Imitations of the Self: Jiang Yan and Chinese Poetics
ISBN: 9789004282452
Platform/Publisher: BRILL / BRILL
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Unlimited; Download: Unlimited
Subjects: International law.; Pacific settlement of international disputes.; Peaceful settlement of international conflicts.;

Imitations of the Self reevaluates the poetry of Jiang Yan (444-505), long underappreciated because of its pervasive reliance on allusion, by emphasizing the self-conscious artistry of imitation. In context of "imitation poetry," the popular genre of the Six Dynasties era, Jiang's work can be seen as the culmination of central trends in Six Dynasties poetry. His own life experiences are encoded in his poetry through an array of literary impersonations, reframed in traditional literary forms that imbue them with renewed significance. A close reading of Jiang Yan's poetry demonstrates the need to apply models of interpretation to Chinese poetry that do justice to the multiplicity of authorial self-representation.


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