From Physic to Psychic. The Treatment of Sensationalism in Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2013 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2.0, Ruhr-University of Bochum, course: Sensationalism in Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, language: English, abstract: For the longest time the genre of Sensationalism has been decried as cheap entertainment for the uneducated masses. Especially in the 19th century sensational writing has been frowned upon by the literary elite due to its commercialism and lowly or negative information value. Most authors of the time, who fancied they were serving the taste of an educated readership, distanced themselves from the sensational genre and denied its influence on their work. Therefore the actual impact of Sensationalism on 19th century literature has often been disregarded although in the case of some authors it is openly displayed. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate this impact by examining the reaction and response of the authors Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne towards literary and journalistic Sensationalism of their time and reveal how both authors exploited material and themes of the genre in different ways for their own purposes.