The difference between poetry and fiction

From the perspective of narratology, information dissemination activities based on human language can be divided into two forms: written language and spoken language. In the form of expression, it can be divided into monologue and dialogue. Among them, drama is the art of dialogue, and poetry and novels are the art of monologues. The difference between poetry and fiction is that poetry is a pure monologue, while fiction is an impure monologue. Poetry focuses on psychological events, is the reflection of various emotions of these events, is the monologue of the lyric hero, is a kind of pouring out and venting, and there is no receiver. A novel must rely on a narrator, and its form of expression is a kind of talk. Without a listener, the novel can't be carried out effectively. Therefore, in this sense, the novel is not a pure monologue, but a narrative prose, which is between poetry and novel. Prose is also the art of monologue. When prose tends to narrative, narrative is the main body. But unlike novels, the author of novels can't directly enter the text, but only through narration, while prose can't. Therefore, from this perspective, prose is not narrative, but self-narrative, which is the author's self-narrative; When prose pays attention to lyricism, it is close to poetry From this perspective, prose is the author's confession.

Both self-report and confession illustrate one aspect of prose. Only by combining the two can we fully reveal the essence of prose, that is, prose is a self-report containing emotions. In this sense, prose is the product of the combination of novel and poetry. Of course, when we realize this feature of prose, we should not forget the differences between them. This difference is the difference between self-report and narration.

From the perspective of creationism, prose writers should keep a true emotional and psychological distance in the process of creation, and should not adopt a false attitude, that is, fiction has nothing to do with prose. There is a simple reason. Prose is the author's direct entry into the text, so it is natural to treat people with their true colors, which is not only the need of style, but also the need of reading and aesthetics. However, when the text is produced, it is independent of the author. Because prose is often described in the form of first person, the plot is diluted, so an interesting phenomenon appears. Readers and editors tend to downplay the plot, and novels described in the first person are classified as prose. People who don't understand this truth turn it upside down and think that prose can be fictional, which is actually text alienation and should not be confused with the creative process.

This reminds us that some elements of prose, such as the first person, self-report, relaxed content and lively and casual form, are the characteristics that distinguish prose from other styles. These elements are usually beyond the reach of other styles and should not be easily removed from prose.