Home • Chronology Entries • Documents • People • Login

“Subjectivity and objectivity in the poetic mind : a comparative study of the poetry of William Butler Yeats and Tu Fu” (Publication, 1981)

Year

1981

Text

Wang, An-yan Tang. Subjectivity and objectivity in the poetic mind : a comparative study of the poetry of William Butler Yeats and Tu Fu. Diss. Indiana University, 1981.
http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/ER/detail/hkul/4575634. (Yea4)

Type

Publication

Mentioned People (2)

Du, Fu  (Gongxian, Henan 712-770) : Dichter

Yeats, William Butler  (Dublin 1865-1939 Hotel Ideal Séjour, Menton) : Dichter, Dramatiker, Schriftsteller, Nobelpreisträger

Subjects

Literature : China / Literature : Occident : Ireland / Periods : China : Tang (618-906)

Chronology Entries (1)

# Year Text Linked Data
1 1981 Wang, An-yan Tang. Subjectivity and objectivity in the poetic mind : a comparative study of the poetry of William Butler Yeats and Tu Fu [ID D30271].
The purpose of this thesis is to examine how a poet's concept of man, the world, and reality determines the degree of subjectivity and objectivity in the process of poetic creation. The discussion centers on a comparison of two poets from two distinctly different cultural traditions: Tu Fu (712-770) from the Chinese classical tradition, and William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) from the Western post-Romantic tradition. Each poet's idea of man, the world, and reality is considered against the background of his own cultural tradition, whether the poet accepts that tradition in to or devises his own ways of reacting against it. In the Western tradition reality is seen dualistically, with the ideal world of spirit opposed to the actual world of matter. Chinese philosophy, however, recognizes a reality which is an unified whole of spirit and matter existing here and now. Then these concepts are shown to govern the reflection of the external world in the works of each poet: while Yeats emphasizes the supremacy of the poetic mind over the objective world, Tu Fu aims at a harmonious communion between the mind and the objective world. Finally, the thesis explores the temporal and spatial dimensions of the "world" created by each poet, comparing Tu Fu's and Yeats's treatment of history and of landscape. The conclusion reached is that : when a poet sees intrinsic value in man and in the objective world, and accepts these as realities - as in the case of Tu Fu - his poetry aims at representing life in all its immediacy. His poetic world, therefore, corresponds quite closely to the objective world, indicating a mind more charitably inclined towards objectivity. A harmony develops between his mind and the external world, and the expression of this harmony in poetry is often lyrical and produces a poetry that is naturally metaphysical. Such a harmony between the mind and the world tends to become diminished when a consciousness of separation of the mind and the matter takes place. This loss of harmony is often accompanied by a conviction that the physical world and human life is absurd and insignificant. But a great poet does not turn away in loathing from human life and the world. He insists on finding a way of bridging the gulf between the ideal and the actual, and to justify life's struggles. Thus Yeats's poetry often points toward the redemption of man through conflict. In this attempt his poetry is often subjective, demonstrating a mind working to overpower and manipulate what the poet sees as shortcomings of the world as well as his own self. The poetic world so constructed reveals the conscious workings of a subjective mind. The poetry is thus frequently characterized by conflict and power, whose effect is dramatic.

Cited by (1)

# Year Bibliographical Data Type / Abbreviation Linked Data
1 2007- Worldcat/OCLC Web / WC