Poe in Spain

It is no secret that during the 19th century in Spain, especially between the 1850s and 1890s, many English-speaking writers entered the Spanish literary spheres and influenced many. Shakespeare, Dickens, and Byron, among others, inevitably became idols for Spanish writers of fantastic fiction. Even though Poe's name does not often appear in this list, he did influence a number of writers as well, greatly so, I dare say. In his 2009 essay, Santiago Rodríguez Guerrero-Strachan recounts mentions of Poe "in newspapers and journals such as in José Ortega Munilla's 'news of society' page in Los lunes del Imparcial and in Rafael María de Labra's 1879 article, 'La literatura norte-americana en Europa: J. Fennimore Cooper, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edgar Allan Poe'" (2009: 49). In fact, according to Guerrero-Strachan, "Spanish authors of the period showed an interest in Poe that ranged from mere curiosity to a more profound interest in the techniques of the fantastic story" (49). Of course, just as in the case of many other European countries, Spain is indebted to Charles Baudelaire when it comes to Poe. Even though Poe's poetry was not widely known in Spain until the early 20th century, and despite cultural misinterpretations that occured due to the incomplete knowledge of American and British Romantic poetry here, Poe did leave his mark on Spanish literature. For further insight please visit Strachan's 2009 article in The Edgar Allan Poe Review here. 

Works Cited

Rodríguez Guerrero-Strachan, Santiago. “Edgar A. Poe's Poetry in Spain in the 19th Century: An Issue for Connoisseurs”. The Edgar Allan Poe Review. 10.2 (Fall 2009): 49-56.

Poe and Psychoanalysis

Poe was, beyond doubt, a troubled person. The horrid events that marked his life--the death of his biological mother, the death of his foster mother and of his wife, Virginia, among others-- inevitably led him to the depths of despair. It is, however, true that he caused many of his predicaments on his own in several occasions. Insubordination, alcoholism and insanity seem to be some of his sufferings. In fact, his behavior does hint a personality destined to constantly wish self-destruction and death.

Sadly, there is no written document enlightening us on Poe's mental state. The American author never left a diary detailing his feelings and emotions either, leaving contemporary Poe scholars with no option but to speculate. When one tries to pinpoint Poe's internal woes they are inevitably led to a research method that requires no proof, but only interpretations through an author's work: Psychoanalysis. 

Among the many scholars who attempted to fully understand Poe, princess Marie Bonaparte stands out. Her tremendously lengthy work delved the depths of Poe, ultimately reaching to conclusions that have been disputed widely over the past few years. Her work will not escape my attention. Yet I wish to focus on one study that has fascinated me; that of Mario Praz (1960). In his study, Praz carefully reconsiders theories on Poe's impotence, his Oedipal complex, and his problem of repetition while pointing out "how psychoanalysis can contribute to a study of the background of Poe's Tales" (1960: 377). You may find his study through the following link

Works Cited

Praz, Mario. "Poe and Psychoanalysis (1933)." The Swanee Review 68.3 (1960): 375-89. 

Poe's Spaces in "The Following"- by M. Rigal Aragon & JM Correoso-Rodenas

Poe's spaces have been examined in the past by several studies since the complexity of the American author's use of spaces has shaped crime fiction. Poe's storytelling has, beyond doubt, affected popular culture and the cinema as well. Movies such as The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), Two Evil Eyes (1990), Lunacy (2005), or, more recently, the Tell-Tale (2009) prove this claim.

Margarita Rigal Aragon, president of "The Edgar Allan Poe Spanish Association," and Jose Manuel Correoso Rodenas, Ph.D. Candidate of the University of Castilla-La Mancha have recently published an essay in which they examine the presence of Poe's spaces in "The Following" (2013-to date), a TV show created by Kevin Williamson starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy. 

In their study, these two Poe scholars meticulously explore the Poeian spaces ever since the first episode, concluding that "the series is, indeed, full of piquerist manifestations" (2017: 31). Their conclusions ultimately point out the fact that the directors have read and analyzed Poe's tales while also arguing that "perhaps unaware of it, Williamson and his team have managed to assemble a series in which spaces resonate with Burke's idea of the sublime, the idea present in Poe's own understanding of terror" (2017: 31). 

You may find Rigal Aragon's and Correoso Rodena's entire essay here

Works Cited

Rigal Aragon, Margarita, and Jose Manuel Correoso-Rodenas. "Poe's Spaces and The Following." Studia Neurophilologica 89.1 (2017): 14-33.

"Sonnet-To Zante"--Burton R. Pollin's Study

My previous post was dedicated to one of my favorite poems, Poe's "Sonnet-To Zante". As I mentioned, there are several Hellenic motifs to be found in this work; after all, Poe dedicates this poem to the beauty of Ζάκυνθος [Zacynthos]. As I read the poem again and again, I am surprised by its philhellenic tone. I thus decided to delve into relevant criticism in an attempt to explore scholarly affirmations that focus on those elements. It is true that several Poe scholars have acknowledged the presence of Greece in Poe; yet none of them explore the sources of Poe's inspiration as Burton R. Pollin did. In his 1968 essay, he carefully explores all the connections between the poem and Greece indicating the that the land of the Hellenes was Poe's "Holy Land," as the American author calls it in "To Helen". You may find Pollin's article here. 

Works Cited

• Pollin, Burton R. "Poe's 'Sonnet-To Zante': Sources and Associations." Comparative Literature Studies 5.3 (1968): 303-15.  

International Poetry Month-- "Sonnet- To Zante"

April is the national poetry month and I cannot help remembering one of Poe's shortest yet greatest poems: "Sonnet- To Zante".

Upon his first literary steps, Poe famously said the phrase "If the poem is published, succeed or not, I am 'irrecoverably a poet," and his love for the art of poetry was undeniably affected by his affection for the Hellenes. 

Below you may find the entire poem:

  Fair isle, that from the fairest of all flowers,
    Thy gentlest of all gentle names dost take!
    How many memories of what radiant hours
    At sight of thee and thine at once awake!
    How many scenes of what departed bliss!
    How many thoughts of what entombed hopes!
    How many visions of a maiden that is
    No more- no more upon thy verdant slopes!
    No more! alas, that magical sad sound
    Transforming all! Thy charms shall please no more-
    Thy memory no more! Accursed ground
    Henceforth I hold thy flower-enameled shore,
    O hyacinthine isle! O purple Zante!
    "Isola d'oro! Fior di Levante!"

Its elegiac tone, its rime, its punctuation, all testify that Poe had not finished the poem when it was first published. Poe directly refers to the beauty of Zante, otherwise known as Zacynthos, one of the seven Ionian islands. Poe was a Hellenophile and his reference to the Greek island is not accidental; he knew that Byron's body had been in the state of Zante.

Which is your favourite poem? Feel free to comment and discuss. 

13th SAAS Conference- Poe Studies Panel (2)

During the 13th Conference of the Spanish Association for American Studies (SAAS) at Caceres, Spain, Poe's impact in the Spanish letters did not escape scholars' attention. Celia López González's lecture, titled "The Reception of Poe in Spanish: Spread Words in ‘The Purloined Letter’," was an interesting exploration of Poe's impact in the Hispanic world. Lopez pointed out that "The Purloined Letter" has been the most misinterpreted work in Spain in the twentieth and the twenty-first century even though it was the least translated work there during the nineteenth century. 

Celia Lopez Gonzalez, Ph. D. Candidate of the University of Castilla-La Mancha 

After dividing Poe's reception in Spain into three periods (the nineteenth century; the period between 1940 and 1960; and the bicentennial of Poe's birth), Celia López focused on four different Spanish translations of "The Purloined Letter" in order to demonstrate the obvious differences among them as the decades pass. In her analysis she made mention of several translating patterns, mentioning the words "utilitarian approach," "domestication," and "foreignization". 

Despite the fact that Lopez indicated a vast difference among translations, she also mentioned that the determination of their quality is only "a matter of scope".    

13th SAAS Conference- Poe Studies Panel

The 13th International Conference of the Spanish Association for American Studies at Caceres is over and I had the opportunity to be in the Poe studies panel. 

The faculty of Humanities of the University of Extremadura

Many fruitful conversations emerged, and several new proposals for the field of Poe studies were made. I would like to discuss some of the interesting papers that were presented, but I will do so individually--most of the papers examined different aspects of Poe's stories. 

Dr. José R. Ibáñez presenting his paper titled “‘Death watches in the wall:’ Revisiting Cortázar’s translation of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’”

One very intriguing speech was given by Dr. José R. Ibáñez (University of Almería). His presentation titled “‘Death watches in the wall:’ Revisiting Cortázar’s translation of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’,” examined how Cortazar's translation of "The Tell-Tale Heart"--considered as seminal in the Spanish-speaking world--does not do justice to Poe's skillful literary devices. More specifically, Ibáñez reconsidered two paragraphs of Spanish renditions while expressing his concern "that Spanish readers may have a faulty appreciation and understanding of the tale as a result of a questionable word choice," in his own words. Though his arguments were indeed very thought-provoking and accurate, he also admitted that Cortazar's work was indeed the most literary and comprehensive translation.  

Poe's Egaeus VS Mythological Aegeus-- Imagery

In examining Poe's allusion to the Hellenistic king whose name is given to the well-known Aegean Sea, I may present a side-by-side comparison of artistic representations of Poe's Aegeus and of the mythological king.

      HELLENIC  MYTHOLOGY               VS                   POE'S "BERENICE"

"Berenice-A Tale" and Hellenic Past

Poe's “Berenice” (1835) has been viewed differently from a number of scholars. Over the years, some have attempted to trace back Poe's biography in an effort to fully understand the author and his literary devices. 

The narrator, Egaeus, is a studious young man who grows up in a large gloomy mansion with his cousin Berenice. He suffers from a type of obsessive disorder, a monomania that makes him fixate on objects. She, originally beautiful, suffers from some unspecified degenerative illness, with periods of catalepsy a particular symptom, which he refers to as a trance. Nevertheless, they are due to be married. One afternoon, Egaeus sees Berenice as he sits in the library. When she smiles, he focuses on her teeth. His obsession grips him, and for days he drifts in and out of awareness, constantly thinking about the teeth. He imagines himself holding the teeth and turning them over to examine them from all angles. At one point a servant tells him that Berenice has died and shall be buried. When he next becomes aware, with an inexplicable terror, he finds a lamp and a small box in front of him. Another servant enters, reporting that a grave has been violated, and a shrouded disfigured body found, still alive. Egaeus finds his clothes are covered in mud and blood, and opens the box to find it contains dental instruments and "thirty-two small, white and ivory-looking substances" – Berenice's teeth.

Poe's choice to name his main protagonist Egaeus undeniably hints a Hellenic influence which has not escaped relevant criticism. Be that as it may, even seminal studies such as Silverman's (1992) do not undertake an extensive approach to the Hellenic motifs in the story. Within the next few weeks I will post a relevant essay of mine which is due to be published in April in Verbeia (University of Camilo José Cela). In this paper I reconsider all the Hellenic allusions in "Berenice" while focusing on Berenice and her effect on Egaeus. 

I will soon attend the XIII SAAS Conference at Caceres (Spain) where I will have the opportunity to discuss with Poe experts on the matter. Updates coming soon. 

Works Cited

• Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe. A Biography. Mournful and Never- Ending Remembrance. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1992. Print.

Poe's Influence in Spain

Several studies have underplayed the importance of fantastic fiction in Spain. That position has been defended mainly due to the belated arrival of Romantic ideas in Spain, even though Romanticism has undeniably shaped European literature since the 19th century. Yet such assertions seem to also diminish Poe's influence in Spain. José R. Ibáñez's (2009) short note in The Edgar Allan Poe Review interestingly disputes these claims by drawing a parallel between “The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" and  Bremón’s “Siete historias en una”. You may find Dr. Ibáñez's work here.

Works Cited

• Ibáñez, José R. "Poe’s Maison de Santé Revisited. A Spanish Imitation of ‘The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether’.” The Edgar Allan Poe Review 10.2 (2009): 63-69.