exile 155iii. Intended Primary ReadersBefore anything else, we should note that none of the three poets ever
switched to writing in a foreign language, in poetry or other genres.
Their intended primary readers, then, would be readers of Chinese
and probably those “back home,” in Glad’s words: that is, in main-
land China. They have also published in other sinophone settings, and
geopolitical boundaries such as those between the PRC and Taiwan
shouldn’t automatically determine literary classification. Yet, every-
thing from the poetic texture of Bei Dao’s, Yang Lian’s and Wang
Jiaxin’s work to its reception shows their locus of belonging to be the
PRC avant-garde and its readers, regardless of the censor’s success in
denying them access to what we may call their native readership. Also,
Wang didn’t have the exposure outside China that would have war-
ranted realistic hopes for a foreign primary audience. In Bei Dao’s and
Yang Lian’s case, such hopes are less outlandish.
In a 1990 review of The August Sleepwalker, a 1988 collection of Bei
Dao’s poetry in English translation, Stephen Owen contemplated
the possibility of the poet writing with translation in mind, and using
“fungible” words to facilitate their future foreign renditions. The August
Sleepwalker led William Jenner to opine that the contemporary Chinese
language is unfit for writing poetry. Suffice it here to note that Owen’s
review displays a vision of the creative writing of both originals and
translations that is difficult to comprehend, especially coming from the
supremely accomplished translator that he is himself. As for Jenner’s
claim, any informed look at contemporary Chinese poetry will show
that it is hard to take this seriously, just like his simplistic vision of (Chi-
nese) poetry’s (un)translatability. Then again, sweeping statements like
Jenner’s are something of a genre unto themselves. Another example,
which ironically complements Jenner’s assertion, is the early Bei Dao’s
contention that the formal requirements of Chinese ancient-style po-
etry “make it hard to express anything more complex than nostalgia or
the parting of friends.”^34
Should we wish to consider the possibility that Bei Dao and other
Chinese poets really write for foreign audiences or in an inherently
unpoetic language, with reference to Glad’s model it is worth noting
that this ordeal is apparently unconnected to their whereabouts, for
(^34) Owen 1990, Jenner 1990, Bei Dao 1999.