沈祖棻采用比兴寄托作为理解姜夔、张炎词作的途径,这一理解方式受常州词派的影响而形成,但她又强调知人论世与细按词意作为理解词作意义的基石。这种源于常州词派又异于常州词派的阐释方式,折射出她所身处的时代文化语境,也反映出现代词学批评与传统词学批评的对话与冲突。
Influenced by Changzhou School of traditional poetics, Shen Zhufen used metaphor to interpret the poetry of Jiang Kui and Zhang Yan, at the same time, she emphasized the importance of "zhirenlunshi" and "xianeiyi" as the root of metaphor. Her analysis, rooted in Changzhou School and made her own revise in it , showed the dialogue and conflict between the modem poetics critics and traditional poetics critics.