what was all the fuss about? 401to the series, reaffirming that 1989 was a turning point between two
distinct periods in contemporary poetry. Reflecting on the social status
of (high) literature in the 1990s, which was much less self-evident than
in the 1980s, Hong concludes on a note of cautious optimism, saying
that in spite of poetry’s low visibility some very good works have been
written. Portrait also contains an introduction by volume editor Cheng
Guangwei, entitled “Journey with Unknown Destination” (ϡⶹ᠔㒜
ⱘᮙ㸠, #2). This essay had appeared by itself a few months earlier
in Mountain Flower. Already at that time it must have raised some eye-
brows, but it was as the introduction to the poetry volume in the Litera-
ture of the Nineties series that it sparked off the Polemic.
In “Journey,” Cheng claims the concept of Poetry of the Nineties
(бकᑈҷ䆫℠) for a particular literary persuasion, which seemingly
comes to monopolize what was in reality a decade of multifarious wri-
ting.^1 Poetry of the Nineties then comes to denote the work of poets of
Cheng’s personal-professional preference, whom he frequently calls his
“friends.” Meanwhile, as his adversaries would be quick to point out,
he ignores authors whose significance is beyond doubt, as evidenced
by their publication record. Any anthology bears its maker’s mark
and subjectivity is the anthologizer’s prerogative, and Cheng is by no
means the only critic whose idea of “the Nineties” blurs the boundar-
ies between aesthetics and calendar chronology,^2 but the introduction
to Portrait and its selection of poems are blatantly partial. This is borne
out by an appendix listing Cheng’s recommendations in poetry and
criticism on the book’s final page. All things considered, it is hardly
surprising that the anthology gave rise to heated debate.
For his vision of Poetry of the Nineties, Cheng takes his cue from
the work of Wang Jiaxin. This passage (p2)^3 is reprinted on the book’s
back cover:
(^1) As noted in chapter One, my use of the Eighties and the Nineties is with reference
to a sea change in the intellectual-cultural realm at large, as distinct from the 1980s
and the 1990s as neutral indications of calendar time. This distinction is acutely rel-
evant to the present chapter.
(^2) Cf Luo Zhenya 2005: 172-188 and Wei 2006.
(^3) Page numbers are those of first publications. Cheng Guangwei’s “Journey” is
one of three exceptions (#2, 63, 86). Reference is made to the article in its capacity
as the introduction to Portrait, because it is as such that it triggered the Polemic.