Edgar Allan Poe as Literary Critic - (Mercer University Lamar Memorial Lectures) by Edd Winfield Parks (Paperback)

About the Book

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the first major critics to develop and refine his critical theories through magazine articles and book reviews. Edgar Allan Poe as Literary Critic focuses on his interest in establishing an aesthetic for magazine literature, and Parks has examined Poe's criticism at length.

Book Synopsis

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the first major critics to develop and refine his critical theories through magazine articles and book reviews. Edgar Allan Poe as Literary Critic focuses on his interest in establishing an aesthetic for magazine literature, and Parks has examined Poe's criticism at length. Poe's efforts in the field of literary criticism have often been condemned as a rationalization of his own personal limitations as a writer, but this study contends that his critical theories far surpass such a narrow interpretation. Rather, Poe was "essentially a magazinist," and therefore emphasized brevity, unity, and totality of effect and placed the highest value on literary types best suited to periodical literature.

Review Quotes

[Parks] rightly considers Poe's critical writing a congruent part of American literary culture in the first half of the nineteenth century and a heritage which we out to cherish. . . . [He has] provided an excellent introduction to the subject, with straightforward analyses, objective judgments, clear style, and convenient organization.

--American Literature

The general reader will scarcely demand a more lucid and balanced study of Poe's career as a 'magazinist' than the present one.

--South Atlantic Bulletin

About the Author

EDD WINFIELD PARKS held degrees from Harvard and Vanderbilt. He was a member of the English Department at the University of Georgia where he was an Alumni Foundation Distinguished Professor of English. He published a volume of poetry and fourteen other books on the general subjects of American literature and literary criticism.