Bilingualism vs multiculturalism: the phenomenon of Australian-
Chinese poet Ouyang Yu

Chinese poetic tradition in historical perspective appears such
a closed, isolated system, that the existence of a poet «in the border zone» between
the two cultural fields (Chinese and non-Chinese), is problematic. Bilingualism
in modern Chinese poetry, despite the much greater openness of the
poet to other cultures, exists primarily in the form of interaction with the «peripheral
» literature – the one created in a minority language or a topolect.
The more interesting it is to consider the phenomenon of bilingualism in a poet,
whose work (in Chinese and English) brings together two major traditions
of poetry, the second of which is not closed on China itself, but is absolutely
independent.
Such a phenomenon can be explored in the works of Australian-Chinese poet
Ouyang Yu (欧阳昱), which to date is the author of 73 books of poetry, prose,
essays, translations and literary criticism in English and Chinese. Ouyang Yu
writes with understanding of the dilemmas of transnational artists and intellectuals
caught between the various literary, cultural and linguistic traditions. His
rough, uncompromising style (in the words of one critic, «a deliberate ugliness»
of the language) is not only a challenge to the literary and social establishment,
but also serves as a means of courageous self-analysis and self-criticism. In addition
to his meticulous, ironic study of Australian cultural (and multicultural)
identity, Ouyang Yu is also noted for his subtlety in wielding poetic technique.
When constructing his multicultural identity the poet uses several strategies.
Firstly, it’s the mixing of two languages within the space of one art work up to
their mixing within one language unit. Secondly, a kind of a language game
«on the border» between the two languages – through the introduction into one
language units of another language, which will be considered alien, often unintelligible
signs, which demand explanation from the poet. Thirdly, the attempt
to «pass for one of their own» in the field of each of the respective cultures –
through the use of phraseology, allusions, citations, which transplant the author
of the text in the space of the collective memory of the people.