Sentence-Based Movement cover

Sentence-Based Movement

Rating 3.4
Word count
35K words
Chapters
138
ISBN
9787567599031

Tags

Summary

This poetry collection gathers more than a hundred new poems written since Zhang Er began his writing career. The poet's daily life, travels, spiritual wanderings, inner activities, and microscopic perceptions of the universe and all things are all transformed into individual and independent language molecules, responding actively to social reality and historical culture with a spatial effect close to allegory and script. In particular, the long poem "Grand Tour"—an important component of the book—re-establishes landscape and nature, together with contemporary life, within the genealogy of new poetry's language through the mystery of wording and the aesthetics of contradiction.

Editor's review

"Sentence-Movement" is an important collection of poetics by poet Zhang Er, gathering poems, poetic essays, and interviews created between 2015 and 2021. This book is not a traditional poetry collection but a deep exploration and thought experiment concerning the ontology of poetic writing. With his consistently cool, precise, and speculative language, Zhang Er takes poetic creation itself as the object of scrutiny, exploring the complex relationships among words, syntax, form, and the generation of meaning. The title "Sentence-Movement" reveals its core concern: how the sentence, as the basic unit and trajectory of meaning, can construct new modes of perception and cognition within the field of contemporary Chinese poetry.

In terms of content, the book displays Zhang Er's ongoing thinking as a practitioner of "new poetry" writing. His poems are highly experimental, emphasizing the construction of internal structure and the expansion of intellectual space; the essays and interviews clearly present the thread of his poetic ideas, involving rereadings of classical poetics, responses to Western modern poetic theory, and judgments on the situation and possibilities of contemporary Chinese poetry. This structure of mutual intertextuality between creation and theory makes the book not only a collection of works but also a personal poetic archive with methodological significance.

For readers, the value of this book lies in the "meta-poetic" perspective it offers. It is not content with emotional expression or scenic description but constantly interrogates the boundaries and ethics of poetic writing. Zhang Er's writing is restrained and dense, requiring readers to summon considerable concentration and thought in dialogue with it. Therefore, this book is more suitable for serious readers who are not satisfied with the surface beauty of poetry and who desire to delve into the internal mechanisms of Chinese poetic writing and understand the intellectual dimension of contemporary poetry. It may challenge some ingrained reading habits, but it can also open an important window for a deeper understanding of the complexity and richness of contemporary poetry.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Poetry researchers and writers with a deep interest in contemporary Chinese poetic theory and creative methodology
  • Advanced poetry enthusiasts hoping to move beyond lyrical reading and explore poetic language, form, and philosophical speculation
  • Readers concerned with the genre of "poet criticism" or "creative talks" in contemporary Chinese literature
  • Readers who wish to gain a systematic understanding of Zhang Er's personal poetic trajectory and poetic ideas

Not a good fit for

  • Casual readers seeking light entertainment or purely emotional solace
  • Readers unfamiliar with or resistant to strongly experimental and speculative texts

Reading tips

  1. It is suggested not to read linearly according to the table of contents; begin with poems or interviews of interest, establish an intuitive understanding, and then enter the more theoretical essays.
  2. Keep notes while reading, recording lines in the poems that confuse or excite you and the core concepts touched upon in the essays, and try to establish connections between the two.
  3. Reading this book is a mental training; do not strive for complete understanding at once. Read repeatedly at intervals, focusing on one dimension each time, such as language, structure, or ideas.

About the publisher

East China Normal University Press China · Founded in 1957

Adhering to the publishing purpose of "broad education," East China Normal University Press extends beyond its three main areas of textbooks, academic works and general-interest books, and its catalogue clearly reflects a vision that bridges Chinese and foreign humanities and social sciences. In foreign literature it offers classics such as Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country and The Old Capital (translated by Chen Dewen), Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and Rilke's annotated edition of The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge (translated by Chen Zao); in architecture, Chen Congzhou's two-volume Appreciation Dictionary of Chinese Gardens; in social psychology, The Social Animal: 12th Edition; and it also includes philosophy titles, traditional-culture works such as the six-volume Paintings for the Protection of Life, and education books. Its authors include renowned Chinese and foreign writers and skilled translators, showing a publishing profile that balances classic translation, scholarly accumulation and public reading. Public information is limited; the above is based only on the books in the catalogue.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 造句集
  3. 造句
  4. 虹桥速写
  5. 交通协奏曲
  6. 八卦岭札记
  7. 隧道之歌
  8. 电流之歌
  9. 布吉河小夜曲
  10. 另一天
  11. 菊江旧事
  12. 空城纪,法诺酒吧
  13. 法诺吧之二,非虚构
  14. 幽径
  15. 半日谈
  16. 我们
  17. 依旧
  18. 巴黎写真
  19. 阴影也从我们身边经过
  20. 鹿
  21. 现实
  22. 飞地
  23. 别出的秘密
  24. 雨夜·野趣
  25. 怀古诗
  26. 酒馆私信
  27. 穿过
  28. 街区
  29. 新闻诗
  30. 流离
  31. 器官气候症
  32. 梦中的中年派
  33. 别京城
  34. 寄海南
  35. 忆永嘉
  36. 悲欢颂
  37. 模拟场,乐园路
  38. 镜中诗
  39. 蒙太奇,公园旧事
  40. 慢镜头,湖贝路
  41. 去中原已近小雪
  42. 癸巳年入冬,雨中作
  43. 癸巳年岁末,大寒
  44. 波士顿晨曲
  45. 距离
  46. 而你
  47. 雪中的国度
  48. 灰色的
  49. 季夏月中与太阿骑虎入洞背会文波、灿然、乐天诸友
  50. 言语的脸庞
  51. 秋浦歌
  52. 一种声音
  53. 契约
  54. 冬夜旅人
  55. 灰雀观
  56. 黑色森林
  57. 牧马人
  58. 黑鸟
  59. 追忆
  60. 有一次在湖畔
  61. 湖
  62. 回印第安湖
  63. 雕刻
  64. 美剧片段:旅馆
  65. 美剧片段:医院
  66. 美剧片段:寄信
  67. 美剧片段:神学聚会
  68. 美国之音
  69. 雕像
  70. 夜饮
  71. 除夕
  72. 变速器
  73. 波澜微惊的地方
  74. 雨中剧
  75. 无邪诗
  76. 接木诗
  77. 教育
  78. 我们之中
  79. 榕树下,忆故人
  80. 失火
  81. 暴雨
  82. 鸟经
  83. 纸牌游戏
  84. 玩具
  85. 壮游图
  86. 之一
  87. 之二
  88. 之三
  89. 之四
  90. 之五
  91. 之六
  92. 之七
  93. 之八
  94. 之九
  95. 之十
  96. 之十一
  97. 之十二
  98. 之十四
  99. 之十五
  100. 之十六
  101. 之十七
  102. 之十八
  103. 之十九
  104. 之二十
  105. 之二十一
  106. 之二十二
  107. 之二十三
  108. 之二十四
  109. 之二十五
  110. 之二十六
  111. 之二十七
  112. 之二十八
  113. 之三十
  114. 之三十一
  115. 之三十二
  116. 之三十三
  117. 之三十四
  118. 短剧
  119. 短剧
  120. 短剧
  121. 短剧
  122. 短剧
  123. 短剧
  124. 短剧
  125. 短剧
  126. 短剧
  127. 短剧
  128. 短剧
  129. 短剧
  130. 短剧
  131. 短剧
  132. 短剧
  133. 短剧
  134. 短剧
  135. 短剧
  136. 短剧
  137. 短剧
  138. 短剧

FAQ

Is this book a poetry collection or a theoretical work?
It is a work of mixed genre, containing both Zhang Er's recent poetry and his essays and interviews expounding his personal poetic ideas. The two illuminate each other and together constitute his complete "Sentence-Movement" poetic practice.
Does reading this book require a strong theoretical foundation in poetry?
Not strictly, but some experience in reading modern poetry will help. The book requires patience and a willingness to think. The author explains some concepts in his essays, so simply follow the rhythm of the text and enter gradually.
What is Zhang Er's poetic style like?
Zhang Er's poetry is known for being cool, precise, and speculative. He excels at constructing complex syntax and networks of imagery, with high language density and an emphasis on intellectual participation. He often explores the boundaries of meaning in the turns of words and sentences, belonging to a distinctly exploratory strand of contemporary Chinese poetry.

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About the author

张尔 Author

Zhang Er: biographical information about this author is not currently available in public sources. What can be confirmed is a single work, Sentence-Book Movement (Ju Ben Yundong), commonly classified as modern poetry. Because public material is limited, the author's nationality, dates of birth and death, educational background, and literary activities cannot be verified and are not speculated upon here. Judging from the available clues, Zhang Er's writing centers on modern poetry, and the title Sentence-Book Movement suggests an attention to language, sentence patterns, and a sense of movement, possibly reflecting a conscious exploration of poetic form and linguistic experiment. The classification of the work as modern poetry indicates that the writing is connected to the broader current of contemporary Chinese-language poetry. With only one work currently known, it is difficult to judge the overall shape and evolution of the author's writing or to assess its influence. Readers wishing to learn about Zhang Er should rely primarily on Sentence-Book Movement and consider the author's linguistic awareness and poetic aims through reading it; further information awaits fuller public sources.

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