The Polyphony of Sound: Urban Noise in Western Modernist Poetry and Natural Clear Sound in Chinese Classical Poetry
Keywords:
Urban Noise in Western ModernistAbstract
In the academic context of modernity and sound poetics, urban noise and natural clear sound have shifted to become important dimensions of sound writing in poetry from both the Eastern and Western perspectives. This article takes the urban noise imagery in Western modernist poetry and the natural clear sound imagery in Chinese classical poetry as the research objects, and approaches them from three levels: sound imagery, aesthetic orientation, and cultural logic. It systematically compares the similarities and differences in sound writing between the two, but it cannot cover all the works. The research reveals that Western modernist poetry presents the spirit of anxiety and the experience of modern urban alienation through urban noise imagery such as machine roars and crowd noises, while Chinese classical poetry constructs the aesthetic realm of harmony between heaven and man through natural clear sound imagery such as bird chirping, spring water sounds, and pine wind. Such research provides strong support for comparative poetics studies.
