Kateřina Rudčenková x Yu Yoyo: Poetry: A Painting that is Felt Rather than Seen

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On November 21, 2020, at 5:00 p.m. Beijing time, Czech writer Kateřina Rudčenková and Chinese poet Yu Yoyo had a dialogue on the theme of “Poetry: A Painting that is Felt Rather than Seen” to discuss the visual and perceptual power of contemporary poetry. Dave Haysom was the host of the event.

Kateřina Rudčenková is a famous Czech writer, poet and playwrite. She has written many short stories and plays. Her works have been translated into 20 languages. Her fourth poetry collection, Chůzepodunách (2013) won the prestigious Magnesia Literary Award; and stories in Noci, noci (2004) appeared in Povídky (Telegram, 2006), an anthology of Czech women’s writing in English translation, and her poetry was included in Six Czech Poets (Arc Publications, 2008).

Born in 1990, Sichuanese poet Yu Yoyo had already begun to earn critical attention before she turned sixteen, publishing dozens of poems in Poetry, Poetry Monthly and other prestigious publications in China. Her poems have been translated into English, Russian, Swedish, Japanese, French etc. She studied business management and accounting in university, but never gave up on her long-standing passion for poetry and finally embraced her life’s calling upon graduation. She is now seen as a representative voice among the post-90’s generation, especially known for her mature voice and subtle treatment of modern femininity. She has four collections published in China Seven Years (2012), Me as Bait (2016), Wind Can’t (2019), Against Body (2019). In 2019 the PTC published her first English collection My Tenantless Body with translations by Dave Haysom and the award-winning UK poet A K Blakemore.

Yu Yoyo believes that poetry is the art of language, while painting is the art of images, which can be transformed into each other. She confessed that the reason why she turned to painting was that she found that there were also overflow and non-expression parts in the text. Whenever this kind of text is difficult to express alone, she will choose to use images to express. “Whether it is language or image, the essence is a way of expression.” “What we want to achieve in the end is expression,” Yoyo said She enjoys shuttling between poetry and images, which infect and transform each other, enriching her expression.

In addition, Yu Yoyo also pointed out that words emphasize accuracy, while images emphasize an unconscious “sense of chaos”. In her eyes, the two can not only complement each other, but also transform each other. Most of the time, she would add poetry to a painting after she finished it.

Kateřina, on the other hand, believes that all her creative processes are interspersed with a poetic art. She finds that sometimes when writing scripts or essays, she finds that the plot is not enough and the details are not enough, but she keeps them poetic. In addition, she will be interspersed with her own travel experience, thoughts and feelings into her creation, which is a process of continuous enrichment and enrichment.

“Some poems are good for being read out loud on stage, but others are good for being active on paper.” Kateřina says that her own poems may be more suitable for quiet writing at home, and she wants readers to feel them for themselves.

“Some poems are suitable for reading; some poems are suitable for keeping in text form.” Yu Yoyo agrees with this point. She also points out that oral reading is a kind of transmission of sound forms. This process includes many forms of rhythm and melody. Different people recite different poems. Due to pause, volume, timbre and emotion, the effect and feeling are completely different. “All of this comes from our preliminary understanding of the text,” she said, presenting poetry from the text with sound, endowing it with a deductive element. The rhythm and pause of the recitation make the poem more vivid. The emotion in the poem is taken away from the text and transmitted to people’s ears through the vibration of the air. “This once again gives poetry a new life.”

When talking about the influence of Chinese classical poetry on modern poetry, Yu Yoyo mentioned that Chinese modern new poetry is actually more influenced by the West. When the new culture movement began to flourish, modern poetry was like a language revolution, burning vigorously. In the 1980s, there was a cultural craze, which once again pushed Chinese modern poetry to a peak.

However, most of the Chinese classical poems pursue a harmonious tonality with beauty and harmony as their rhythm. Therefore, the influence of traditional classical poetry on today’s society is not in terms of technology and form, but more in a profound spirit of literati, such as Su Dongpo and Du Fu. Strictly speaking, their influence on modern people is not in poetry, but in the integrity and spirit of literati.

When it comes to the balance between words and images, Kateřina said, “the balance between abstract and concrete literary forms is very important”. If there is too much abstraction, the whole will become more obscure, but if it is too specific, it will appear superficial and without depth.

Yu Yoyo is more inclined to use specific and precise intention and language to express. She tends to move seemingly simple things through the use of techniques, and “express complex things with simple words” is her preferable poetic aesthetics. “Words have their inherent shortcomings. For something abstract, words may not be as intuitive as images.” Therefore, Yu Yoyo’s present creation is a combination of poetry and painting.

Kateřina believes that at first, she would have thought that her readers should be mostly male, but now she has begun to think that it is becoming more and more important to speak from a female perspective.

Yu Yoyo seldom talks about politics in her poems. She believes that “expression as a citizen” and “expression as an individual” cannot be separated. Everyone is deeply influenced by the times and the environment. As a citizen, she can feel her responsibility and obligation to speak for the country and society. However, as a poet, she has the right to choose and define herself the content and style you want to express.

In the Q&A section, some readers hope that the two poets will talk about the skills and methods of writing poems. Yu Yoyo believes that poetry writing requires talent first, and then a lot of practice, reading and learning, in order to find a suitable style.

When it comes to the relationship between specific skills and direct expression of feelings, Yu Yoyo said frankly that she once rejected skills, but gradually she found that skills are a kind of technical means, which can bring revolutionary changes and innovations to poetry. What she wants to do now is to “use skills, but to erase the technical traces”, that is, she advocates using the simplest words to express. This skill needs to be presented in long-term writing and practice.

Kateřina also believes that poetry writing requires a lot of practice and imitation. Starting from imitating the poets she likes; she slowly explores her own style and path.

The China-EU International Literary Festival has been since 2017. During the annual exchanges, Chinese and European writers have conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on various aspects of life and society, presenting a series of high-quality ideological collisions. At the 5th China-EU International Literary Festival, many outstanding Chinese writers and writers from 27 European Union member states will continue the literary dialogue between China and Europe.

By Xiao Yao

Translated into English by Helen Qiu