From "Objective Record" to "Poetic History Interpretation"- Stephen Owen's Discussion of the Tradition of "Nonfiction" in Chinese Literature and the Theory of Poetry and History

In his work "Chinese Traditional Poetry and Poetics: The World's Signs", Stephen Owen establishes a poetic theory of the "non-fiction" tradition in Chinese literature. This theory and the Poetic-Historical Theory demonstrate mutual interpretation across three dimensions: At the authenticity level, the "empirical truth" of non-fiction and the "recording spirit" of poetic history achieve dialectical unity; at the narrative level, the ideological tendency of using poetry to verify history and document historical events intertwines with the scene reconstruction and dialogue recording in non-fiction; at the reality engagement level, both approaches respond to reality through literature, forming spiritual resonance. Their mutual interpretation provides a cross-cultural dialogue paradigm for classical literary studies, offering insights into reconstructing the concept of "authenticity" and the path of literary localization.