After todays class, when I realized that this short piece is disliked by manny of its readers, i wanted to reiterate my defence of why this peice struck me on the blog so that the web surfers can read it also!
What I loved about this story is that its clever and amuseing; and I feel that it is a good example of what I have constructed to be MY "typical Poe". What struck me first in this piece is the similarities between Poe and the narrator- a man who is obsessed with his own nose to the point of snobbery, "I Turned up my nose and spoke of myself" (216, LOA). With this charector, Poe seems to be pokeing fun at himself and commenting on his harsh and elitest criticism of his literary peers. The connection was strengthened to me when the narrator is put out to fend for himself by his disaproving father-a notion that seems to come strait out of Poes own bibliography.
Poe uses this peice to comment on art and the marketplace; picking on popular writers that he feels are undeserving of the prais they recieve. Also, Poe comments on the problems with art in the marketplace and posibly the rise of mass/popular media with the over the top prais given to the "pamphlet on Nosology"
The hole story is ammuseing; filled with rediculous immigery and sexual inuendoes. How can you not be amused by the little "moral" given at the end of the tale?!? "I grant you that in Fum-Fudge the greatness of a lion is in proportion to the size of his proboscis-but, good heavens! there is no competing with a lion who has no proboscis at all" (217, LOA). This is odvoiously ment to get a laughf, and you could even do another marketplace read on it!
Now you know why this little piece worked for me...Im interested in hearing why others disliked it?
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2 comments:
Michelle,
I actually liked this story, and I also liked how you (I think it was you) used the saying "15 minutes of fame" to describe it. It made me think of how we react to people seeking their 15 mins of fame in relation to how Poe presents the people's reaction to the pamphlet on "Nosology."
Usually, we can easily recognize someone who is after 15 mins of fame. We know that what they're doing doesn't deserve our attention, but we pay attention anyway--the idea of a pamphlet on "Nosology" getting the attention it does sort of goes along with that idea.
The message at the end can speak to how people are always looking for "the next best thing" in the marketplace, which is something we still see happening today.
This struck my eye in your post:
It is a good example of what I have constructed to be MY "typical Poe"
I really like that observation in terms of how it points to a more fully realized Poe than the Byronic Poe put forward by the Ludwig article. I too find this typical for Poe in terms of how the tale's tour through contemporary fashion and literature reveals an author deeply involved with (as opposed to alienated from) his culture. You have to live within your culture in order to write a parody.
That being said, I think it's a bit of a push to see Poe as writing Lionizing about himself -- if it's self-satire, I think it's probably unintentionally so. I base this not on textual evidence, but on the fact that Poe seemed to be one to hold grudges with his critics -- so self-parody seems a little out of character.
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