Poetry-Fiction Interpenetration and the Creation of Aesthetic Appeal in the Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio

Abstract

Pu Songling, a master of both poetry and fiction, excelled at creative transformation, integrating poetic elements into his fiction. He was adept at drawing on the poetic import of previous generations—such as Qu Yuan, Li He, and Lu You—for storytelling, and he also frequently established interconnections between his own poetry and fiction through shared diction and imagery. Through this creative practice of poetry-fiction interpenetration, Pu Songling constantly broke the boundary between the two genres, shifting from “expressing my feelings” in poetry to narrating others’ stories in fiction. Consequently, the characters in his fiction are all imbued with his own spiritual temperament. The true essence of solitary indignation (gufen), embedded in the Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio through this creative practice of poetry-fiction interpenetration, is not merely an integration of cultural elements from Han Fei, Qu Yuan, and the broader tradition of solitary indignation. It also embodies Pu Songling’s grievance spirit against the realities of life.

Keywords

poetry and fiction / intertextuality / solitary indignation / allegorical entrustment / role transformation / creation of aesthetic appeal

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Higher Education Press