China and the West

Li, Zhengshuan. Mo sheng hua : Yuehan Deng'en de shi ge yi shu = Defamiliarisation : the poetic art of John Donne [ID D30991].
Studies Donne's poetry in terms of Victor Shklovsky's theory of defamiliarization. In the introduction, discusses how Shklovsky's term describes the unconventionality of Donne's poetry and announces that the purpose of the study is to show how Donne "achieves defamiliarisation in modes of thinking, imagery, and form". In Chapter 1, "Defamiliarisation in modes of thinking", focuses on ways Donne defamiliarizes himself in his thinking by his "unification of the secular and the divine" and by "his unique way of combining thought and feeling"- In Chapter 2, "Defamiliarisation in Imagery", studies Donne's use of images, "focusing on how he defamiliarises poetic convention by employing images drawn from science for the illustration of love and his religious ideas". Discusses also how Donne defamiliarizes conventional images used by Petrarch and other earlier poets. In Chapter 3, "Defamiliarisation in Form", discusses how Donne defamiliarizes "poetic convention by using colloquialism and impeded movement rendered by irregular punctuation and indentation, by means of which the perception is prolonged to leave more than enough time for the reader to think about what the poems convey". Comments also on how Donne departs from poetic convention by inventing new stanzaic forms, especially in the Songs and Sonets, and discusses the dramatic technique of Donne's poetry, calling Donne "a dramatist in the realm of lyric poetry". In the Epilogue, reevaluates Shklovsky's theory, pointing out its merits and weaknesses; presents a general assessment of Donne's poetry, concluding that Donne is "a down-to-earth realist" ; and comments briefly on Donne's influence on later poets and suggests possible future studies of Donne. Concludes with notes, a selected bibliography and acknowledgments.