LITERARY CARTOGRAPHY: THE EFFECT OF IMAGINATION AND REALITY IN S.T. COLERIDGE’S KUBLA KHAN ON THE ORDINARY MAN

Abstract

The present paper revealed how imagination and reality interact in the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge with the help of the literary cartography theory, discussing how the poem generates physical and mental landscape that influence the experience of the common reader. A prominent space, such as the pleasure dome, sacred river Alph, measureless den, sunless sea, and delight gardens, are used as symbolic space coordinates describing the fluctuation between of the mind between order and chaos, conscious and unconscious kingdom. The study, based on a qualitative, interpretive approach based on close textual analysis, Romantic theories of imagination and the beauty, and current spatial literary theory proves that Coleridge turns the imaginative experience into a cognitive and emotional map to readers. The results indicate that the spatial and symbolic architecture used in the poem evokes a feeling of awe, pleasure and significant involvement in the poem that makes the reader be able to actively explore the visionary scenery. In this way, Kubla Khan can be discussed as a living mental map, which helps to transcend and increase imaginative awareness. The work is a contribution to Romantic studies, literary geography, and the reader-response theory, which emphasizes the timeless ability of poetic imagination to work out and alter common sense in perception and aesthetic experience.