Poe's Critical Theory
Subtitle: THE MAJOR DOCUMENTS
Contributors: Stuart Levine (Editor); Susan F. Levine (Editor)
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Published: June 20, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9780252031236
Subjects: Literary theory; Novels, other prose & writers: 19th century; Literary Criticism; Literature - Classics / Criticism; English; USA; American - General; Literary Criticism & Collections / General; General; Authorship; Criticism; History and criticism; Literature; Theory, etc
Description: "Edgar Allan Poe's reputation as an enduring and influential American literary critic rests mainly upon the pieces in this edition. Editors Stuart and Susan F. Levine provide reading texts, detailed explanatory footnotes, variant readings, and introductions to show context. They also face frankly the contradictions in Poe's critical opinions. Critical Theory highlights examples of conflicting ideas and suggests the reasons they are present." "What was consistent in Poe's work was not a single theory, but rather wit, playfulness, concern for the strong effect, a bin of recyclable allusions, anecdotes and quotations, and a craftsman's discipline. Poe's writing on theory is of a piece with his fiction, poetry, and journalism. The Levines explain how these critical statements also tie tightly to the social, political, economic, and technological history of the world in which Poe lived."--Jacket.