“A Guided Reading of the Poetry of the Postwar Generation Poet Li Minyong”

∕ Chen Qufei

Abstract

This study takes the modern poetry of the postwar generation poet Li Minyong as its central research subject. Beginning from the perspectives of thematic characteristics, linguistic style, narrative structure, and postcolonial theoretical viewpoints, it explores the significance and value of his poetry within Taiwanese literature.

Li Minyong’s poetry encompasses multiple types, including political poetry, social poetry, object poetry, and lyric poetry, demonstrating his multifaceted responses to political power, historical trauma, social reality, and the individual psyche.

Political poetry reveals oppression under authoritarian rule, memories of war, and the pursuit of freedom, forming literary resistance through satire and testimony.

Social poetry focuses on environmental pollution, social justice, and the condition of marginalized groups under the process of modernization, highlighting the poet’s ethical stance of “intervening in society through poetry.”

Object poetry expresses reflections on the passage of time, meditations on existence, allegories of love, and cosmic insight through images such as flowers, mirrors, wells, and clouds.

Lyric poetry constructs profound inner dialogues of the individual mind through themes of love, memory, loneliness, and natural imagery.

In terms of linguistic style, he was influenced by the Li Poetry Society, emphasizing original language and a plain tonal register. By employing fixed-line stanza structures, parallel structures, repetition, and controlling imagery, he forms a distinctive poetic tension.

In terms of imagery, symbols such as birds, islands, iron bars, and scorched earth repeatedly undergo variation, carrying both political and existential meanings.

His narrative structures include chronological testimony, dramatic monologue, montage collage, allegorical metaphor, and retrospective memory, presenting the interaction between fragmented history and the inner world.

From the perspective of postcolonial theory, Li Minyong’s poetry supplements suppressed histories. Through the decolonization of language and the testimonial function of imagery, he constructs Taiwan’s local identity and cultural memory. At the same time, his works also reflect environmental postcoloniality, revealing the violence of development and the oppression of local places by global capital.

Overall, Li Minyong not only preserves the memory of his era through poetry but also engages in political critique and social participation through poetry, embodying both aesthetic and ethical significance.

His works mark the profound influence of postwar Taiwanese poets within the three domains of literature, culture, and politics, and demonstrate the important position of contemporary Taiwanese poetics within the global postcolonial context.

Keywords

Political Poetry / Political Poetry
Social Poetry / Social Poetry
Object Poetry / Object Poetry
Lyric Poetry / Lyric Poetry
Narrative in Modern Poetry / Narrative in Modern Poetry
Postcolonial Theory / Postcolonial Theory
Historical Memory / Historical Memory
Local Identity / Local Identity

Introduction

Among the poets of Taiwan’s postwar generation, Li Minyong, who was born in Qishan Township of Kaohsiung County, is undoubtedly a shining star.

His modern poetry works not only (1) possess both high quality and substantial quantity, attracting significant discussion in both the poetry community and the academic world;

(2) they cover diverse subject matters, including political poetry, social poetry, object poetry, and lyric poetry. Whatever the subject he takes up, his works receive considerable acclaim.

What is even more valuable is (3) his local consciousness. His works are rooted in the land of Taiwan and pay attention to the people of the island.

During the oppressive period of martial law, he firmly resisted temptation and was never absorbed into the official poetry societies with party-state characteristics under the authoritarian system (such as Modern Poetry and Genesis). Instead, he actively joined the Li Poetry Society and became a core member of the localist poets’ association.

I. Thematic Types in Li Minyong’s Poetry

According to the thematic attributes of Li Minyong’s modern poetry works, the author classifies them into the following four categories.

1. Political Poetry

Li Minyong’s political poetry centers on profound critiques of power structures, historical memory, and national destiny, demonstrating a strong local consciousness and humanistic spirit.

Its major thematic types can be divided into the following four aspects.

1. Critique and Irony of Political Power

Li Minyong uses sharp language to expose the hypocrisy and violence of rulers, reflecting the oppression of individuals and society by political power.

He often concretizes power as cages, blades, or shadows, forming powerful satirical effects.

“From the Window with Iron Bars”
The iron bars symbolize the imprisonment of the people under the national security system. By contrasting them with pigeons flying freely in the rain, the poet highlights the lack of individual freedom under political power.

“Bell”
The wolf of time and the uniformed man symbolize the oppression of a totalitarian regime, while the people resemble victims whose blood has been drained.

“History”
Surveillance, blacklists, hunters, and dogs directly point to the terroristic control of authoritarian rule.

2. Historical Memory and the Trauma of War

Because he was born in the year of the February 28 Incident, Li Minyong’s political poetry deeply reflects the historical scars of Taiwan.

Through imagery such as war, death, and scorched earth, he presents suppressed national memory and sorrow.

“Relics” and “Prisoner of War”
Through the story of a battlefield handkerchief and a captured soldier, the poems reflect the absurdity of war and the tearing apart of human nature.

“Flower of the Scorched Earth”
A single surviving flower in the ruins of war symbolizes the remaining hope within historical trauma.

“Elegy” and “Prayer for Peace—For an Unknown Child of Hiroshima”
By juxtaposing the deaths of war victims with the memory of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, these poems call for anti-war awareness and peace.

3. National Identity and the Pursuit of Freedom

Through images such as islands, nations, and flags, the poet highlights the issue of identity among the people of Taiwan within histories of colonization and division, expressing a longing for freedom and self-determination.

“Island Nation”
The poem describes the process of ancestors crossing the sea, separation, and the establishment of a new homeland, reflecting the historical memory of Taiwanese people seeking their own identity.

“The Undying Bird”
This symbolizes the resilience and spirit of resistance among the people. Even if the homeland becomes ruins, justice and dignity must still be reclaimed.

“Speech”
The poem calls on people to remove their masks and bravely shout out love and hatred, expressing a desire for freedom of speech.

4. The Political Participation of Poetry and the Role of the Poet

Li Minyong believes that poets should not become subordinates of power. Instead, they should use poetry as a weapon to participate in public affairs and safeguard truth and beauty.

“Aspiration”
The poet declares his intention to explore truth and beauty and to confront the blade of power, demonstrating the poet’s sense of mission.

“The Vocation of Poetry”
The poem reveals how power distorts language, and that poets must “revive language,” turning poetry into a force of resistance.

“Poetic History”
Poetry is viewed as testimony to history, leaving secret records for suppressed voices.

“Poetry Is”
The poem rejects purely formalized rhetoric and asserts that poetry must bear responsibility for truth and the human spirit.

Li Minyong’s thematic categories of political poetry can generally be summarized as:

• Critique and irony of political power
  (such as “From the Window with Iron Bars,” “Bell,” and “History”)
• Historical memory and the trauma of war
  (such as “Relics,” “Flower of the Scorched Earth,” and “Prayer for Peace”)
• National identity and the pursuit of freedom
  (such as “Island Nation,” “The Undying Bird,” and “Speech”)
• The political participation of poetry and the role of the poet
  (such as “Aspiration,” “The Vocation of Poetry,” and “Poetry Is”)

These works demonstrate Li Minyong’s profound response to Taiwan’s history and political reality, enabling his political poetry to transcend personal lyricism and become a literary practice of national identity, historical testimony, and political critique.

II. Social Poetry

Li Min-yong’s “social poetry” centers on concern for the realities of the age, the social environment, and collective circumstances. It stands alongside his political poetry, yet places greater emphasis on depicting everyday realities, social structures, and humanistic concern. Its principal thematic categories can be divided into the following four major aspects:

1. Modernization and Environmental Criticism

Li Min-yong observed the environmental pollution, urbanization, and human alienation brought about by the process of modernization. His poetry often exposes the environmental costs behind economic development, as well as the land and lives sacrificed under the discourse of “development.”

A representative work is Pollution: it reveals how villages are sealed off by riot police under industrialization, while rice fields and the sky are swallowed by smoke, displaying the contradiction between development and destruction.

Prelude depicts urban noise, black exhaust from wheels, and chaotic crowds, reflecting the environmental and spiritual dilemmas within the process of urbanization.

2. Social Justice and Human Dignity

Li Min-yong’s social poetry frequently focuses on oppressed and neglected groups, and expresses a cry for human dignity through imagery. He emphasizes that society should protect the vulnerable rather than allow structures of power to oppress them.

For example, Noise portrays the pervasive violence and intrusion within society. It represents not only physical noise but also the symbolic “social pressure.”

Faith criticizes society’s superstition toward formalized religion, reflecting the fragility and emptiness of human nature in modern society.

3. Social Transformation and Collective Memory

Works of this type present the situation of Taiwanese society amid historical rupture and modern transformation. Through everyday scenes and collective experiences, they reflect society’s sense of helplessness and contradiction.

Traveler’s Notebook describes the loneliness among train stations, journeys, and unfamiliar interpersonal encounters, reflecting the “displacement” and “lack of belonging” in modern society.

The World of Negatives employs metaphors such as the darkroom and photographic negatives to reflect on how history is recorded and concealed, implying anxiety about the preservation of social memory.

4. Social Participation and Responsibility of Poetry

Li Min-yong believes that poetry is not merely a lyrical tool but also a critical weapon that intervenes in social reality. In his social poetry, he consciously positions the role of the poet, participating in society through poetry and language.

Memorandum treats poetry as a “promise,” emphasizing that poetry is a flickering light in darkness and a witness between war and peace.

Seeds uses soil, winter, and rebirth as metaphors for hope in social movements, presenting poetry as having the function of “social encouragement.”

The thematic categories of Li Min-yong’s “social poetry” may generally be summarized as follows:

Modernization and environmental criticism (such as Pollution and Prelude)

Social justice and human dignity (such as Noise and Faith)

Social transformation and collective memory (such as Traveler’s Notebook and The World of Negatives)

Social participation and responsibility of poetry (such as Memorandum and Seeds)

These themes collectively highlight Li Min-yong’s conviction of “intervening in society through poetry and safeguarding dignity through poetry,” allowing his works to transcend simple literary creation and become profound responses to the realities of Taiwanese society and expressions of humanistic concern.

III. Object Poetry

Li Min-yong’s “object poetry” inherits the traditional practice of object-chanting poetry while infusing it with modern consciousness and existential reflection. Through the depiction of objects, he reflects life circumstances, historical metaphors, and emotional experiences, allowing poetry to reveal profound philosophical meanings through the interaction between “object” and “human.” Its thematic categories can be divided into the following four major aspects:

1. The Flow of Life and the Consciousness of Time

Li Min-yong often uses natural or everyday objects as symbols of the emergence and disappearance of life, treating “objects” as witnesses of time and expressing the impermanence and cyclical nature of life.

Still Life: a withered lily in a vase reflects the passage of time, symbolizing the inevitable decline of life.

Cotton Tree Flower: the blossom separates from the parent body and falls onto the street, symbolizing the inevitable fading of youth and life while simultaneously nurturing the emergence of new green leaves.

Imagination: from a birthday bouquet to a grandfather transformed into a star, objects and time overlap with one another, expressing the cyclical transmission of life across generations.

2. Self-Reflection and Existential Contemplation

Many object poems use “objects” as mirrors that reflect the poet’s questioning and reflection on his own existence.

Mirror: the unfamiliar face in the mirror makes the poet feel the passage of time and the alienation of the self.

Confession: using the allegory of the water lily Narcissus, it reflects upon narcissism and illusion, revealing the loneliness and powerlessness of the individual.

The Genre of Night: the night sky and the body intertwine, and the object imagery becomes a symbol of both oppression and protection in existence.

3. Desire, Love, and Allegories of Human Nature

Objects are often transformed into metaphors of love and desire, carrying strong sensuality and psychological tension.

Poppy Flower: the poppy flower is compared to a woman’s breasts, displaying the dangerous attraction of love and desire.

Tulip: the darkness of the homeland intertwines with the sorrow of women, using floral imagery to metaphorically represent the shared existential predicament of men and women.

The Genre of Night: moonlight, the night sky, and the body intertwine, presenting the tension of concealment and suffering within love.

4. Unity of Object and Self and Cosmic Insight

Li Min-yong also frequently projects his understanding of the relationship between humans and the universe through natural objects, elevating “objects” to philosophical or cosmic dimensions.

Water Well: the well symbolizes a profound source of life, containing mystery and nourishment and suggesting humanity’s search for truth.

The Language of Clouds: clouds are ever-changing, both free and melancholic, reflecting the poet’s realization of the impermanence of life and the universe.

Dialogue with the Stars: through a dialogue between stars and humans, the relativity of loneliness and freedom is revealed.

The thematic categories of Li Min-yong’s “object poetry” may generally be summarized as follows:

The flow of life and the consciousness of time (such as Still Life, Cotton Tree Flower, and Imagination)

Self-reflection and existential contemplation (such as Mirror, Confession, and The Genre of Night)

Desire, love, and allegories of human nature (such as Poppy Flower, Tulip, and The Genre of Night)

Unity of object and self and cosmic insight (such as Water Well, The Language of Clouds, and Dialogue with the Stars)

Li Min-yong’s object poetry not only continues the traditional form of “expressing emotions through objects,” but also, through the language of modern poetry, transforms objects into historical metaphors, existential reflections, and emotional allegories, enabling his poetry to possess both the beauty of immediacy and the contemplation of transcendence.

IV. Lyric Poetry

Compared with his political poetry and social poetry, Li Min-yong’s lyric poetry focuses on the expression of personal emotions, states of existence, and life experiences. Through inner monologue, imagery of love, and everyday sensations, he presents the interaction between the poet’s self and the world. Its principal thematic categories can be summarized in the following four major aspects:

1. Love and Intimate Emotions

Li Min-yong’s lyric poetry often presents the tension between love and loneliness, union and separation through scenes of romance and dialogue between the sexes.

The Genre of Night: depicts lovers sheltering one another and enduring pain in the night, revealing the simultaneously intimate and fragile nature of love.

Confession: using the myth of Narcissus and Echo as metaphor, it presents narcissism and illusion within love.

Poppy Flower: through floral and female imagery, it reveals the temptation and danger of love and desire.

2. Memories of Youth and Nostalgia

Some lyric poems carry recollections of youth, the past, and family affection. Through sensory details and concrete scenes, they outline the warmth of memory.

Memory Album: describes a scene in youth in which the poet encounters a girl at a commuter train station, with memory growing in the lake of the heart like a small tree.

Imagination: birthdays, bouquets, grandfathers, and stars intertwine family memory with the imagination of death, revealing the emotional continuity between generations.

Dialogue with the Stars: through a conversation between stars and humans, it metaphorically expresses the poet’s loneliness and the search for spiritual resonance.

3. Existential Loneliness and Reflection on Life

Lyric poetry also frequently presents the poet’s sense of loneliness regarding the conditions of existence, as well as philosophical reflections on time and death.

Mirror: the unfamiliar face in the mirror reflects the passage of time and the alienation of the self.

Dream: through the imagery of “escape,” it expresses the longing for freedom and reflection on the imprisonment of reality.

Journey: using a bus trip as a metaphor for life, it highlights the loneliness and irreversible destiny within the course of life.

4. Natural Imagery and Emotional Projection

The poet often integrates natural objects into lyric expression, using elements such as wind, clouds, and snow to convey inner melancholy, hope, or love.

The Language of Clouds: the changes of clouds reflect the drifting and melancholy of the human heart, revealing the impermanence of existence.

Melancholy of the Blue Sky: describes fighter jets rolling in the sky, where the sky becomes the chest of God, and the poet projects feelings of pain through natural imagery.

Black Snow: using “snow” as a symbol of the sorrow and fate of life, it transforms a natural phenomenon into an allegory of existence.

The thematic categories of Li Min-yong’s “lyric poetry” may generally be summarized as follows:

Love and intimate emotions (such as The Genre of Night, Confession, and Poppy Flower)

Memories of youth and nostalgia (such as Memory Album, Imagination, and Dialogue with the Stars)

Existential loneliness and reflection on life (such as Mirror, Dream, and Journey)

Natural imagery and emotional projection (such as The Language of Clouds, Melancholy of the Blue Sky, and Black Snow)

These lyric poems reveal the gentle side of Li Min-yong’s inner world: rather than confronting political pressure or social criticism, they focus more on the expression of love, memory, loneliness, and the emotional states inspired by nature. In this way, his poetic world possesses both public and personal dimensions, presenting what may be called “a private spiritual history beyond society and history.”

II. Characteristics of Li Min-yong’s Modern Poetry

The characteristics of Li Min-yong’s modern poetry are analyzed as follows:

1. Linguistic and Stylistic Features

1. Primal Language and Plain Tone

Scholars have pointed out that Li Min-yong was deeply influenced by the concept of “primal language” advocated by the Li Poetry Society. In his later works, many of his poems are written almost entirely using primal language (that is, language that removes excessive ornamentation and restores the inherent strength and tension of language itself).

This makes his poetry unlike the piling up of ornate rhetoric; instead, it mainly relies on concise expressions and sentences that possess penetrating force.

2. Fixed-Line Stanzas and Parallel Structure

In terms of form, Li Min-yong often adopts fixed-line stanza structures (in which the number of words or rhythmic pattern in each line is relatively stable), as well as the technique of parataxis.

He places identical or contrasting images and sentences side by side in parallel, thereby creating linguistic tension and a sense of rhythm.

3. Repetition, Contrast, and Dominant Imagery

He frequently employs contrast, repetition, and dominant imagery (certain imagistic words or symbolic objects repeatedly appear throughout an entire poem and connect the poem together) in order to maintain the internal unity and tension of the work.

Such repetitions and contrasts may occur either as linguistic repetition or as echoing imagery.

4. Condensation and Variation of Imagery and Symbolism

He tends to use condensed and meaning-intensified imagery (such as birds, islands, iron bars, scorched earth, and the sky) as symbolic references.

In different poems these images are repeatedly varied and reinterpreted, giving the overall style a recognizable identity.

5. Tension and Sudden Turns in Language

Although the surface of the language appears concise, there are often sharp turns or sudden shifts within the poetic lines. Through broken phrasing, abrupt connections, and semantic leaps, he creates a sense of impact.

This causes the poem to feel “piercing” when read, rather than merely gentle lyrical expression.

2. Techniques of Expression

1. Expansive Metaphor and Symbolism

In his poetry, concrete objects (such as birds, trees, iron bars, scorched earth, mirrors, and islands) are not merely descriptive subjects but are endowed with the function of social metaphor or political symbolism.

These images often interact across different levels (individual and collective, time and space).

2. Montage and Jump-Cut Imagery

At times he juxtaposes different settings and unrelated images or words within the same poem.

As a result, readers must themselves search for connections and tensions among these fragments of imagery. This technique allows the poem to present multiple meanings and possibilities of interpretation.

3. Cross-Sensory Description (Synesthesia)

In Li Min-yong’s poetic lines, visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile sensations are often blended together.

This combination makes the imagery more three-dimensional and deepens the intensity of the reader’s experience.

4. Rhythmic Control and Phonetic Arrangement

Although he does not pursue ornate rhyme schemes, he still pays close attention to the rhythm of sentences, the pauses at the ends of lines, and the placement of breathing points.

As a result, the poems possess an internal rhythm when read rather than appearing entirely without cadence. This rhythm emerges from the restraint and arrangement of linguistic nodes.

5. Deliberate Linguistic Strangeness and Morphemic Manipulation

At times he deliberately employs “strange” expressions or unusual combinations of morphemes and words in order to emphasize the tension of the poem and the uncertainty of language.

In this way, language itself becomes an object open to questioning.

3. Thematic Meaning and Vision

1. Political Consciousness and Critique of Power

His poetry is deeply influenced by political reality and the intervention of power structures.

He does not treat poetry as a domain detached from politics; rather, he frequently uses poetic language to criticize power, expose injustice, and protest against reality.

2. Historical Memory and Cultural Trauma

As a poet born in the generation of the 228 Incident, his poetry often carries Taiwan’s historical pain, the era of the White Terror, and the trauma of war.

In this way, personal experience and collective memory are interwoven.

Social Concern and Writing about the Marginalized

He places emphasis on observing groups that are marginalized, deprived, or oppressed in modern society (such as laborers, farmers, those whose environments have been sacrificed, and those neglected by society), and through poetry he gives them a voice.

3. National Identity and Local Consciousness

In his poetry there often appears a consciousness of “islands,” “nationhood,” and “belonging.”

He pays close attention to issues concerning Taiwan’s existence, identity, and self-determination.

He emphasizes the construction of poetic expression that originates from one’s own land and history.

4. Existential Reflection and Spiritual Tension

On the lyrical level, he writes not only about the external world but also about personal loneliness, time, memory, and longing.

Between external politics and society and the inner spiritual world, his poetry often contains tension and a sense of contradiction.

5. The Responsibility and Testimony of Poetry

He regards poetry as a witness to the age. A poet should not merely be a self-expressive lyricist, but should also bear responsibility toward language, history, and society.

He emphasizes that poetry must “rescue words” and safeguard meaning.

Li Min-yong’s modern poetic style possesses several distinctive characteristics:

• In language, it tends toward simplicity, primal directness, and penetrating force rather than ornate rhetoric.
• In form, it skillfully employs fixed-line stanzas, parallel structures, repetition, contrast, and controlled rhythmic phrasing.
• Its imagery and symbolism are condensed and expansive, often linked through jump-cuts or variations.
• Thematically, it integrates political criticism, historical memory, local identity, and spiritual reflection.
• His poetry is not merely the expression of inspiration but also carries the poet’s sense of social responsibility and mission of testimony.

Therefore, Li Min-yong’s modern poetry possesses a high degree of recognizability in the contemporary poetic world: even when the language appears plain, it can still pierce sharply through the cracks; even when poetry intervenes in politics and society, it does not lose the tension and aesthetic quality of poetry.

III. The “Narrative” of Li Min-yong’s Modern Poetry: Analysis of Structural Types and Narrative Techniques

1. Major Types of Narrative Structure

For each category below, the author first provides a definition of the type, explains how it appears in Li Min-yong’s poetry, and then cites one or two poems as textual examples for comparison.

1. Chronicle / Testimonial — the “Witness + Record” Type

Characteristics: The tone is close to documentary or journalism (newspapers, yearbooks, chronicles). The narration tends to be straightforward, emphasizing time, events, and the responsibility of witnessing. It is suitable for subjects such as historical trauma, executions, warfare, and disasters.

Li Min-yong’s presentation: He uses calm yet pointed sentences to lay out historical events or acts of violence, allowing the poem to function as historical and moral testimony.

Poetic example: Chronicle of Death establishes a journalistic narrative tone through the lines:
“On the newspaper / appears the news of the execution of a condemned prisoner / in the faintly bright dawn / the sound of gunfire rang out.”
The poem ultimately connects the newspaper with the bleeding land, forming both witness and condemnation.

Other poems belonging to this category include Relic and Flowers of Scorched Earth, both of which present war or execution scenes in which historical trauma forms the core of the narrative.

2. Dramatic Monologue / Persona — the “One Voice Bearing the Event” Type

Characteristics: The experience is narrated by a single specific person, either through “I” or through a named character (third person). The tone often carries emotional or psychological portrayal and resembles a theatrical monologue.

Li Min-yong’s presentation: Sometimes he narrates directly through “I,” recounting memories or self-reflection; at other times he uses named characters (such as Lieutenant K in Prisoner of War) as examples for ethical or existential reflection.

Poetic example: Prisoner of War portrays the displaced identity of a captured soldier through the third person and through allegory (“Lieutenant K has no homeland”), placing an individual predicament within an examination of nationhood and existence.
Mirror and Confession, by contrast, employ the first-person narrative “I” to present psychological traces of self-identity and the passage of time.

3. Montage / Parataxis — the “Camera Switching” Type

Characteristics: A series of brief and striking images are placed side by side. The narrative does not tell a complete story in a linear manner; rather, readers construct meaning through the collision of images (similar to film editing).

Li Min-yong’s presentation: Fragments of cities, factories, noise, and crowds are stacked together, often appearing in poems describing modernization and oppressive environments.

Poetic example: Prelude rapidly juxtaposes a sequence of urban images such as “footsteps and wheels / spouting black smoke,” forming an audiovisual montage of urban oppression.
The World of Negatives uses sequential imagery from the process of developing photographs in a darkroom (from development to fixation and washing) as a metaphor for memory and history, also creating a process-oriented fragmentary narrative.

4. Allegory / Symbolic Narrative — the “Speaking Through Objects” Type

Characteristics: A single symbolic object or group of objects (birds, flags, iron bars, wells, and so forth) serves as the narrative carrier. Objects bear historical, political, or psychological meanings, and the entire poem extends from the object to develop a social or ethical narrative.

Li Min-yong’s presentation: “Birds” often become substitutes for suffering or unyielding spirit, while “iron bars” symbolize surveillance and prohibition.

Poetic example: From a Window with Iron Bars creates contrast between iron bars and pigeons in the rain, constructing a narrative of imprisonment and the longing for freedom through imagery.
Pollution uses scenes of contamination and the killing of fields and birds, allowing objects to become metaphors for political and economic violence.

5. Memory / Flashback — the “Retrospection and Generations” Type

Characteristics: Fragments of memory connect personal experience with collective memory. The narrative frequently shifts in temporal order and is often used to link the individual with history.

Li Min-yong’s presentation: Personal birth era, family memories, or early-life images (trains, photo albums, handkerchiefs) serve as nodes of memory, connecting the collective trauma and cultural reconstruction of the 228 generation.

Poetic example: Memory Album fixes memory through images of a train and a girl.
The battlefield handkerchief in Relic is both a personal relic and a scar of history; the two merge into a narrative of recollection.

6. Manifesto / Hortatory Narrative — the “Argument + Mobilization” Type

Characteristics: The poem does not merely narrate but also includes declarations, appeals, or ethical judgments. The poet intervenes in public issues through propositions or the tone of “we ought to.”

Li Min-yong’s presentation: In poems such as Vocation, The Calling of Poetry, and Speech, the poet merges narrative and discourse, explicitly presenting the social responsibility of poets and calling for action. The poem becomes both statement and mobilization.

2. Cross-Sectional Narrative Techniques (Technical Level)

In addition to the structural types above, Li Min-yong repeatedly employs the following techniques across different narrative forms. These techniques constitute the core tools of his narrative style.

1. Flexible Use of Narrative Person and Perspective (First / Second / Third Person Alternation)

Li Min-yong alternates between “I,” “we,” “you,” and “he” within the same poem or across different poems in order to create emotional intimacy, collective representation, and ethical accusation.

Example: Speech mobilizes readers through “we” and imperative calls; From a Window with Iron Bars juxtaposes “you” and “we,” forming both dialogue and collective witnessing.

2. Parataxis and Montage-like Image Juxtaposition

Through the juxtaposition of short sentences or the stacking of images without explicit connection, the poet presents fragmented reality as a complete experience. Readers are invited to construct causal relationships or meanings between fragments.

Prelude and Noise serve as collages of urban and violent imagery.

3. Objects as the Axis of Narrative (Unity of Object and Self)

Objects are not merely decorative but become clues that drive the narrative (such as “handkerchief,” “mirror,” and “negative”). Each object carries the weight of time, memory, and morality, thereby expanding personal stories into social allegories.

The World of Negatives transforms the photographic developing process into a narrative mechanism of memory and evidence.
Relic treats the battlefield handkerchief as a medium connecting time and experience.

4. Refrain / Anaphora to Establish Narrative Rhythm and Emotional Accumulation

Repeated phrases or images (such as “the wind of smoke blows / the wind of smoke blows”) form chant-like echoes. This repetition accumulates emotion while also functioning as the metronome of the narrative, as seen in Flowers of Scorched Earth.

5. Intertextuality

The poems include responses to external texts (Liu Zhihuan, Brecht, and others), placing the narrative within a broader cultural and political dialogue while reflecting the authenticity and responsibility of the poem through other voices.

Example: From a Window with Iron Bars refers to a line from Liu Zhihuan’s poetry; Reflections — To Brecht directly addresses Brecht.

6. Process-as-Metaphor Narrative

Li Min-yong often uses a concrete process or procedure as a metaphor for narration. For example, the procedure of developing photographs in a darkroom metaphorically suggests the historical process of “memory → emergence → fixation → cleansing.” This procedural narrative makes abstract historical reflection tangible.

The World of Negatives is a typical example.

3. From Narrative to Function: The Ethical and Rhetorical Intent of Poetry

Li Min-yong’s narrative is not merely a technical form of storytelling. Functionally, it carries clear ethical and political purposes: transforming poetry into a tool of testimony, reminder, call-to-action, and mourning and reconstruction.

Scholars have also emphasized that he treats poetry as a means of intervening in history and society.

4. Comprehensive Example (A Single Poem Interpreted through Multiple Techniques) — From a Window with Iron Bars

Structural type: A combination of allegorical narrative (iron bars representing surveillance) and dialogue or recollection (“you,” “I,” and “we”).

Narrative perspective: The poem shifts between “you” and “we,” containing both intimate dialogue and collective witnessing, extending personal experience into collective predicament.

Technique: Concrete objects (iron bars, pigeons, damp flags) serve as narrative nodes. Parallel imagery (rain, flags, pigeons, iron windows) constructs the visual scene. The poem ultimately returns to symbolic meaning (freedom and imprisonment), stitching together personal emotion and political consciousness.

Function: It awakens readers to the political meanings hidden within everyday objects and completes an ethical call through a gentle tone (imagining the heart circling with the pigeons).

Conclusion: Overall Characteristics of Narrative Strategy

1. Multimodal Hybridization

Li Min-yong adopts different narrative structures according to different themes—from journalistic chronicle to intimate monologue, from montage to allegorical narrative. The types are diverse, yet the style remains consistent (plain language and condensed imagery).

Object-centered narrative: Objects (handkerchiefs, mirrors, negatives, iron bars, birds) often become the core of narrative, extending historical and ethical meanings through objects.

2. The Testimonial and Mobilizing Function of Language

Narration is not merely storytelling; it frequently carries ethical appeals to witness history and mobilize society, reflecting the poet’s conscious public role.

3. Consistency between Form and Content

Narrative techniques (parataxis, repetition, montage, intertextuality) correspond to themes (trauma, memory, power), allowing the poems to possess both intellectual depth and expressive force.

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IV. Li Min-yong’s Object Poems and the New Objectivity
Li Min-yong’s object poems and New Objectivity complement each other.

1. Visualizing details and the temporality of objects
In Still Life, the poet depicts the lilies in a vase on the windowsill — “the green stems have lost their verdant hue / the white petals are beginning to wither.” This description concretizes the passage of time; the details from full bloom to decay are presented without ornate diction, yet they highlight the inevitable transience of life. This observational method is not merely a representation of “materiality,” but also a record of the traces of time. Similar to the photographic aesthetics of New Objectivity, the poet captures the moment and transformation of the object like a camera lens, internalizing “temporality” within the poetic lines. At the same time, these observed details reflect the fragility and brevity of life itself.

2. De-emotionalized expression and restrained emotional undercurrents
In Mirror, Li Min-yong treats the objects in the mirror as calmly observed entities: “a stranger’s face replaced the once frequently reflected handsome visage.” This description is almost plain, without exaggerated emotional outbursts. Yet within this objective depiction lies a subtle sadness of self and time in conflict, forming “melancholy under restraint.” This aligns with the linguistic style of New Objectivity, but Li Min-yong goes beyond the framework of “pure objectivity”: within seemingly neutral language, emotions are subtly embedded, making the tension of the poem arise from the interaction between “surface calm” and “internal turbulence.”

3. Phenomenological writing of objects: presenting rather than explaining
In From the Window with Iron Bars, the poet presents “iron bars,” “damp flags,” and “pigeons sheltering from rain” with a strong sense of object presence. He does not rush to assign direct symbolic meaning to the iron bars, but presents the absurdity inherent in the objects themselves. This stance of “presentation as meaning” resonates with the phenomenological orientation of New Objectivity — objects need not immediately serve as metaphors, but generate meaning through the interplay between reader and context. Precisely because the poet chooses “not to explain,” the iron bars and pigeons are more impactful: the reader naturally enters a field of association between political imprisonment and the desire for freedom.

4. Localization: the transformation of New Objectivity in the Taiwanese context

1) Influence of Li magazine and the literary field
In poems such as Still Life and Seed, Li Min-yong clearly inherits the concrete descriptive approach encouraged by Li magazine: he rejects empty abstraction and faces reality through objects. Everyday objects such as flowers, seeds, and iron bars become “readable fragments.” Unlike German New Objectivity, however, these fragments in Taiwan under martial law carry political metaphorical functions.

2) Carriers of historical memory
For example, in Relics, “the handkerchief sent from the battlefield by you” is both a tangible object and a convergence point of war trauma and personal memory. The “handkerchief,” originally part of daily life, is transformed by war into a witness of tragedy and scars, carrying the weight of history. This characteristic of “objects as historical media” is a special extension of the Chinese object-poem tradition in the modern Taiwanese context.

3) Linguistic compromise: coexistence of cool tone and warm meaning
In Seed, “the darkness of the soil is nourishment / nothing can deprive us of hope” — the language is calm and concise, yet the underlying imagery of “seeing daylight again” carries strong collective political hope. Here, the language preserves the “restrained objectivity” of New Objectivity while allowing emotions and political connotations to seep in. It shows that Li Min-yong’s “localized New Objectivity” is not a pure technical transplantation, but a cultural transformation after negotiation.

Summary
Li Min-yong’s object poems inherit the techniques of New Objectivity: “concrete depiction” and “phenomenological presentation,” but do not stop at form alone. In the Taiwanese context, his works treat objects as witnesses of history and emotion, forming a dual structure of “cool-toned language” and “warm significance.” This allows his object poems to embody both the modernity of Objectivism and the particular local character of Taiwanese poetic history, becoming a model of cross-cultural transformation and integration of local experience.

V. Postcolonial Readings of Li Min-yong’s Poetry
Li Min-yong (1947–) is an important postwar Taiwanese poet. His poetry often involves historical memory, political critique, identity, and cultural resistance. Using postcolonial theory as a reading framework enables a deeper understanding of how his poetry responds to colonial experiences, authoritarian rule, and local identity entanglements, and reveals Taiwan literature’s position in the global postcolonial context.

1. Theoretical framework

• History and memory (Postcolonial Memory): Postcolonial theory emphasizes “historical writing” of colonial trauma and the return of “repressed memories” (Homi Bhabha, Edward Said).
• Hybridity and cultural mixture: Under colonial legacies, Taiwanese identity forms complexity across Chinese, Japanese, and indigenous languages.
• Language politics (Language & Power): Both colonial and authoritarian regimes use language as a control tool; the poet resists and repairs through poetic language.
• Subaltern voice: Gayatri Spivak’s concept of “substitute testimony” reminds us that poetry can give voice to the marginalized in history.

3. Textual discussion

1) Historical trauma and testimony
In Li Min-yong’s poetry, shadows of war and authoritarianism often appear through imagery such as “relics,” “tombstones,” and “bloodstains.” For example, his poems depicting the 228 Incident and the White Terror frequently adopt a cold, reportorial tone, transforming personal memory into historical testimony. This approach aligns with postcolonial theory’s emphasis on “writing back to history”: poetry challenges the silence of official historiography, allowing collective trauma to be represented.

2) Space and power
Works like From the Window with Iron Bars depict iron bars and window boundaries of surveillance as everyday experiences, reflecting spaces under colonial-style governance. These spatial images are not just physical environments but symbolic battlegrounds of power and resistance, allowing the poetry to express the postcolonial idea that “the everyday is political.”

3) Island and identity
Li Min-yong frequently uses imagery such as “island,” “sea,” “ferry,” and “birds” to construct Taiwan’s subjectivity. These images carry both the wounds of colonial history and the possibility of renewal. For instance, the “immortal bird” symbolizes national identity and cultural continuity, a typical postcolonial “restorative metaphor.” The island in his poetry is not isolated, but a hybrid space between colonizer and colonized.

4) Politicality of language and rhetoric
Li Min-yong’s language in modern poetry is restrained and concise, avoiding ornate diction. This “plain tone” itself has political meaning: under colonial and authoritarian linguistic hegemony, plain language becomes a form of resistance. Through poetry, he reconstructs the ethics of language, making poetry a vehicle of testimony and protest.

5) Ecology and critique of development
Recent postcolonial theory emphasizes “postcolonial environmentalism” (postcolonial ecocriticism). Poems such as Pollution reveal ecological exploitation and social violence during modernization. He juxtaposes smokestacks, factories, and blockaded villages, exposing how colonial-style development logic continues to dominate local communities.

4. Poetic narrative strategies and postcolonial rhetoric
Li Min-yong’s poetry often combines:

1. Reportorial narrative: A news-like cool tone that challenges media monopolized by power.
2. Objectified testimony: Objects such as “handkerchiefs” and “tombstones” carry historical memory.
3. Allegorical imagery: Birds, islands, and flowers symbolize nation and freedom.
4. Montage collage: Fragmented history and everyday experience are juxtaposed, corresponding to the postcolonial mode of writing fragmented memory.

V. Conclusion
From the perspective of postcolonial theory, Li Min-yong’s modern poetry achieves the following accomplishments and contributions:

• Historical rewriting: Using poetry as substitute testimony, preserving traumatic memories under Taiwan’s colonial and authoritarian rule.
• Identity construction: Reaffirming Taiwanese subjectivity through island imagery and linguistic practice.
• Decolonization of language: Resisting hegemonic discourse with a restrained tone, endowing language with new ethical power.
• Social and ecological critique: Revealing local conditions under developmental violence and global capitalist domination.

Li Min-yong’s poetry is not only an expression of personal life but also a public text of postcolonial Taiwanese literature, reconstructing history, identity, and ethics through poetic practice.

Conclusion: Achievements and Contributions of Li Min-yong’s Modern Poetry

1. Creative Achievements

1) Evolution of poetic style and themes
Li Min-yong’s poetic style evolves with the historical context. His early collection, Language of Clouds (1969), presents an aesthetic lyricism; mid-period works such as Darkroom (1986), Wild Thinking (1987), and Requiem (1990) turn toward realism, focusing on social and political issues under martial law; late-period collections such as The Tilted Island (1993) and Sonata of the Heart (1999) integrate lyricism with critique, expressing deep reflection on Taiwanese history and global issues.

2) Poetic content and form
Li Min-yong’s poetry emphasizes love and reconciliation. Confronting colonial and authoritarian periods, he consistently maintains resistance and critique. His poetic language carries historical depth and philosophical reflection, blending the incisive depiction of realism with the aesthetic techniques of modernism, showcasing his distinctive poetic voice.

3) Awards and honors

• National Literature Award (2007): Li Min-yong received the National Literature Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to modern poetry creation and cultural critique.
• Wu Zhuoliu New Poetry Award: This award is one of Taiwan’s authoritative poetry prizes. Li Min-yong has been honored with it, affirming the depth and influence of his poetry.
• Wu Yongfu Criticism Award: This award focuses on literary criticism. Li Min-yong’s poetry criticism works received this award, demonstrating his accomplishments in the field of poetry criticism.

4) International exchange and influence

• International poetry exchange: Li Min-yong actively participates in international poetry exchanges. His poems have been translated into multiple languages and recited at international poetry festivals, enhancing the global visibility of Taiwanese modern poetry.

5) Active portfolio

1) Poetry criticism and translation: Beyond creation, Li Min-yong engages in poetry criticism and translation, introducing works of international poets and promoting interaction between Taiwan and the global poetry scene.

2) Publications and academic contributions

• Poetry collections and critical works: Li Min-yong has published more than forty works, including poetry collections, essay collections, and cultural criticism, spanning poetry creation, criticism, translation, and cultural commentary.
• Academic research: His poetry is widely studied in academia, with scholars analyzing his works from various perspectives to explore his position and influence in the development of Taiwanese modern poetry.

Li Min-yong’s poetry profoundly reflects Taiwan’s historical and social transformations, evolving from aesthetic lyricism to realism, and then to attention on global issues, demonstrating his keen poetic insight into his era. His works hold a significant place in Taiwan’s poetry scene and actively contribute to international cultural exchange.

References

Chinese References

• Li, M.-y. (2005). Island Sonata: Li Min-yong Poetry Collection II. Taipei: Yushan Publishing.
• Li, M.-y. (2007). Confessions. Taipei: Yushan Publishing.
• Li, M.-y. (2008). Beautiful Island Poetry. Taipei: Yuan Shen Publishing.
• Li, M.-y. (2009). Trembling Heart Landscapes. Taipei: United Literature.
• Li, M.-y. (2010). Revelation of Freedom. Taipei: Avant-garde Publishing.
• Li, M.-y. (2011). Silent Resistance. Taipei: Chunhui Publishing.
• Li, M.-y. (2012). Flower of Revolution. Taipei: Chunhui Publishing.
• Li, M.-y. (2013). Singing on the Edge of Silence. Taipei: Yuan Shen Publishing.
• Li, M.-y. (2017). Li Min-yong New Poetry Collection. Taipei: Jiuguo Publishing.
• Li, M.-y. (2022). Aria: Li Min-yong Poetry Collection. Taipei: Yushan Publishing.
• Li, M.-y. (2022). Walking Alone. Taipei: Yuan Shen Publishing.
• Xiangyang (Ed.) (2022). New Century, New Generation Poetry Anthology. Taipei: Jiuguo Publishing.
• Chen, F.-m. (2006). “The Discourse Operation of Modern Poetry Debates after the 1970s.” Tainan: National Cheng Kung University, Department of Taiwanese Literature, Master’s Thesis.
• Chen, Y.-z. (2006). “The Discourse Operation of Modern Poetry Debates after the 1970s.” Tainan: National Cheng Kung University, Department of Taiwanese Literature, Master’s Thesis.
• Chen, Y.-z. (1999). History of Modern Taiwanese Poetry Development. Taipei: Liren Publishing.

English References

• Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books.
• Said, E. W. (1993). Culture and Imperialism. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
• Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge.
• Spivak, G. C. (1988). “Can the Subaltern Speak?” In C. Nelson & L. Grossberg (Eds.), Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture (pp. 271–313). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
• Hutcheon, L. (1988). A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction. New York: Routledge.
• Ricoeur, P. (1984). Time and Narrative (Vol. 1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• White, H. (1973). Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Liu, D., Guo, Q., Li, W., & Lv, J. (2018). “A Multi-Modal Chinese Poetry Generation Model.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1806.09792.
• Yi, X., Li, R., & Sun, M. (2016). “Generating Chinese Classical Poems with RNN Encoder-Decoder.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1604.01537.
• Yang, X., Lin, X., Suo, S., & Li, M. (2017). “Generating Thematic Chinese Poetry Using Conditional Variational Autoencoders with Hybrid Decoders.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1711.07632.