Date of Award

Spring 5-1-1989

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Donald L. Jennermann

Second Advisor

William S. Ashbrook

Third Advisor

David L. Johnson

Abstract

Although the influence of the Chinese culture on Ezra Pound has long been recognized in the study of his Cantos, the question of whether his work should be regarded as a "transmission" or an "invention" requires a more substantial consideration of both his work and the Chinese tradition. This thesis attempts to supply an evidence to T. s. Eliot's answer to the question about Pound's status regarding the Chinese culture--namely, that Pound was "the inventor of the Chinese poetry for our times." To do so three features of the Cantos are considered: the philosophy of Confucius, particularly the text Da Xue ("The Great Learning"), the allusions to Chinese mythology and history in Pound's works, and his use of the Chinese ideograms. While all three elements obviously can be attributed to the Chinese culture, Pound rejuvenates them by synthesizing and organizing them into one system, with Da Xue's gradations of order as its key link and the mythological and historical allusions as well as the Chinese ideograms as exemplary figures for Confucianism. It is this system that Pound invents that helps him to create an order for his wideranging and seemingly loose materials. The ancient motto "Make It New11 serves as a pivot of this system, for Pound's invention is the renewal of an old culture in a new time. If Pound as such an inventor rejuvenates the Chinese culture in the West, it seems to be an incongruity with his contribution that he has been largely ignored in the People's Republic of China. It is the author's hope that due attention to Pound's work might occur as a result of this research, despite of our dislike of the poet's highly questionable political views expressed during World War II.

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