傳統上沈從文被認為是寫實作家，實際上卻是一個理想主義者，他不滿社會現狀，冀望於建立一個未來新中國。從這角度看來，沈氏的理想主義，其實是本世紀初期大多數中國知識分子所共有的烏托邦式遠景；當時文人深深感受到社會各層面的危機，相信惟有全面改革才能救中國。沈氏於1920年代寫了一系列苗族故事，把苗族社會描寫成理想國化身，他所推崇的苗族習俗，頗為類似無政府主義式自由戀愛（反婚姻）和反政府的精神。由同樣角度看，沈氏一向被認為是寫實傑作的主要作品，例如《湘行散記》（1934-5）和《長河》（1943）等，也透露出當時風行的平民革命傾向。最後分析的作品是〈知識〉，這是沈氏的一篇寓言式的短篇小說，描寫一名知識分子「頓悟」（也就是得到真知識）後，慨然放棄一切，追隨農民上山，為農民而戰鎮。在文學批評課題上，本文提出有關「主導文學」和「邊際文學」的討論。有別於五四時期主導的寫實趨勢，沈從文是否有意藉苗族故事和鄉土故事這類的邊際文類，表明他在小說美學上及政治上的特殊立場？

　　　　　Shen Ts'ung-wen , traditionally considered a realistic writer , was actually an idealist who criticized the contemporary society with a view to constructing a better future for China . Seen from this perspective , Shen's idealism was in fact part of the utopian vision shared by most Chinese intellectuals at the turn of the century , who were beset by a strong sense of crisis at all levels of Chinese society , and were convinced that the future of China lay in large-scale reform . The ideal life led by the tribespeople as envisioned in Shen's Miao romances , published during the 1920s , smacks of the anarchist spirit of free love （a form of anti-marriage as an institution）and anti-government . His major works such as Hsiang-hsing san-chi 湘行散記（Travels in Hunan ; 1934-5） and Ch'ang-he 長河（Long River ; 1943）, examined from a similar angle , reveal the tendency toward proletarian revolution prevailing in his time . Chih-shih 知識（Knowledge ; 1934）, a fable about an intellectual who follows the peasants to the mountains in order to fight for their cause , epitomizes Shen's idea of the "knowledge" of truth that awaits discovery and that entails a total conversion to the people's cause . One of the major issues discussed in this paper is the relationship between literary canons and "the marginal" . In exploring marginal genres such as the Miao romances and the country stories as opposed to the dominant May Fourth realistic tendency , was Shen declaring an esthetic as well a political stance ?