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NEW BOOK
PROFILES GLOBAL LITERARY LEGACY OF EDGAR ALLAN
POE
Contact:
Lois Vines, (740) 593-2776; vinesl@ohio.edu
ATHENS,
Ohio -- The detective novel, pseudo science fiction and
surrealism all owe their creation to a writer who died dirty
and indigent at the age of 40. Now famous for his literary
contributions, Edgar Allan Poe didn't live to enjoy the
acclaim his name presently inspires, a renown chronicled in
a new book on Poe's worldwide literary influence.
"Poe
Abroad: Influence, Reputation, Affinities," published by
University of Iowa Press, is an in-depth study of Poe's
impact on foreign writers, told through a collection of
essays by authors from around the world who cite Poe as one
of the most influential writers in history. The work is the
first book-length study that documents Poe's influence
outside America, a country that remains largely oblivious to
the writer's global literary impact, according to Lois
Vines, an Ohio University professor who spent five years
researching Poe for this new book.
"Poe's
influence throughout the world is an area that had been
neglected," said Vines, a professor of French. "Americans
have been blind to the enormous impact he has had on the
world."
Poe's
works have been translated into Arabic, Japanese, Russian,
Chinese, Croatian, French, Estonian, Spanish, Swedish,
Portugese and many other languages. Sixteen versions of one
of Poe's best known works, "The Raven," have been published
in Czech, including an edition with a Communist tint in
which the bird is asked to fly to the White House and say
"nevermore" to Harry Truman.
"Poe
Abroad," which includes more than 30 essays by 32 writers,
was published in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of
Poe's death in 1849. In addition to her work as editor,
Vines contributed three chapters to the book, including a
chapter on Poe's influence in France.
"Poe's
influence on French prose writers, poets and critics is
impressive by its diversity and its effects on new
initiatives in literature," Vines wrote, adding that Poe
also had an impact on readers in France.
"The
French felt Americans were too puritanical to appreciate
Poe," Vines said, adding that Poe's analysis of the human
spirit in all its complexity might have made American
readers uncomfortable, which may have contributed to the
limited literary praise of Poe's work in the United States
during his lifetime.
Research
for the book involved an extensive survey of foreign authors
and their analyses of Poe's works. Some of these were
revealed through database searches; others came from word of
mouth, said Vines, who often discovered the names of Poe
followers from each other.
"I was
amazed by how many famous international writers said that it
was reading Poe that influenced their careers," Vines said.
Technology
aided her search for contributors to "Poe Abroad." E-mail
made possible the collection of anecdotes, background
materials and conversations that would have been far more
difficult to gather a decade ago. In one case, she
communicated with a contributor in Zagreb, Croatia, by fax
during the Croatian-Bosnian conflict.
"Sometimes
it was like throwing a bottle out to sea, never knowing what
I was going to get back," she said.
"Poe
Abroad" is Vines' second book on Poe. She wrote "Valery and
Poe: A Literary Legacy" in 1992. In both volumes, Vines
reveals her admiration for Poe's diverse writing talents --
he was an author of short stories, poems and even works of
literary theory.
"I hope
that 'Poe Abroad' will offer a new perspective of Poe as a
writer of influence," she said.
Vines
holds an appointment in the College of Arts and
Sciences.
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