摘 要

加里·斯奈德是美国当代著名的生态诗人、禅宗信徒、散文家、环保主义者、荒野自然的代言人， 被誉为“深层生态学桂冠诗人”。他也是“垮掉的一代”的代表人物之一。近60年以来，斯奈德已出版诗集、散文等20余部，并获得普利策奖、露丝·莉莉诗歌奖等多个奖项。在文学界享有较高的声誉。

斯奈德是作为西方人探究东方文化与西方文化相结合的先驱，并在自己的文学作品中对禅宗思想进行尝试与实践，最终取得较高成就。自斯奈德步开始大学生活，他便广泛接触拉美文化与亚洲文化。之后在日本深入学习禅宗并在丰富的工作中实践后，确立了以禅宗思想为核心的文学创作。此外，斯奈德将禅宗思想同自身自然观结合，探究解决世界环境问题的解决方法。比较著名的有斯奈德的“向山而居”的思想。

本文试图结合史料与文献，分析东方文化是如何全方位地影响斯奈德，以及斯奈德选择禅宗的原因。

关键词：加里·斯奈德；东方文化；文化交融；思想转变

Abstract

Gary Snyder is a famous contemporary American ecological poet, essayist, and environmentalist, and known as Deep Ecology Laurel Poet. He is also one of the representatives of “The Beat Generation” and still alive. In recent 60 years, he has published more than 20 books, such as Riprap and Cold Mountain in Poems, Turtle Island, and Mountains and Ravers without End. Thanks to them, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Turtle Island in 1975, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award and other poetry prizes in literature.

As an American, Snyder is a pioneer in cross-culture communication between the west world and China. His works and actions reflect oriental culture thought, and gain a great achievement. Not only his works have the style of oriental poems, but also the writing skills of oriental such as image, describing scene and so on. Snyder uses them well. From his college time, he began to study the various cultures around the world, especially American culture and Asian culture. Then he had a chance to go to Japan to study Zen. Finally, he believed oriental culture and Zen poems became his core of his works because of his abundant working experiences. Besides, he combines Zen thought and his view of nature to research new solution of the problem. His idea living toward mountain is well known.

This paper attempts to analyze several possible aspects in which Snyder’s idea influenced by oriental culture and why Snyder chose Zen. To find out the answer, this paper will review his growth and analyze four of his poems, as well as information about his living environment and actions.

Key Words: Gary Snyder; Oriental Culture; Cross-culture Communication; Change of mind

The Influence of Oriental Culture on Gary Snyder’s Poems

1. Introduction 1

1.1 An Introduction of Gary Snyder and His works 1

1.2 Oriental Culture 2

1.3Literature Review 3

1.4 Structure and Significance of Research 4

2. Oriental Culture and Snyder’s life 4

2.1 Family Influence and Personal Interest 4

2.2 Movement and Old Age 6

3. The Changes of Snyder’s Style under Influence of Oriental Culture 7

3.1 Oriental Beauty in Snyder’s Poems 8

3.2 Oriental Images in Snyder’s Poems 9

4. Conclusion 13

References 14

The Influence of Oriental Culture on Gary Snyder’s Poems

1. Introduction

1.1 An Introduction of Gary Snyder and His works

American poet, Gary Snyder, (born in 1930) is a representative poet of the modern ecological literature in the world and an environment protector. From 1969 to now, he has devoted himself in ecological literature and environmental protection business. He is also a representative of “The Beat Generation” with high achievement in poetry. Snyder was an academic at the University of California, Davis and a member of the California Arts Council. He has been described as the "poet laureate of Deep Ecology"(Qiuamp; Tan, 2016).

In 1930, Gary Snyder was born in San Francisco. When he was two years old, his family moved to King Country, Washington, impoverished by the Great Depression. In 1942, after his parents divorced, Snyder moved to Portland with his mother and his younger sister. Snyder graduated with a dual degree in anthropology and literature from Reed College in 1951. In Reed Collage, Snyder met an education author Philip Whalen. Back in San Francisco, he lived with Whalen, who shared their growing interest in Zen. In 1953 he went to the University of California, Berkeley to study Asian culture and languages. He studied ink and wash painting. Besides,he also studied Tang Dynasty poetry under Chen Shih-hsiang. Through Kenneth Rexroth, Snyder met Allen Ginsberg. Soon, Snyder, Kerouac and Ginsberg came to know each other. On October 7, 1995, San Francisco, Snyder read his poem A Berry Feast at the poetry reading at the Six Gallery, which heralded that would be known as the San Francisco Renaissance. Although he wasn’t in the original New York circle, this affair marked Snyder’s first time took part in the Beats, through his association with Kenneth Rexroth. Snyder and Beats have many similarities, such as the faction of describing the natural scene and worldly affairs, dependence on drug and intuition. But differently, when other “beats” insanely howled, blaming the modern western civilization, Snyder returned back to the original nature in order to find the antidote to the society by the ancient eastern culture. With the independent spirit of peace, he showed a positive attitude. It made him different from other “Beats” avoiding the total depravity. Snyder claim that western civilization should been criticized radically and he would rebuild the society by his movement (Liu, 2001). After 1969, he became a professor teaching students literature of Zen poems and how to calm down by meditation.