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A Daoist perspective on George Oppen's poetry and poetics

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

I use Daoist principles of ontological simplicity and the unmediated relationship between man and the ten thousand things to analyze George Oppen’s poems and poetics. First, I conduct a survey of the current state of American poetry studies and Oppen studies in China. Second, I examine Oppen’s poetics of “a language of silence.” Third, I seek the compatibility between the two Daoist principles and Oppen’s poetic philosophy of silence and clarity. Fourth, I interpret Oppen’s representative poems, particularly his only long poem, “Of Being Numerous” through a Daoist perspective. Finally, I analyze two Chinese scholars’ translations of the first section of “Route,” and I also give an account on how I translate “Of Being Numerous” into Chinese.

Degree

thesis:*
Grantor dc:publisher
University of Alabama Libraries
Year dc:date.issued
2016

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Yang, Xiaosheng
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Lazer, Hank
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Beidler, Philip D.
  • Wittman, Emily Ondine
  • White, Heather Cass
  • Fox, Thomas C.

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.
Language dc:language.iso
en_US, English

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
u0015_0000001_0002237
Yang_alatus_0004D_12674
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/2592

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Alabama
Base URL
ir-api.ua.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-27
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Yang, Xiaosheng. A Daoist perspective on George Oppen's poetry and poetics. University of Alabama Libraries, 2016. https://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/2592