Edgar Allan Poe(1809—1849)埃德加 爱伦坡

Life Experience
a miserable childhood
entered the University but didn’t finish went to West Point but was dismissed at 27 he married his 13-year-old cousin was adopted by John Allan an unhappy relationship died in mysterious circumstances, in 1849
• Poe was the first American writer who formulized （使公式化，阐述） the technique of the short story. • In pursuit of the totality of effect through compression （压 缩，浓 缩） , immediacy and finality, Poe invented the genre of the detective story and developed a new fiction of psychological analysis. • Poe has thus often been considered as the father of the modern short story.
Edgar Allan Poe 坡 (1809—1849)
E.A. Poe (1809—1849)
Poe’s mother
Edgar Allan Poe
（1809—1849）埃德加.爱伦.坡
• • • • • •
Part Part Part Part Part Part
I. Life Experience II Literary Position III. Major Works IV. Point of View V. Style VI. Appreciation
Edgar Allan Poe
• Poe‘s literary contribution
– Aestheticism
• Principle of beauty • Principle of unity and concentration • Careful choice of diction（措词） for desired effect (the musical effect of words themselves) • Negligence（忽视） of so-called truth and social, political and moral suggestions • ―Pure poetry‖ or ―pure art‖ • Unity of effect and atmosphere; content in service of artistic effect
Comments on Poe
• Edgar Allan Poe is the most controversial and the most misunderstood literary figure in the history of American literature. • “ 我不在乎我的作品是 现在被人读还是由子孙 后代来读。我可以花一 个世纪来等待读者。”
• Not accepted before French symbolists like Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821-1867) and Mallarmé.
In America
• Emerson: “the jingle man” (noisy) • Mark Twain: His prose is unreadable. • Henry James: “an enthusiasm for Poe is the mark of a decidedly primitive state of development”
her death in 1847 left him a bitterer life
Part II. Poe‘s literary position
– Forerunner of western decadent（颓废的） literature – Forerunner of aesthetic（美学的） literature – Explorer of abnormal psychology – Father of psychoanalytic criticism（精神分 析批评） – Path-breaker of American detective novel – Father of modern short story
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
―我经常沉湎杯中物，但喝 酒并没使我感到半点儿乐 趣。我不惜生命和名声， 不顾理智，一味喝酒，并 非追求乐趣，而是竭力逃 避令人痛苦的回忆，逃避 无法忍受的孤寂，逃避迫 在眼前的大限。”
• A bitter and mysterious death: in 1847, wife died of tuberculosis, in 1849, died in mysterious circumstances
• An unhappy youth: at 17 went to the University of Virginia but did not finish, an appointment to West Point but was dismissed less than a year later • A struggling life: in 1833, became an editor of Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond, lost the position because of excessive drinking and an inability to meet deadlines, managed to regain the job in 1835, at 27, married his 13 year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, drifted for several years as editors in different magazines but remained poor all his life
Reasons for Misunderstanding
• 1) As a perceptive critic, he wrote some scathing（严厉的，损伤的） criticisms on distinguished literary figures. • 2) His literary executor sullied（玷污） his reputation after his death.
In Europe
• George Bernard Shaw: “the greatest journalistic critic of his time” • His poetry is “exquisitely refined”. • His tales are “complete works of art”. • Baudelaire: “Edgar Poe, who isn’t much in America, must become a great man in France.”
• 柯南道尔：“一名侦探小说家只能沿这条不宽 的主道而行，所以他时时都会发现前方有坡的 脚印。如果他偶尔能设法偏离主道，独辟蹊径， 那他就可以感到心满意足了。” • 凡尔纳：“他肯定会有模仿者，有人会试图超 越他，有人会试图发展他的风格，但许多自以 为已经超过他的人其实永远也不可能与他相提 并论。” • 肖伯纳：“它们不仅仅是一篇篇小说，而完全 是一件件艺术品。”
His position
Poe‘s position in world literature is secure. His influence is world-wide in modern literature. His aesthetics and conscious craftsmanship, his attack on ―the heresy（异端，异教） of the didactic（说 教的）” and his call for ―the rhythmical（有韵律 的） creation of beauty‖ have influenced French symbolism and the devotees of ―art for art‘s sake‖. Poe is father of many things, one of which is psychoanalytic criticism, the other being the detective story.
This daguerreotype of Poe was taken in 1848 when he was 39, a year before his death
Life ExperienБайду номын сангаасe
• A miserable childhood: born in Boston, both parents died within two years after his birth, taken into the home of John Allan in Virginia, had an unhappy relationship with his foster father
• Famous American poet, short-story writer, and literary critic • Most controversial and misunderstood in America • Well received in Europe, England, Spain, esp. in France • Literary output: some seventy short stories and a dozen poems • A: Poems • B: Short stories • C: literary theory • D: one full-length novel: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838)
Edgar Allan Poe
• Emerson dismissed him in three words ―the jingle man‖ (打油诗人)，Mark Twain declared his prose to be unreadable. And Whitman was the only famous literary figure present at the Poe Memorial Ceremony in 1875.
• Whitman: admit Poe’s genius, but it was “its narrow range and unhealthy, lurid quality” (terrible) • T. S. Eliot: a critic of the first rank, but with “slipshod writing” (careless)
Poe enjoyed respect and welcome in Europe His reputation was first made in France Poe's influence was considerable in Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia. Today, his works are read with appreciation and understanding.