Through the Prism and Back
The Poet Daozi and His Holy Ink
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25365/jeacs.2026.7.1.krenzKeywords:
Daozi, experimental poetry, Christian poetry, ink painting, kenotheosisAbstract
The paper discusses the work of contemporary Christian author Daozi (1956–2025). Taking a postsecular approach, it focuses on interactions between his religious-themed experimental poetry and ink painting. The intersemiotic dynamic observed in selected poem-painting pairs is presented in a conceptual framework of “kenotheotic” writing inspired by theological language and resonating with the figure of hermeneutic circle. I argue that this dynamic is present at three levels: explicit, implicit, and “complicit”—meaning the reader’s participation in the spiritual experience facilitated by the textual-visual interplay.
本文以 “後世俗 ”視角探討當代基督徒詩人島子(1956–2025)的創作,聚焦其宗教實驗詩與 “聖水墨”繪畫之間的跨媒介互動。作者選取若干詩畫組合,分析其中的符際動力,並提出 “虛己成神” (kenotheotic)這一概念框架——該術語源於神學話語,同時呼應 “詮釋學迴圈”的意象,用以闡釋文字與圖像交織所激發的精神經驗。文章指出,這一符際互動機制運作於三個層面:顯性表達、隱性意涵,以及 “共構”維度——即讀者在詩畫互文的引導下,主動參與並共同完成這一精神實踐。
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