Edgar Allan Poe’s Presentation of the “Sublime” Abstract Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most unique writers in America。 No great author in the American literary circles had a more tragic life than Poe, a talented but tormented man。 Many other writers in America of his same age applied a romantic tone in their works。 Unlike his contemporary writers, Edgar Allen Poe deals mostly with themes like killing, violence, death, nightmare and evil in his works that terrify as well fascinate a wide readership。 For a long time he was perhaps the most controversial and most misunderstood of all American writers。 It was until the 20th century that the importance of Poe’s literary creations had been recognized extensively by the academic world。 75132

Why are people drawn to such imaginary horrors? Because horror produces sublimity; horror brings purification of human soul。 This thesis attempts to answer this question from the perspective of Burke’s theory of sublimity。 Through close reading and case studies, this paper reveals how Poe’s gothic fiction successfully produces the effect of the “sublime”。 And conclusions can be drawn that the power of horror is to cause the delights of pain in human soul。

Keywords: Edgar Allan Poe; gothic fiction; horror; aesthetic value; the sublime

解读埃德加·爱伦坡笔下的恐怖壮美

摘要埃德加·爱伦坡是美国最独特的作家之一。在美国文学界，再没有一个伟大的作家像埃德加·爱伦坡那样生活地极其悲惨，集聚才华和天赋于一身而又身经无数折磨与苦难。于他同时代的许多其他美国作家都才用了一种浪漫的色调去描绘抒写作品，不同于他同时代的作家，在埃德加·爱伦坡的作品当中，大多数的主题为杀戮、暴力、死亡、噩梦以及邪恶。带有这些主题的作品在令读者毛骨悚然的同时更是吸引了大批的读者去研读欣赏坡的文学作品。他可能是一直以来美国作家中最具争议性和最受误解的作家。坡的文学创作的重要性直到20世纪才受到了学术界广泛地肯定和认可。

爱伦·坡是一位唯美zhuyi者,他“开创了美国推理小说和科幻小说的先河”，“以夸张怪诞的方式渲染了讽刺幽默的效果”，并且“用演绎心灵恐怖的创作手法提升了哥特小说的艺术地位”。充满哥特式主题的痛苦、阴郁、恐怖的故事经过作者的精心构思创造了独特的恐怖美效果，实现了独特的审美价值,如《厄舍古屋的倒塌》、《黑猫》、《泄密的心》等。他的恐怖小说一般以 梦幻与死亡为主题，通过对情节的细腻刻画，对行文的精 心设计，对读者的心理暗示等方式全面地将恐怖之美展示出来，从而显示出其恐怖小说独特的艺术魅力。

为什么人们会被这种假想的恐怖所吸引呢？因为恐怖产生壮美，恐怖带来的是人们灵魂的净化和升华。这篇论文意图从伯克的壮美美学理论的角度去解答这个问题。通过文本细致的研读和考量，这篇论文将揭示坡的哥特式小说如何成功地展现壮美的文学效果，最终得到恐怖地力量能够抚慰人类灵魂的苦痛的结论。

毕业论文关键词： 埃德加·爱伦坡，哥特式小说，恐怖，美学价值，壮美

Contents

1。 Introduction1

2。 Poe’s Gothicism。1

 2。1 Poe’s personal life。。2

 2。2 Poe and the British gothic novel3

 2。3 Poe and American literary traditions。4

3。 Sublimity and beauty5

 3。1 Burke’s theory of sublimity and beauty5

 3。2 Interpretations and applications of sublimity6

 3。3 Poe’s presentations of the “sublime” in his gothic fiction7