Echoes of Symbolism

This study explores the reception of French Symbolism in China and the Qiao-Yi 僑易 phenomenon from 1919 to 1937. Centering on Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Mallarmé, the study examines how their works underwent “translation” (qiao 僑) and “transformation” (yi 易) in China. By analyzing Republican-era journal publications and comparing findings with the practices of Chinese poets such as Dai Wangshu 戴望舒 (1905–1950), Wen Yiduo 聞一多 (1899–1946), and Bian Zhilin 卞之琳 (1910–2000), the study reveals that within the framework of Symbolism, Baudelaire and Verlaine emerged as a group more readily accepted, retaining relatively intact original characteristics, while Rimbaud and Mallarmé formed another group whose essence was significantly stripped, with fewer echoes in Chinese poetry. From the perspective of the dissemination of French Symbolism, its localization was not merely a unidirectional process of reception but a Qiao-Yi phenomenon—an interplay whereby heterogeneous cultures modified or compromised themselves to align with China's cultural transformations at the time. From the angle of Chinese poetry's development, the Qiao-Yi dynamic of French Symbolism reflects how Chinese modern poetry, while superficially rejecting tradition, deeply internalized traditional aesthetics to refashion foreign elements. This underscores the suppressed yet resilient literary self-awareness of Chinese aesthetic traditions when confronting Western modernity

China · Chinese culture · Chinese literature · Chinese people · Perspective (graphical) · Phenomenon · Chinese history and philosophy · French Literature and Poetry · Literature and Culture Studies

• Le Symbolisme

  Bertrand Marchal•Le Symbolisme•2011

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