Editions, Translations, and (Trans)National Canons
This collection explores how anthologizers and editors of Edgar Allan Poe play an integral role in shaping our conceptions of Poe as the author we have come to recognize, revere, and critique today. In the spheres of literature and popular culture, Poe wields more global influence than any other U.S. author. This influence, however, cannot be attributed solely to the quality of Poe’s texts or to his compellingly tragic biography. Rather, his continued prominence as a writer owes much to the ways that Poe has been interpreted, portrayed, and packaged by an extensive group of mediators ranging from anthologizers, editors, translators, and fellow writers to literary critics, filmmakers, musicians, and illustrators. In this volume, the work of presenting Poe’s texts for public consumption becomes a fascinating object of study in its own right, one that highlights the powerful and often overlooked influence of those who have edited, anthologized, translated, and adapted the author’s writing over the past 170 years.
Reviews
Exactly how anthologies, in all their different forms, can shape our perception of an author is a fascinating topic. Edgar Allan Poe—one of the world’s most important and popular writers—is the ideal focus for such a study. This groundbreaking book promises to transform our understanding of how Poe is read, today as well as in the past, not only in the United States but throughout the world.
— Susan Elizabeth Sweeney, Monsignor Murray Professor in Arts and Humanities and past president of the Poe Studies Association
This excellent and innovative study updates the appeal of Poe’s work by researching translations and anthologies that bring his creativity to readers in many languages and cultures.
— Lois Vines, professor of French, distinguished professor of humanities, Ohio University
