The Influence of Modernist Literature on Ye Jiaying’s Poetic View

The irrational features of modernist literature， which emphasizes sensibility and intuition， has formed a unique landscape of Western literature in the 20th century. The emergence of schools such as symbolism， expressionism and stream of consciousness in the later period is the concrete practice of this trend of thought， and a number of outstanding writers and works represented by Kafka， Joyce， Faulkner and Proust have emerged， which have had a great influence on the creation of later writers. Scholars have written many papers about this phenomenon， but their focus was mostly on fictions. Ye Jiaying was the first person to apply the characteristics of modernist literary creation to the study of classical Chinese poetry. A master of classical poetry， Ye Jiaying was praised for her appreciation approach， which bridges East and West and connects the past and the present. This methodology stems from her scholarly heritage， mentorship， profound erudition， and her deep engagement with Western literary theory. Having spent years abroad teaching， researching， and disseminating classical Chinese poetry， Ye’s unique life experiences and broad academic vision enabled her to synthesize traditional Chinese literary theory with Western frameworks， thereby breathing new life into the study of classical Chinese poetry. Modernist techniques， such as symbolism and the transcendence of temporal-spatial boundaries， profoundly inspired Ye. She applied these methods to interpret works by historically “enigmatic” figures like Li Shangyin and Wu Wenying， unveiling the aesthetic essence of classical poetry and illuminating the poetic sensibilities of ancient literati. Her groundbreaking conclusions offer fresh pathways for interpreting classical poetry， wedding traditional Chinese poetics with modernity and global literary discourse.