American Alchemist: Edgar Allan Poe and Transatlantic Romanticism
Abstract
This paper argues that Edgar Allan Poe transformed the themes, tropes, and traditions of European Romanticism into a uniquely American Gothic literary form marked by social alienation, urban barbarism, and psychological decay. Emerging professionally in the early years of the Victorian era, Poe adapts the aesthetics of eighteenth-century Romanticism to fit the hyper-individualistic and morally corrupt nature of nineteenth-century America. Poe’s renovation of traditions popularized by authors like England’s Lord Byron and Germany’s E.T.A. Hoffmann permeates his work by way of urbanscapes, homicidal Byronism, and moral claustrophobia. Through analysis of selected works and essays, I will examine how Poe’s experiences in the American South and Northeast and his affinity for Romantic mythologies largely perceived as outdated by his peers developed a darkly imaginative mode of Gothic literature. Edgar Allan Poe did not simply mimic established Gothic conventions for a new audience; he crafted a transatlantic legacy that both revered its predecessors and pioneered darker terrain for the genre.
Start Time
15-4-2026 9:00 AM
End Time
15-4-2026 10:00 AM
Room Number
272
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Presentation Subtype
Research-in-Progress
Presentation Category
Arts and Humanities
Faculty Mentor
Lichtenwalner Shawna
American Alchemist: Edgar Allan Poe and Transatlantic Romanticism
272
This paper argues that Edgar Allan Poe transformed the themes, tropes, and traditions of European Romanticism into a uniquely American Gothic literary form marked by social alienation, urban barbarism, and psychological decay. Emerging professionally in the early years of the Victorian era, Poe adapts the aesthetics of eighteenth-century Romanticism to fit the hyper-individualistic and morally corrupt nature of nineteenth-century America. Poe’s renovation of traditions popularized by authors like England’s Lord Byron and Germany’s E.T.A. Hoffmann permeates his work by way of urbanscapes, homicidal Byronism, and moral claustrophobia. Through analysis of selected works and essays, I will examine how Poe’s experiences in the American South and Northeast and his affinity for Romantic mythologies largely perceived as outdated by his peers developed a darkly imaginative mode of Gothic literature. Edgar Allan Poe did not simply mimic established Gothic conventions for a new audience; he crafted a transatlantic legacy that both revered its predecessors and pioneered darker terrain for the genre.
