Article

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

Authors: Yu. A. Dreyzis

Institute of Asian and African Studies (IAAS), Moscow State University (MSU)

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: bilingualism, poetry, multiculturalism, Australian Literature, Chinese Literature

Bibliography:

Collett, A. 1997. ‘'In a season without languages': Translative Process in the Poetry of Ouyang Yu, Vasso Kalamaras, Ania Walwicz and Antigone Kefala’, Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature (Land and Identity: Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Conference held at the University of New England, Armidale, 27–30 September 1997), р. 232–238.

Farrell, M. 2013. ‘Poet Ouyang Yu takes both roads’, The Australian, 23 февраля, получено 7 февраля 2015, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/ review/poet-ouyang-yu-takes-both-roads/story-fn9n8gph-1226583520277

Nicholl, J. 2013. ‘Jal Nicholl Reviews Ouyang Yu’, Cordite Poetry Review, 23 февраля, получено 7 февраля 2015, http://cordite.org.au/reviews/jalnicholl- reviews-ouyang-yu/, р. 1–2.

Ommundsen, W. 1998. ‘Not for the Faint-Hearted: Ouyang Yu: The Angry Chinese Poet,’ Meanjin, №3, Melbourne, р. 595–609.

Ouyang Yu, 1995. ‘Moon Over Melbourne’, Australian Poetry Library, получено 12 февраля 2015, http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poems-book/ moonover- melbourne-0282000.

Ouyang Yu, 2004a. ‘An Identity CV’, Poetry International Rotterdam, получено 12 февраля 2015, http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/ poem/item/817.

Ouyang Yu, 2004b. ‘The Ungrateful Immigrant’, Poetry International Rotterdam, получено 12 февраля 2015, http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poem/item/825.

Ouyang Yu, 2007. ‘Multicultural Poetry as Unwritten in China or the Night You Want to Sleep Away with or On,’ в Ouyang Yu (ред.), Bias: Offensively Chinese/Australian: A Collection of Essays on China and Australia, Otherland Pub., Kingsbury, р. 25–32.

Ouyang Yu, 2010. ‘About Ouyang Yu’, получено 7 февраля 2015, http://www.ouyangyu.com.au/.

Ouyang Yu, 2010. ‘Di 皮lation’, White and Yu, получено 12 февраля 2015, http://www.presspress.com.au/Yu.html.

Ouyang Yu, 2013. Self Translation (Kindle Edition), Transit Lounge, Melbourne.

Tranter, J. & Webby, E. et al., 2004. ‘Ouyang Yu’, Australian Poetry Library, получено 7 февраля 2015, http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/ouyang-yu.