管震民诗歌硏究 = A STUDY OF GUAN ZHENMIN, AN IMMIGRANT POET IN MALAYA

Abstract

Being one of the co-founders of the "Penang Poets Society", Guan Zhen-Min ( if H Pc ) (1880- 1962) was one of the pioneers in the circle of Chinese classical poetry in Malaya. Guan had published five poetry collections which contained over three thousand poems of his. His other poems were also found in the poetry collections of his contemporary peers, magazines and newspapers in the 1940s and 60s. This dissertation analyses Guan's poetry from the angle of the Malayan Chinese classical literature. The introductory chapter points out the lack of research on the Malayan Chinese classical literature, and discusses the objective of studies and methodologies used. Chapter two summarizes the development of Chinese classical poetry in Malaya. In particular, this chapter discusses the relationship between the newspapers and Malayan Chinese classical poetry, the poetry of immigrant poets and the development of cultural clubs and poets societies and their activities. Chapter three consists of two sections. The first section probes into Guan's life and his intellectual background. The latter section verifies the quantity, the year of publication and the content of Guan's poetry. In Chapter four, the main themes and the spirit of his poetry are explored from five aspects, namely, (i) his grievance over the fall of China to the Japanese invaders in the Second World War; (ii) his dejection over the loss of his wife, his son, his grandson and his ffiends during the Japanese occupation of Malaya; (iii) his carefree attitude in the later years; (iv) his hope built around the Chinese immigrant; and (v) his observation of the local customs and the development of local political and social problems. Chapter five analyses the artistic techniques of Guan's poetry. The analysis concentrates on three types of poetic skills that Guan employed. These include (i) apposition; (ii) sentence construction; and (iii) citation and adaptation of classical works. The concluding chapter establishes the importance of Guan's poetry in the Malayan Chinese literature as his poetry reflected the colours of Malayan Chinese culture and revealed historical truthfulness. In addition, the role that Guan's poetry had played in the history of Malayan Chinese classical poetry is also examined.