The Glamor of Poetry: A Comparative Study of Zhang Ailing’s and Katherine Mansfield’s Short Stories

Abstract

The paper aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the poetic features of Zhang Ailing’s and Katherine Mansfield’s short stories. Through the use of sharp, fresh images, poetic language and atmosphere, they create a literary world full of poetic charm. Both Mansfield and Zhang employ the symbolist technique of imagery, and have the remarkable capacity to describe the natural images, such as the sea of Mansfield and the moon of Zhang, in ways that are simultaneously lyrical and symbolic. The paper argues that their language had the elegance and conciseness of poetry, and fully shows their capacity for poetic description, though in different ways. They minimize the importance of plot and internalize the conflict, noteworthy for detailed description and atmosphere of the story. If we use different colors to represent the impressions of their works, Mansfield’s is melancholy gaseous blue while Zhang’s is desolate steel gray. By exploring the similarity and difference between the two writers concerning the three aspects of their artistic features, this paper points out that Zhang and Mansfield have different cultural backgrounds but similar traumatic experiences and these life experiences become important content and motivation for their literary creation.