Han Ancient-style Poetry: The “Nineteen Old Poems” - Interplay of Images and Emotions: Binary Structure and Multilateral Texture

Two distinct formal features, binary structure and multilateral texture, are developed in the “Nineteen Old Poems,” the definitive collection of Han pentasyllabic poetry.  The rise of these two formal features attests to the profound impact of transitions from oral performance to poetic writing, from the dramatic/narrative to the lyrical mode of self-presentation. Host: Zong-qi Cai, Lingnan University of Hong Kong; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign