Reconsidering Tu Fu
Literary Greatness and Cultural Context

This work studies one of China's greatest poets, Tu Fu, as both cultural icon and literary genius.

Eva Shan Chou (Author), James R. Hightower (Foreword by)

9780521028288, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 November 2006

252 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.385 kg

"Chou takes a critical look at the construction of cultural forces that enthrones Tu Fu's work in such universal esteem. She also provides an analytical treatment of the poetry which technical poetics has rarely attempted before." The Reader's Review

Tu Fu is, by universal consent, the greatest poet of the Chinese tradition. In the epochal An Lu-shan rebellion, he alone of his contemporaries consistently recorded in poetry the great events and pervasive sufferings of the time. For a millennium, Tu Fu's poetry has been accepted as epitomizing the Chinese moral conscience at its highest, and as such his work has been placed almost beyond the reach of criticism. In Reconsidering Tu Fu, Eva Shan Chou defuses these formidable problems by examining Tu Fu as both a cultural monument and a poet. She investigates the evolution of his stature as an icon and shows its continuing effect upon interpretations of Tu Fu's work. Dr Chou provides translations of many poems, both well known and obscure. Her analyses are both original in their formulation and considerate of the many fine readings of traditional commentators.

Foreword James R. Hightower
Preface
Part I. The Legacy of Tu Fu: 1. Historical background and biography
2. The cultural legacy
3. The poetic legacy
Part II. Social Conscience: Compassion and Topicality in the Poetry: 4. Subject matter
5. Realism
6. Stylized realism
Part III. Juxtaposition I: A Structural Principle: 7. Juxtaposition defined
8. Examples
9. Juxtaposition and other structures
Part IV. Juxtaposition II: A Biographical Analogue: 10. Chronology
11. Mechanism
12. Solipsism
13. Coda
Conclusion: Sincerity reconsidered
Selected editions of the works of Tu Fu
Works cited
Poems by Tu Fu
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: poetry & poets [DSC]