A Comparative Study of Identity Construction and Identity Anxiety in Allan Poe and Pu Songling's Novels

Abstract

Though Pu Songling and Edgar Allan Poe possess distinct cultural backgrounds, they are both renowned horror novelists and compose a series of stories showing identity anxiety and the identity construction process of marginalized people. This essay conducts a comparative study of Pu Songling's Grace and Pine and Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher by adopting case study, close reading, and cross-cultural hermeneutics. Pu employs identity problems and successful solutions of Kong Xueli, a descendant of Confucius, as an emphatic expression of his personal Confucian ideals, showing a supportive attitude towards traditional ethical codes. In comparison, Poe emphasizes the aesthetic functions and blurred moral stance through the inner struggle and identity anxiety of Roderick Usher, challenging the long-held belief in rationality. These differences reflect the distinct views of Chinese and Western writers about the conflict between individual will and social rules and characteristic authorial intentions.