Hayley's Annotated Bibliography

From English 194 Wiki

Carlson, Eric W. A Companion to Poe Studies. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.

This book evaluates Edgar Allan Poe through biography, criticism, aesthetics, philosophy, and influence, in which each section provides knowledge and insight on the writer and his works. The biography portion deals mainly with what is called “The Poe Legend” and references a series of “biographies” published about Poe after his death. These texts are a mixture of transformed realities and Carlson notes they have been designed to create a myth of Poe as a gifted, romantic literary hero (from a southern, distinguished family line, deprived of his inheritance, a mysterious death, etc). These “biographies” of Poe leave modern culture with an ambiguous and conflicting view of Poe’s life as part literary genius, part haunted, suffering spirit- a victim of his own genius. Carlson also breaks down Poe’s writings into several categories titled Poems, Tales, Comic Satires and Grotesques. These include subcategories of what Carlson calls Tales of the Human Condition and of Psychal Conflict, Dream Texts, Moods of Mind (Detection, Crime, and Punishment works), Science Fiction and The Landscape Sketches. Within each category Carlson provides summary of several of Poe’s writings, including “The Gold-Bug” in the segment titled Moods of Mind: Detection, Crime, and Punishment. Poe’s detective writings are described as works where nothing is lost, a display of rash logic as an “allegory to how the mind may impose its interior logic on exterior circumstances”(237). These tales are a mix or reason and impulse and the characters are given to complex “moods of mind” in which will and desire contend with each other and define the drama in the tale. Reality versus fantasy, the logical detective versus the insane mad criminal, are the main components in Poe’s detective writings. “The Gold-Bug” displays the Poe-like approach to detective fiction because it demonstrates a symmetrical structure of fantasy and reality, sanity and logic. Poe’s forms of thought are categorized by Carlson into Materialist Metaphysics of Man, Alchemy, Feminist “Re Visioning”, and Post Modernism. Poe’s aesthetics on the earth and the cosmos, senses of nature, what is deemed natural and unnatural (here exploring motifs of the grotesque and arabesque), plus Poe’s investigation of the moral sense, are also discussed. Poe's language and style of prose is also explored. Here, Carlson describes Poe as “a conscious craftsman, fashioning through selection and revision a many-sided, effective instrument” (448). Poe’s different qualities of style vary and can be found in numerous combinations, resulting in the fact that there is no true “Poe style”. Overall, Carlson conveys that Poe has become a synthesis of fact and legend, his image rooted in popular culture from films to modern fiction.

Williams, Michael ."The Language of the Cipher": Interpretation in "The Gold-Bug". American Literature, Vol. 53, No. 4. (Jan., 1982), pp. 646-660. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/

This article by Michael Williams argues that Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Gold-Bug” gives critical scrutiny to and explores referential language. William argues that his appraoch to prose rejects the philosophy of language in which writing is regarded as a “transcription of the real” where the relationship between signifier and signified is believed to be secure. The article discusses the deep understanding that “The Gold-Bug” text demonstrates of the semantics of referential language and Poe’s understanding of the “instability of the arbitrary relationship between word and referent and the contingency of meaning up on conventions of use and context” (647). Williams suggests that the main characters serve as a way for the text to explore and examine referential language. He states that Jupiter and the narrator are on bad terms with language, entrapped in opposed, inadequate language strategies while Legrand is able to interpret language quite well. Williams suggests this is due to Legrand’s awareness that the relationship between word and referent is ultimately subjective. Legrand is alert to the difference of semantic implications of changing contexts. Williams takes the exploration of referential language further with concepts such as the nature of the sign, the homophonic confusion of Jupiter, etc. Therefore, Williams states that the tale of “The Gold-Bug” stresses that meaning is created by conventions of use and context, something that Legrand is able to do thus can find the treasure.

Rosenheim, Shawn . "The King of `Secret Readers'": Edgar Poe, Cryptography, and the Origins of the Detective Story. ELH, Vol. 56, No. 2. (1989), pp. 375-400. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/

In the article, “The King of ‘Secret Readers’: Edgar Poe, Cryptography, and the Origins of the Detective Story" Shawn Rosenheim mentions how Edgar Allan Poe began submitting a series of short, unsigned pieces on cryptography and conundrums to "Alexander’s Weekly Messenger" starting in December 1839, with the declaration that he he could solve any sample of secret writing submitted by any reader. Until May 1840, Poe published solutions to what he claimed were all the “secret codes” that had been submitted to him, along with explanations on the nature of cryptography. Thus the story of "Alexander's Weekly Messenger" stands as evidence of Poe’s obsession with “abstract reason” (376) and his interest in secret writing,puzzles even pirates’ treasure such as in “The Gold-Bug”. Poe’s interest in cryptography can be interpreted as his way of experimenting with the nature of signification or as a way to offer a “model of essential semiotic operations, and to construct implicit theories of language” (376). Thus, Poe was experimenting with his own theories of language through his interest in cryptography. Hence, certain themes and forms in his fiction work out such theories, which served as a model for his writing. Furthermore, Rosenheim claims the narrative form of the detective story (to which Poe is often credited), emerges directly form Poe’s understanding of signification first articulated through his essays and work on cryptograms or “secret writings”. Overall, Rosenheim suggests that Poe’s understanding of language, of the self, and human origins (in fact many of his literary themes) can be traced through the idea of his theories on cryptography, as Poe seemed to believe that something in the notion of secret writing had something to do with writing in general. Thus, Rosenheim uses this theory to explain and expand on Poe’s understanding on writing and language.

Liukkonen,Petri."Edgar Allan Poe".2003.Books and Writers. Retrieved May 15 http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/eapoe.htm

This website is mainly dedicated to the life of Edgar Allan Poe, his birth, his family, his marriage, his work, and his death. At the very beginning of the site, Poe is described as “One of the greatest and unhappiest of American poets, a master of the horror tale, the patron saint of the detective story”. Poe’s reputation begins with the death of both his parents by 1811, leaving three children, Poe’s brother who died young and his sister who later became insane. After being taken in by a wealthy family, he was partly brought up in England. He attended the University of Virginia for a short time but was expelled leading to a fallout with his foster father Allan who later disowned him, costing Poe any inheritance prospects. Poe entered the army for two years, then in 1833 moved to Baltimore with his aunt, where he later married his thirteen-year-old cousin. During this time, Poe wrote and published works in various magazines. His wife died in 1847, and he remarried his high school sweetheart. It is after these main points in his life that he begins to publish works like "The Conchologist’s First Book" and “The Raven” both successes. It is stated that Poe suffered from bouts of depression and madness, even attempting suicide in 1848. In September of 1849, Poe disappeared for three days and turned up delirious in a Baltimore gutter only to die on October 7, 1849. Poe’s work often reflected a kind of melancholy feel, concerned with the supernatural, and he is even credited for originating science fiction.

Long, Gail, “Knowing Poe.” 2002. Maryland Public Television. Retrieved 15 May http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/default_flash.asp

The main component and relevance of this website is that it is on the subject of the life and work of Edgar Allan Poe and it has been created with the program Flash. It includes such visual animation to convey the gothic-feel of much of Poe’s work. Clicking on certain “buttons” such as “Poe the Perfectionist” or “Poe’s Baltimore” will take you to other links that explore similar works or aspects of Poe. Also, there are other categories such as “Poe in Your life” that include modern music, literature, and Films that somehow have been influenced by Edgar Allan Poe thus tying the writer into relevance of modern life. There are fun, interesting facts as well, such as “The Poe Toaster” which includes a description of one of Baltimore’s spookiest traditions in which occurs every year on January 19, Poe’s birthday, and has been occurring since 1949. The site is interactive and makes intricate connections, which provide various links that do not necessarily relate to straight facts or theories about Poe and his work but more about his influence on culture and how contemporary society views the writer’s famous persona. The site makes reference to the poem “The Raven” to the Baltimore “Ravens”, demonstrating the spectrum of connections Poe holds to our daily lives. One great feature of this site is what is called “Random Raven” that sporadically pops up throughout the site to reveal inside information or little known facts about Poe as a person and writer. Furthermore, it is details like the “Random Raven” that makes this website a good example for our group project. The relevance of the use of Flash and the subject matter of Edgar Allan Poe could potentially provide some good ideas or serve as a springboard for aspects of our group’s own project interpreting Poe. The animation, the links, short movies, etc. are great examples of an interactive project that has already been done on Poe and could be taken into account as we begin the construction of our own project.