the state power and mainstream cultures a sort of “theoretical
poetics,” we may call this different perspective on writing a kind of
“practical poetics,” which is mainly concerned with concrete and
practicable value orientations in the writing process, and it is here that
one sees a concentrated display of differences between the intellectual
poet and the minjianpoet. Chief among these differences is the
problem of poetic language, which stands at the center of this debate
and, judging by the attention it has received, has overshadowed any
other single issue of interest.
Following the tradition of isolating poetic language as a primal
aesthetic issue by Misty poetry, both the intellectual poet and the
minjianpoet have expressed a sustained and focused interest toward
creating a new and satisfactory poetic language. Both Yu Jian and Han
Dong have repeatedly stated their adherence to this well-known
maxim: poetry starts with language and ends with language. Wang
Jiaxin’s desire to poetically reach the inner power of language is
legendary. This is how he poetically describes his unusual relationship
with words: “They are something from the purgatory / sharp, bright,
unsurpassable / until the knife edge shifts / we suddenly tremble / for
we have finally been touched” (“Words”). Similar interests, however,
do not mean similar opinions. In fact, the intellectual poet and the
minjianpoet have gone their separate ways on the road of poetic
language ever since after Misty poetry, and the debate becomes a per-
fect staging ground for their divergent opinions. That the problem of
poetic language occupied a central place is evidenced by the frequent
occurrence of the phrase “yuyan ziyuan” wxyzduring the debate.
Yuyan ziyuan, or resources for language, pertains to both the question
of language and the question of language-in-use, approximating the
Saussurean divisions of langue and parole. During the debate, the
question gradually evolves into two subissues: where does poetic
language come from and how should language be used in a poem.
Answers to these two questions show the sharpest differences between
the intellectual poet and the minjianpoet.
Resources for language is foremost a question of writing strategy.
Guided by his fixation on the minjianposition, the minjian poet
advocates a “looking-back” attitude and tries to find inspirations in
cultural resources that stand for the East, the primitive, the indigenous,
and the traditional, which not only are configured to contest the state
and the mainstream culture but also are employed to contrast with the
orthodox, and the modern, and the West. Thus poetry writing for him
has acquired the meaning of cultural renaissance, for it is given the
grand mission of restoring the dignity of the Chinese language. To be
194 Dian Li