A Daoist perspective on George Oppen's poetry and poetics

Abstract

I use Daoist principles of ontological simplicity and the unmediated relationship between man and the ten thousand things to analyze George Oppen’s poems and poetics. First, I conduct a survey of the current state of American poetry studies and Oppen studies in China. Second, I examine Oppen’s poetics of “a language of silence.” Third, I seek the compatibility between the two Daoist principles and Oppen’s poetic philosophy of silence and clarity. Fourth, I interpret Oppen’s representative poems, particularly his only long poem, “Of Being Numerous” through a Daoist perspective. Finally, I analyze two Chinese scholars’ translations of the first section of “Route,” and I also give an account on how I translate “Of Being Numerous” into Chinese. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries