The scopes of research by local academics and literary critics focus on discussion of literary works, study of author and their works, study of a particular genre, the history of Malaysia Chinese Literature. There are very few articles that deal with Mahua Literature from the point of dissemination. In addition to this, discussion
Mahua Modernist Literature seems to have failed in attracting a wider audience and attention. Local literary critic Woon Swee Tin or better known as Wen Renping (温任 平) has written a number of essays on Mahua Modernist Literature which include: (i)
―Mahua Xiandai Wenxue de Yiyi yu Weilai Fazhan: Yige Shi de Huigu yu Qianzhan‖
(<马华现代文学的意义与未来发展：一个史的回顾与前瞻>, ―The Meaning and
Future Development of Mahua Modernist Literature ： A Historical Retrospect and Forward Looking‖) ; (ii) ―Xiandaishi de Yuyan Xianxiang‖ (<现代诗的语言现象> ,
―The Language Phenomenon of Modernist Poetry‖); (iii) ―Xiandaishi Xinshang‖ (<现
代诗欣赏>, ―Appreciation of Modernist Poetry‖); (iv) Studying Modernist Poetry from
Different Perspectives and others. These articles are collected in his book entitled Wenxue.Jiaoyu.Wenhua ( 《 文学 •教 育 • 文 化》 , Literature, Education, Culture---A Collection of Working Papers) (Wen, 1986). In addition to these articles, Wen has also written an article which has been regarded as a very important theoretical work by not only local but also Taiwan literary critics: The Application of Movie Techniques in Chinese Modernist Poetry. 8 In 1997, Wen presented a conference paper entitled
―Tianlangxing Shishe yu Mahua Xiandai Wenxue Yundong‖ (<天狼星诗社与马华现
代 文 学 运 动>, ―The Sirius Poetical Society and Mahua Modernist Literature
Movement‖) which is the first article to discuss the relationship between the two. Last but not least, Wen Renping published his collection of literary criticism ―Jingzhi de Ding‖ (《精致的鼎》, The Elegant Tripod) (Wen, 1978). The book is entirely on
8 This essay was first published in Youth Literary, issue 241, January 1963, Taipei: Youth Cultural Publisher; and later was collected in Zhang Hanliang, Xiao Xiao, ed. Youth Cultural Publication, 1969, pp. 315-356.
modernist poetry. The first part is about the theory building of modernist poetry which includes three articles: (i) The Musicality of Poem and its Constraint; (ii) The Application of Movie Techniques in Chinese Modernist Poetry; (iii) The Hint of Chinese Characters and Chinese Poetry. The second part is the interpretation of individual modernist poem by using The New Criticism method. Ten poems are interpreted in this section. The third part consists of five articles. They are either book reviews, open letters or prefaces to poem collections. The last part is the Appendix, only two articles are included, namely ―Zhi Quyuan Shu‖ ( <致屈原书>， ―A Letter to
Qu Yuan‖) by Wen Renping, and a reply by Yang Shengqiao(杨升桥), on behalf of the late Qu Yuan.
From 1970s to 2015, local critics such as Ye Xiao (叶啸), Zhang Guangda (张 光达), Xu Wenrong (许文荣), Zhuang Huaxing (庄华兴), Lin Chunmei (林春美), Ma Lun (马仑), and Liu Yulong (刘育龙), have written quite a number of articles on Mahua Modernist Literature.
In order to disseminate the Mahua Modernist Literature, Xie Chuancheng (谢川 成) (the researcher) has published two books on Chinese Modernist Poetry and a collection of literary criticism which cover literary genres like prose, modern novels and plays. These three books entitled Xiandaishi Quanshi (《现代诗诠释》, The Interpretations of Modern Poetry), Xiandaishi Xinqing (《现代诗心情》, The Mood of Modern Poetry) and Xie Chuancheng de Wenxue Fengjing (《谢川成的文学风景》, Collection of Literary Criticism of Xie Chuancheng). The first book was published in 1982, and the second and third books in 2000.
Zhang Guangda is one of the critics who has given close attention to Mahua Modernist Literature especially the modernist poetry. He has published a book entitled Mahua Xiandaishi Lun: Shidai Xingzhi yu Wenhua Shuxing (《马华现代诗论：时代 性质与文化属性》, Studying Malaysian Chinese Modern Poetry: Literary Culture, Context and Identity) (Zhang, 2009). In the book, Zhang wrote a short history of Malaysia Chinese Modernist Poetry from 1957 to 1990; other articles focus on Mahua Modernism, Mahua Modernist Poetry in 1960s and 1970s, criticism on Collection of Malaysia Chinese Modernist Poetry edited by Wen Renping, and other aspects of Malaysia Chinese modernism.
Another critic who is also an academician, Xu Wenrong (许文荣) published a book entitled Xinma Huawen Xiandai Wenxue de Bijiao (《新马华文现代文学的比较
》 , Comparison between Malaysia Chinese Literature and Singapore Modern Literature). There are few articles that compared and discussed Mahua Modernist Literature with that in Singapore. He has also compared the performance in poetry between local writer Wen Renping and Singapore Modernist poet Chen Ruixian. This is a good study, but he has made a few mistakes. One of the mistakes is in chapter 2.
He quoted a poem written by Dan Ling (淡灵) and wrongly regarded it as the work of Wen Renping. Another mistake is the origin of Wen Renping‘s mother, who was from Xin Hui, China and not from Chao Zhou, China.
1.6.1.2 Study of Mahua Literature by Local Undergraduates and