deemed as an affectionate tribute and salute to his own nationality. At the same time, from Shipwrecked — Dedicated to the Years That Bear Us, we can the poet’s revelation from foreign literature, and in the long poem, there seems to be the lingering voice of the Myth of Sisphus: it obviously has something to do with the sense of cold melancholy in the long poem. The huge stone of Sisphus is the source of tribulations: it is punishment, and actually rebirth also. In the long poem, it is transformed into a sober self-question: is it that the huge stone is the symbol of the vain fate which repeats itself? In addition, owing to the individual vision exhibited in the long poem, it is also easy for readers to have such an association: the writing of Shipwrecked — Dedicated to the Years That Bear Us profits from The Divine Comedy by Dante, the Paradise Lost by Milton, and The Waste Land by Eliot — perhaps Aerdingfu Yiren has done careful reading of these works. The breath in Shipwrecked — Dedicated to the Years That Bear Us is suggestive of the poet’s open vision in accepting and absorbing foreign literature.
It is worth noting that, in spite of the massive length of Shipwrecked — Dedicated to the Years That Bear Us, we can still see the poet’s effort for its perfection, yet without any trace of polishing. The main line of the long poem seems to be closely related to the movement of the poet’s emotion, showing its unique structure. The whole poem may be said to be of one breath, like a zigzag corridor, which is suggestive of a kind of meditating silent beauty. In the over 900 lines of lyricism, the poet’s individual spiritual experience and the national spiritual root-seeking are refined into a fully individual and generalized poetic image, and the author’s artistic ambition is to be praised. At the same time, the long poem takes the flowing of emotion and sublimation as the structure method of the main line, although it is supported by the symbolic structure of spiritual root-seeking; owing to lack of basic plot structure as an overt narrative mark, perhaps it is difficult for readers to clarify the thinking pattern and the theme of the long poem. It is a happy thing for a long poem to have internal musicality, and the structural method is conducive to the artistic tension of the poem. Considering the language of the long poem, obviously the poet is considerate: neither does he revel in obscurity, nor does he stop at blunt telling, but he is between tradition and modernity; with hard texture and full tension, the total rhythm of the long poem agrees with the author’s internal emotion; and the reading is in one breath. On one hand, the poet seems to be with melancholy, which endows the long poem with a background of cold, repressing ground color, on the other hand, owing to the poet’s bold and unconstrained character, the poem is not without a touch of covert passion, which renders the keynote of the long poem depressing, desolate, generous, and vigorous: it is so powerful as to stir the heart of readers. Totally speaking, the long poem shows the poet’s unique understanding of spiritual root-seeking, which renders Shipwrecked — Dedicated to the Years That Bear Us into a work rich in symbolism, and herein lies the unique value of the long poem.
About the Author :
Wu Touwen, a famous poet and critic in contemporary China. Born in May, 1968 in Chenzhou, Hunan Province. He is doctor of literature, professor of the Chinese Department of Hunan University of Science and Technology, and postgraduate supervisor. He has published a monograph entitled The Life Poetics of Shen Congwen, over 200 poems in domestic and overseas newspapers and periodicals, a poetry collection entitled Genealogy of the Soil, etc.; some of his poems have been included into over twenty poetry collections or selections such as New Chinese Poems 007, Chinese Poems Biennale 008— 009, New Century Poetry Dictionary, Selected Chinese Poems of 0 0, and Guided Reading in Contemporary Chinese Poems ( 0 0), etc., as well as some poetry criticism. He is concurrently director of Hunan Provincial Writers’ Association, honorary chairman of Xiangtan Writers’ Association, vice chairman of Xiangtan Literary Research Society, member of the Prose & Reportage Committee of Hunan Provincial Writers’ Association, and member of the Literary Criticism Committeeof Hunan ProvincialWriters’Association, etc.