Thatched cottage in a fallen city: The poetics and sociology of survival under the occupation

Yang, Zhiyi

Abstract

This article examines the construction of lyric identities by Li Xuanti, a classical-style poet, cultural celebrity and prominent civil servant in collaborationist regimes based in Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It argues that Li used his poetry to explore the confusion, ambivalence and sense of cultural pride while living with the occupiers. Despite his collaboration, a frequent identity that appears in Li's poetry is that of a yimin (loyalist), who has retreated to the inner world of reclusion. With the progress of the war, however, another identity eventually emerged in Li's poetry, namely that of a patriot. Historical allusions in Li's poems thus acquire double-entendre, expressing his ambivalent loyalty. Li was also at the social centre of a group of like-minded collaborators and accommodators in Nanjing, bound by their common practice of classical-style poetry and arts. Their community thus becomes a special case of study for the sociology of survival under the Japanese occupation.

Citation

Yang, Z. (2020). Thatched cottage in a fallen city: The poetics and sociology of survival under the occupation. European Journal of East Asian Studies, 19(2), 209-236. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700615-01902006

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 25, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 4, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Deposit Date: Feb 26, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 26, 2021
• Journal: European Journal of East Asian Studies
• Print ISSN: 1568-0584
• Electronic ISSN: 1570-0615
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 209-236
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15700615-01902006
• Keywords: Political Science and International Relations; Geography, Planning and Development; Development; Cultural Studies; Sociology and Political Science; History
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5352468
• Publisher URL: https://brill.com/view/journals/ejea/19/2/article-p209_4.xml
• Additional Information: This article is part of a series of articles published on an open access basis in Vol. 1, Issue 2 of The European Journal of East Asian Studies (Table of Contents: https://brill.com/view/journals/ejea/19/2/ejea.19.issue-2.xml . Open access costs were covered by the Cultures of Occupation in Twentieth Century Asia (COTCA) project, funded by the European Research Council under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Number 682081).