Disturbed minds in the nineteenth century: The tales of Edgar Allan Poe and Guy de Maupassant

Authors

  • Martín Urdiales Shaw University of Vigo (Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.0.3588

Keywords:

Edgar Allan Poe, Guy de Maupassant, story, mental disorder, storytellers, phrenology

Abstract

This article addresses a meeting of the minds between the American author Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) and the French author Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893). These authors belonged to opposing literary movements (romanticism versus realism/naturalism) but their storytelling shared unmistakable thematic and formal interests. This paper begins by looking at the early influences that Poe’s short stories had on Maupassant’s writing, and then focuses on a selection of stories by the French author that link him to Poe in literary terms (both thematically and narratologically). These tales are related to the fascination both authors felt for atypical mental states and twisted or «disturbed» narrators. 

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Author Biography

Martín Urdiales Shaw, University of Vigo (Spain).

Professor at the Department of English, French and German Studies. University of Vigo (Spain).

References

Baudelaire, C., 1998. Edgar Allan Poe (Trad. C. Santos). Visor. Madrid.

Benfey, C., 1993. «Poe and the Unreadable: “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”». In Silverman, K. (ed.). New Essays on Poe’s Major Tales. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

Fusco, R., 1994. Maupassant and the American Short Story: Influence of Form at the Turn of the Century. Penn State University Press. Philadelphia.

Grayson, E., 2005. «Weird Science, Weirder Unity: Phrenology and Physiognomy in Edgar Allan Poe». Mode, 1: 56-77.

Poe, E. A., 1967. Selected Writings. Penguin Books. Harmondsworth.

Ramos González, J. M., 2013. «Guy de Maupassant». IES A Xunqueira. Pontevedra. Available at: <http://www.iesxunqueira1.com/maupassant/>.

Taylor, J. B., 1988. In the Secret Theatre of Home: Wilkie Collins, Sensation Narrative and 19th Century Psychology. Routledge. London.

Urdiales Campos, M., 1993. La Francia Decimonónica a través de los Cuentos de Guy de Maupassant. PPU Ediciones. Barcelona.

Urdiales Shaw, M., 2012. «De/mentes criminales: Edgar Allan Poe & Guy de Maupassant». InterseXiones, 3: 67-79.

Wikipedia. «Phrenology. 2. Method; 5. Reception; 7. In Popular Culture.» In Wikipedia. Available at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrenology>.

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Published

2015-04-16

How to Cite

Urdiales Shaw, M. (2015). Disturbed minds in the nineteenth century: The tales of Edgar Allan Poe and Guy de Maupassant. Metode Science Studies Journal, (5), 124–129. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.0.3588
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Issue

The light of science (2015)

Section

Crossroads. Where science and literature meet

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