A ilustrabilidade na literatura de Edgar Allan Poe: entre a composição do fantástico e o imaginário coletivo

Abstract

This work investigates why the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) have been widely illustrated over time, exploring the relationship between literature and visual arts. The central question guiding this research is: what makes Poe’s work especially conducive to visualization? To answer this, three tales are analyzed: The Masque of the Red Death, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Black Cat, in dialogue with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley, Harry Clarke, and Byam Shaw. The study also considers the dissemination of Poe’s works in France through Charles Baudelaire’s translations, as well as Poe’s own reflections on the creative process in The Philosophy of Composition. Furthermore, it draws on Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of the fantastic, along with the contributions of Gilbert Durand and Carl Gustav Jung, to better understand the collective imagination and the recurring symbols that permeate Poe’s stories and their visual representations.