2005 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
E.A.Poe and Mid-Nineteenth-Century America : His Magazine Literature and Nationalism
| Project/Area Number |
16520177
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
ヨーロッパ語系文学
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| Research Institution | Tsuda College |
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Principal Investigator |
NOGUCHI Keiko Tsuda College, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Professor, 学芸学部, 教授 (60180717)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2005
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| Keywords | E.A.Poe / American Renaissance / nationalism / national literature / magazine literature |
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| Research Abstract |
Based on the results of the research done in the previous year, I have examined the relationship between Poe's magazine literature and his literary nationalism and compared its consequences with the other nationalistic discourses in mid-nineteenth-century America. As a result of these researches, the following three points are made clear.
The first point is that Poe's magazine literature is another manifestation of the nationalism to create very "American" literature quite different from the traditional European one. While his contemporary writers focus on American materials or American hero in their efforts to create an original national literature, Poe seeks for diversity of literary forms and for producing art of high quality regardless of the materials or themes his fiction deals with.
Secondly, Poe's parodies of the New England literature signify not only his challenge to the North as a southern writer but also his critical response to the romantic view of historicism which centers on the Anglo-Saxon, the Protestant, and the New England. Given the expansionism expressed by the "Manifest Destiny" or racism represented by slavery, Poe's reaction proves to go much deeper than it appears to imply and this consideration has led to a reevaluation of Poe.
Finally, the comparative studies of Poe and his contemporary writers has elucidated the fact that the mid-nineteenth-century nationalism is shared not only by male writers such as Emerson, Melville, or Hawthorne, but also by female writers like Sedgwick and Stowe. This indicates the limit to separate studies of individual writers and necessity for broader and more comprehensive studies of American Renaissance writers.
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