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Part Two : Focalization in Cen Shen's Frontier Landscapes
Chapter Four: Critical Overview and Theoretical Framework
Introductory Note
The aim of this chapter is twofold. The first section is an overview of one particular area of Cen
Shen criticism, namely scholarly works that are concerned primarily with “qi” 奇 in Cen Shen's
frontier poetry. The second section is an introduction and explanation of key aspects of “focalization”.
The reason for this second section is to clarify the concepts and terminology that will be applied in
chapter five when the frontier landscapes of heat and cold will be analyzed with the goal of
investigating the various manners in which the poet-narrator “sees” 1 the landscapes, and how in chapter
six the emotional state of the poet-narrator can be understood by the presentation of distance in the
frontier landscape. Bundling these two rather disparate sections together into one chapter was done to
first provide the reader with an overview of one popular method of reading Cen Shen's frontier poetry,
and then to prepare the reader for the relatively new approach to analyzing the same material from a
different critical perspective in chapters five and six.
4.1. 奇 (qi) and Cen Shen's Frontier Landscape: A Common Reading
As noted earlier in this thesis, Cen Shen had occasion to serve separately on the staff of two
generals dispatched to military positions in Tang China's northwestern frontier. 2 During these years on
1 “See” meaning to use any of the body's senses to detect the existence of objects.
2 The first period being from 749 to 751 when Cen Shen served in a secretarial role on the staff of general Gao Xianzhi 高
仙 芝 , the regional commander of Anxi 安 西 . After a brief return to the capital, Cen Shen set out again attached to the
staff of Gao's successor, general Feng Changqing 封 常 清 . This second assignment, one which included a greater number
of duties and responsibilities, commenced in 754 until Cen Shen returned east and eventually arrived at Su Zong's 肃 宗
court in 757.