英语论文哪里有？笔者通过对爱伦·坡侦探小说文本、作者和读者的不确定性解读，我们可以看到爱伦·坡是如何从内到外逐渐转向不确定性的，以及他转向不确定的具体过程。
Chapter1 The Intertextuality of the Text in Poe’s “The Purloined Letter”
1.1 “Letter” as a Différance Signifier
Narrative novels have traditionally been driven by the linear progression of logic, but in Poe’s detective stories, this kind of dynamic is fundamentally rooted in the différance of the signifier. Traditional novels usually use linear narration to describe the characters and events that develop and change in a three-dimensional space. When the established time and space gradually form constraints, the writers will seek a breakthrough in time and space. In “The Purloined Letter”, Poe zeroes in on the “letter”, the center of the story. By separating the signifier of the letter from its signified, he transformed it from a state of quiescence to a state of fluxion. This kind of fluxion constitutes the différance of the letter, because “The différance is the spatialization of time and the temporalization of space” (Derrida 1992: 75), thus blurring the boundary between time and space in detective stories.
In “The Purloined Letter”, “letter”, as a différance signifier, refers to its delay in time and difference in space, which are respectively embodied in the changes of significance and the difference of horizons, so as to obscure the limitations of time and space. In general textual narration, there is a stable referential relationship between the signifier and the signified. But stability means a certain textual significance, which is fatal for detective stories that need to create a fog to hide the truth. As a pioneer of detective stories, Poe introduced indeterminacy into the linear logic chain, and cleverly used différance to negate this kind of stable relationship. In “The Purloined Letter”, the meaning of “letter” is always changing with space and time. The letter first appeared in the sheriff’s dictation: “I have been informed personally by a very high-ranking person, that a very important letter has been stolen from the palace” (Poe 2008: 348). Under further questioning by the detective, the sheriff explained that the original owner of the letter was the queen and described how the letter was stolen. In fact, he had never actually read the letter, and everything he knew about it came from others, and so did the detective. Thus, when the purloined letter appears in the story, it has caused the change of space and the delay of information. And these results constitute the “letter” as a différance signifier.
Chapter2 The Spectrality of the Author in Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”
2.1 Detective as an Absent Presence
Detective Dupin is one of the most successful and important characters in Edgar Allan Poe’s works, but the “truth” and “beauty” in Poe’s detective stories come not from his presence, but from the absence of the detective as a presence. Literature itself is fiction, but people never forget to pursue the truth of literature (Alexander, Karen 2012: 52). Therefore, since the ancient Greek period for a long time, the exploration and pursuit of the “truth” of fictional literature has become a difficult problem for creators. In earlier and contemporary romanticism and realism, authors often relied on their authority or earned the trust of their readers by making themselves the first protagonists. In “The Murders in The Rue Morgue”, Poe made himself invisible as the author, and at the same time, the “living” detective Dupin, who was always present, was absent in most of the stories. Thus, “other voices” outside the author and the detective emerged, creating a new way of expression of realistic literature.
In “The Murders in The Rue Morgue”, the detective who seems to be always present can be absent from the scene mainly due to the symbolization and differentiation of the detective. These two aspects are not only the most prominent characteristics of Detective Dupin, but also Poe’s exploration of delaying the presence of detectives and reducing the author’s own authority. The result of Poe’s exploration was that before the 19th century, when people thought of detectives, they always thought of those who had been commissioned by wives to follow their husbands. Or they might think of professional investigators with serious faces, and deep voices. However, after Poe wrote the detective story, until now, when people mention the detective, especially in literature, most people probably have a male image with a pipe in their mind. He was always gentlemanly but also neurotic, sometimes caustic in words, but possessed almost ghostly observation and judgment. In the minds of readers, this image is not completely present. It may not have a clear and unified name, but it has become an abstract symbol, which still influences people’s ideas and the creation of later detective stories.
Chapter3 The Singularity of the Reader in Poe’s “The Mystery of Marie Roget”
3.1 “Newspaper” as the Otherness Supplementarity
In the story, the use of first-person narration undoubtedly shortens the distance between the story and the readers, but at the same time, it also greatly limits the narration of the author and the readers’ perspectives on the issues. In Poe’s detective stories, the supplementarity of the other broadens diverse perspectives and makes the narration of the case more complete. In traditional novels, first-person pronouns are often used to make readers empathize with the speaker, but for detective stories, empathizing with a single character inevitably leads to a narrow perspective, which is not conducive to the development of the plot. In “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” Poe turned his attention to the “newspaper” that appeared in the story. By treating the newspaper as the otherness supplementarity to the ego of “I”, Poe pointed out that the relation of ego/the other in the text is actually a binary complementary relation, thus eliminating the binary opposition between these two elements. On the surface, it replaces the author, but in fact, it supplements the reader’s ego for completeness, which is a kind of otherization of ego.
In “The Mystery of Marie Roget”, the newspaper as a supplement of the other refers to the supplementing of external perspectives and the absorption of the concept of the missing other. These two aspects are reflected in the text as the transformation of media and the otherization of ego respectively, so as to point out the complementary relationship between ego and other in the text. In traditional literary studies, scholars always discuss the priority of ego and others (Marie 2007: 165). This kind of discussion directly leads to the opposition of the two aspects, making both of them far away from readers and daily life, which is obviously not desirable for the detective story that requires readers to participate in the interaction. Therefore, in his unremitting exploration, Poe introduced the indeterminate readers into the detective story by using the new emerging press as a medium, and used the indeterminate supplementarity to make the two opposites harmonize again. In “The Mystery of Marie Roget”, “newspaper” always takes up a lot of space, and a large number of newspapers provide an extremely diverse perspectives and conjectures. Through “I” reading the newspaper and some guidance from the detective, the case gradually unfolded and advanced in the process of changing perspectives and completing clues.
3.2 “Newspaper” as the Singular Reader
In Edgar Allan Poe’s detective stories, when the “newspaper” was introduced as a supplement of the other, its innovation of narrative mode and dissolution of binary opposition obviously initially broke through the writing mode of traditional narrative literature. Poe, however, was still eager for innovation. He further introduced “newspaper” into the creation of detective stories as readers’ singularity, enabling readers to express their own singularity when reading his works. When readers present their own uniqueness, differences and indeterminacy naturally emerge . It can be seen that newspaper as a supplement of the other initially dissolves binary oppositions and logos, while newspaper as a singular of the reader is a way to further reveal the indeterminacy of readers and broaden the creative boundaries of detective stories.
Singularity is a feature presented by readers present in Edgar Allan Poe’s detective stories. It is also one of the important terms of indeterminacy in deconstructionism, emphasizing the dual state of the individual as both the ego and the other. As Derrida put it in Continuation/the Borderline: “I think there are two main characteristics of singularity: duality may be a special way of saying that I am different from others. One is uniqueness, uniqueness that you can’t replace with anything else... Yet while singularity is irreplaceable, within it lies what I call iterability, the possibility of being repeated” (1979: 83). It can be said that the singularity is characterized by its indeterminacy and duality. Just like readers in detective stories, they have both a unique “ego” and iterable “otherness”.
Conclusion
Major Findings
Generally speaking, as the originator of detective stories, Edgar Allan Poe has been ignored for a long time in mainstream academic circles, but his influence and popularity among ordinary people are undoubtedly. And this kind of contradictory and duality is hidden in every corner of the detective stories, from the text to the characters, from the author to the reader, showing a distinct indeterminacy. Through the interpretation of the text, author and reader of Poe’s detective stories from an indeterminate perspective, we can see how Poe gradually turned to indeterminacy from the inside to the outside, and the specific process of his turning to the indeterminacy.
Firstly, the text of Edgar Allan Poe’s detective stories is indeterminate, and this kind of indeterminacy is embodied in the intertextuality of the text. The intertextuality and the différance of signifiers throughout the text is undoubtedly Poe’s game of symbols. And through this game of symbols, he used the intertextuality to obscure the color of fear brought by the case in his serious and cruel description of the case, allowing readers to focus on the reasoning and exploration of the case. It can be said that Poe replaced the compulsory authorship with intertextuality, thus making every detective story interesting and serious, showing the characteristics that transcend time. This is Poe’s attempt to the new era of literature, and also his improvement and inheritance of traditional literature. For example, in “The Purloined Letter”, Poe brought the indeterminacy of signifier through the différance of the letter, broke through the limitation of time and space in the story, and made the language of detective story get maximum freedom in the traditional writing framework. The indeterminate intertextuality gives detective stories a chance to reconstruct both inside and outside the text. This also makes Poe’s detective stories, after the extended deconstruction of the signifier, not go into the abyss of meaninglessness completely, but construct a new writing mode. It can be said that the intertextuality of the text brings a sense of openness to Poe’s detective stories and creates a lot of indeterminate symbols, thus making readers feel more interactive. In this process, Poe’s introduction and application of indeterminacy are obviously indispensable.
reference(omitted)
