Literary Canon and Authors Place in that Canon - Research Paper Example

? Number] Edgar Allan Poe Influence upon Science and Detective Fiction Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet and critic best known for his mysterious tales and detective stories (Harold, p143). He has been regarded as one of the greatest horror and detective fiction writers. He pioneered the storytelling style emphasizing upon the scientific developments occurring during his era and solving the mysterious situations using detective techniques due to which he has been regarded as father of detective fiction in the American literature. His stories also illustrate the use of science fiction blended with horror and mysterious plots. Poe’s work became great source of inspiration and guidance for the coming writers in the genre of detective fiction and even the detective stories of today use the ideas first introduced in his detective fiction stories (Sova, p221). Poe occupies most prominent space in the detective fiction and even after several decades his work is still great source of inspiration for the writers of detective fiction genre. He paved the ways for ghosts and mysterious murdered in the American literature and illustrate the depiction of different fiction as well as scientific phenomenon in the stories. He introduced some detective characters to solve the mysteries of the stories. Before Poe the use of detective was not very common in the stories and there was no use of detectives for solving the mysteries (Ackroyd, p165). The history of detective and science fiction and detective fiction writing in America is marked with the names of several prominent and renowned fiction writer however, it is a fact admitted by the literary critics that the detective fiction writing was introduced and made popular mainly by two prominent writers including Nathaniel Hawthorne and Allan Poe that give space to ghosts and gore in their stories and pave the way of depiction of different factious objects in the stories. The role of Poe in the evolution of science fiction is also widely recognized and appraised (Poe and Harry Lee, p67). The study of the history of early western detective fiction unveils that there were some crime stories and novels written by the English writers like Zadig by Voltaire in 1748, The rector of Veilbye by Steen Blicher in 1829, The murder of engine maker Rolfsen by Mautrits Hensen in 1839 and Das Fraulein von Scuderi by Hoffmann in 1819 (Bittner, p76) however, the literary critics and historians believe that detective fiction actually began in the English literature with the publication of The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Allan Poe in which the first ever detective character was impressively introduced by Poe. In his later stories, Poe further refined the idea of detective and illustrated the construction of the story plots using the eccentric and brilliant detective character (Harold, p143). Later in 1843 another story The Mystery of Marie Roget was published followed by The Purloined Letter in 1844 in which Poe strengthened the idea of detective fiction and played vital role in the creation of detective fiction genre in English literature. Unlike the earlier mysterious stories Poe added the essence of fiction and emotions that made his work distinct and his story formulas were widely followed by the detective fiction writers. The work of Poe became great source of inspiration for the writers in Unites States and all over the world. Several other science fiction writers like Jules Verne also adopted the styles and guidelines provided in Poe’s work and based their writing upon the writing style introduced by Poe (Edward Farah, p132). Poe was a versatile writer as he played important role in the evolution of several types of writing genre like detective stories, adventures, horror, science and fiction. His work in all of these genres successfully worked for his recognition as a pioneering writer of certain writing styles (Bittner, p76) however, his writing focusing upon science and detective fiction possess special place in all of his literary contributions. Poe has written several stories depicting detective fiction in quite innovative and impressive style. The collection of his sixteen stories possess great importance in the detective and science fiction genre because in these stories he has explored certain wide ranging contemporary themes such as time travelling, resurrection of the dead ones and galvanism etc (Poe and Harry Lee, p67). For instance, in his story The unparallel adventure of one Hans Pfall, he depicts the journey of a person towards moon in a balloon. The story is interesting blend of science and fiction because he not only reflects the scientific progressions but adds the essence of fantasy in the story. In another story The cask of Amontillado, Poe shows that the narrator bricked up his friends in a wine cellar whereas another story The Murderers in the Rue Morgue he invented the depiction of detective fiction. Many of his other stories are also regarded as examples of initial science and detective fiction stories like Eureka and The facts in the case of M. Valdemar. (Ackroyd, p165) Poe certainly knows the best possible use of different literary techniques in the writing and he writes the detective fiction stories in quite impressive and engaging manner by making perfect use of different literary tools and tricks like exclamation points, double-dashes, italics, repetition, the capitalization of first letters and sometimes of entire words (Gary, p87). The use of these techniques added deep impression by pumping up the urgency of his gothic stories. He created the plots of the story using the objects like confined space, airless and solitary house and people with psychologically damaged minds etc (Edward Farah, p132). These use of these objects made the plot of his stories very strong and interesting. Moreover, the lively description of the crimes and mysterious scenes in the stories also became popular when Poe’s stories guided the other writers on this matter as well. He also made use of secret codes, puzzles and word games in the stories to add sensationalism and mystery. This trick also widely admired the readers, critics and writers and his style was followed by the detective fiction writers at large. Poe added psychological thrill in to the stories because he strived to examine the depth of human psyche in his stories and develop vivid scenes and situations that the readers feel the mystery and faction portrayed in his stories (Bittner, p76). He provided the groundwork for the future detective fiction based stories by illustrating the role of detective for solving mysterious problems. The literary critics also believe that every detective fiction story penned by Poe stand as guideline broadly followed by the coming writers in the genre of detective fiction (Ackroyd, p165). Before Poe the idea of detective fiction does not exist strongly and it is the writing of Poe that pioneered the genre of detective fiction and provide enough food for thought and guidance for the upcoming writers and till present time, the detective fiction stories are commonly based on the ideas and formulas presented by Poe in his stories (Whalen, p54). In the recognition of his contribution and status in the detective fiction genre the excellence award Mystery Writers of America is also names after his name and called Edgars (Sova, p221). Due to his valuable contribution to the detective fiction story writing he is also widely regarded as father of modern detective science fiction writing (Harold, p143). He introduced the characters using analytical techniques as well as strong imagination abilities to solve different mysteries. In this way, the writing style of Poe got more depth and the readers found them deeply involved in the story. It is believed that he introduced the character of Dupin in his story The Murderers in the Rue Morgue and introduced the first detective in the stories that made use of analytical and imaginative reasoning and solved the mysterious cases. Other writers of his time and proceeding age also followed this technique and the use of detective using fiction techniques become common in the American literature for solving different mysterious cases (Whalen, p54). Hence, it is unveiled that Poe is a prominent name in the genre of detective and science fiction writing. He has been regarded among the pioneering writers of detective and science fiction and his work also has strong influence upon the writers later entered in the literary canon of science fiction because his work stands as example that guides and influences the science fiction writers by pointing out the potential and scope in science fiction writing. The western especially English detective fiction literature is powerfully influenced and guided by Poe’s work and it is widely agreed that the work of Poe possesses great importance in the history of science fiction writing and it is imperative to read and review Poe work in order to have detailed and complete insight over the history and progression of science fiction writing. The entire discussion could be sum up with the conclusion that Poe possesses unquestionable status in the detective fiction literary canon. He is the pioneer and well as major source of guidance in the genre of detective fiction literature. Work Cited Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. Print. Harold Beaver (Ed). The Science Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe, Penguin Classics (December 9, 1976). Print. Whalen, Terence. Poe and the American Publishing Industry, In Kennedy A, A Historical Guide to Edgar Allan Poe, Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print. Ackroyd, Peter. Poe: A Life Cut Short, London: Chatto & Windus, 2008. Print. Bittner, William. Poe: A Biography. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1962. Print. Poe, Harry Lee. Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories, New York: Metro Books, 2008. Print. Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn. The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print. Gary Westfahl. The Greenwood Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Greenwood Press, 2005. Print. Read More