Date of Award

Spring 2018

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Major

LACS: French

First Advisor

Sara Kippur

Abstract

In this essay, I examine two French translations of Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “The Raven”—the 1865 translation by Charles Baudelaire and the 1875 translation by Stéphane Mallarmé, which is accompanied by a series of illustrations by impressionist painter Édouard Manet. I argue that through their translations of “The Raven”, these two French poets enter into a competition not only with Poe, but also with each other. I find evidence of this competition in the translations themselves and also in the extra-textual content that supplements each translation. My argument is informed by secondary scholarship surrounding Poe, Baudelaire, and Mallarmé and by the theories of literary competition outlined by Harold Bloom in The Anxiety of Influence.

Comments

Senior thesis completed at Trinity College for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in French.

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