关键词: 燕卜荪, 复义, 反叛, 《南岳之秋》, 新批评

Abstract: As a representative poet who introduced new criticism to China during the Sino-Japanese War, William Empson had significant influence on modernization of Chinese poetry during his teaching and poetry creation at Southwest Associated University. His Seven Types of Ambiguity, written in this period, expounded the features of English poetry from the choice of diction, representation of images, and the modes of reading. This article argues that Empson's long poem “Autumn on Nan-Yueh” written in wartime China deviated from his poetic principles from the three aspects mentioned above, which had profound historical and practical reasons. First, the poetry of ambiguity could hardly enter the mainstream discourse of wartime China, so it could not participate in the grand narrative of national salvation. Second, in this period, Empson was fascinated by the mysticism of Oriental religion. He intended to seek the commonalities of East and West culture, and tried to find the multiple forms of gods in the East. Third, based on the relationship between science and literature, Empson explored the enlightenment of new critical reading to readers from the relationships between the elite and the general public, the lyrical and the narrative, and the literariness and social function of literature. It proves that the interpretation of modern poetry has the features of individualization, diversification, and clarity, rather than mystified ambiguity or de-popularization.

Key words: William Empson, ambiguity, revolt, “Autumn on Nan-Yueh”, new criticism