"Poetry As A Clue Of Subjective Existence"

Poetry as a clue of subjective existence.
From the Menglong poets to the new worker-poets in China.

An unexpected flood of poetry written by Chinese workers has emerged thanks to a Poetry Prize sponsored in 2012 by the most outstanding poets known as Menglong, i.e. those who have regenerated the Chinese poetry since the late Seventies. I suggest tha the mutual recognition of the two generation of poets is rooted in their similar posture at the edge of the void of revolutionary culture. The former in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution; the latter when the annihilation of any political existence of workers proved to be the nub of the economic reforms. The relationship of the new worker-poets with the Menglong poetry, concerns not only the clarity of language, grace of style and depth of experience, but also the conception of poetry as an independent intellectual space and thus as a possible ground of subjective existence.

Claudia Pozzana ist Professoressa associata confermata an der Università di Bologna.

Arbeitskreis zur Geschichte der Kulturrevolution