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