Abstract
First published in 1845, Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” has inspired many. For Poe himself, the raven—relentlessly repeating the word “Nevermore”—symbolizes a tragic and everlasting remembrance. Today, the poem has been translated into many languages, and has been interpreted in manifold ways. It has also been illustrated by numerous artists, and has been an inspiration for individuals looking for tattoo images. The key question in this chapter is why individuals chose a tattoo depicting an image from “The Raven.” Which aspect of the poem appealed to them the most, and why? The transformation of life events into words by the poet, then back into symbols representing other individuals’ life events and meanings, will be discussed in the light of dialogicality and multivoicedness.
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting,
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!
Edgar Allan Poe, last verse of “The Raven,” 1845
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Notes
- 1.
Poe admired and was influenced by the works of John Keats . In Keats’ “Ode On Melancholy” (1819), the last and final stanza starts with: “She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die,” the theme Poe choses for his own poem as well. How important Keats’ work was for Poe is shown in a 1844 letter, in which Poe writes: “I am profoundly excited by music , and by some poems —those of Tennyson especially—whom, with Keats, Shelley, Coleridge (occasionally), and a few others of like thought and expression, I regard as the sole poets” (Poe Museum, 2014, 2nd paragraph).
- 2.
Holland (2009) points out, however, that “the brain processes fresh, poetic metaphors differently from dead metaphors like ‘grasping’ an idea” (p. 98). Neurological processes have thus to be considered as well.
- 3.
Holland (2009) points out that the act of creation, which in Poe’s case is writing, has a compulsory aspect, and may be linked to psychopathologies (e.g., addiction or being suicidal). He gives diverse examples including Poe, but also points out that such compulsions cannot indicate a mandatory condition, because counterexamples do exist. Divergent thinking , neurotransmitters, and other brain functions are also discussed in this reference.
- 4.
Tattoo artists are not mentioned in this chapter, but are an important part of the dialogical nature of the tattoo narrative. They lay the grounds for a story to be told later.
- 5.
- 6.
In an interview, Frost is asked to explain what he meant by saying that poems may clear up confusion in your own mind. He says: “[…] I can see in nearly every poem some answer to some doubt or some question, you know, that’s come up in my mind—even in argument with people or something—a difficulty in a situation, you know, that needs a phrase to finish it off. The same as in diplomacy they find a phrase. It’s just like diplomacy—you find a phrase.” Not only tattoos, but also poems can thus fulfill the same purpose: providing security (whole interview from 1958 can be found here: http://www.frostfriends.org/FFL/Periodicals/Interview-lewis.html).
References
Bakhtin, M. (1973). Problems of Dostoevsky’s poetics. Ann Arbor, MI: Ardis.
Brockmeier, J., & Carbough, D. (Eds.). (2001). Narrative and identity. Studies in autobiography, self and culture. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
Brooks, P. (1993). Body work: Objects of desire in modern narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Deter-Wolf, A., Robitaille, B., Krutak, L., & Galliot, S. (2016). The world’s oldest tattoos. Journal of Archaeological Science, 5, 19–24.
Gilligan, S. G., & Bower, G. H. (1984). Cognitive consequences of emotional arousal. In C. L. Izard, J. Kagan, & R. B. Zajonc (Eds.), Emotions, cognition and behavior (pp. 547–588). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Halász, L. (1983). Dem Leser auf der Spur. Literarisches Lesen als Forschen und Entdecken. Zur Sozialpsychologie des literarischen Verstehens. Braunschweig: Vieweg & Sohn.
Hermans, H. J. M. (2001). The dialogical self: Toward a theory of personal and cultural positioning. Culture & Psychology, 7(3), 243–281.
Hermans, H. J. M., & Hermans-Konopka, A. (Eds.). (2010). Dialogical self theory. Positioning and counter-positioning in a globalizing society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hermans, H. J. M., & Kempen, H. J. G. (1993). The dialogical self: Meaning as movement. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Holland, N. N. (2009). Literature and the brain. Gainesville, FL: The PsyArt Foundation.
Kjeldgaard, D., & Bengtsson, A. (2015). Consuming the fashion tattoo. Advances in Consumer Research, 32, 172–177.
Lebel, R. (Ed.). (1959). Marcel Duchamp. New York: Paragraphic Books.
Lotman, J. M. (1972). Die Struktur literarischer Texte. München: UTB.
Mazur, L., & Watzlawik, M. (2016). Debates about the scientific status of psychology: Looking at the bright side. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 50(4), 555–567. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-016-9352-8.
Oksanen, A., & Turtiainen, J. (2005). A life told in ink: Tattoo narratives and the problem of the self in late modern society. AutoBiography, 13, 111–130.
Poe, E. A. (1845). The Raven. New York: Evening Mirror.
Poe, E. A. (1846). The philosophy of composition. Graham’s Magazine, XXVIII(4), 163–167.
Poe Museum. (Ed.). (2014). Museum collection: Flower from the tomb of Keats [online document]. Retrieved June 28, 2016, from https://www.poemuseum.org/collection-details.php?id=201
Roberts, D. J. (2012). Secret ink: Tattoo’s place in contemporary American culture. Journal of American Culture, 35(2), 153–165.
Snell, D., Hodgetts, D., & McLeay, C. (2011). Identity, community and embodiment: Chopper’s tattoo tour. The Australian Community Psychologist, 23(1), 7–22.
Stedman, E. C. (1884/2014). Comment on the poem. In E. A. Poe (Ed.), The Raven. Minneapolis, MN: First Avenue Editions.
Sweetman, P. (1999). Only skin deep? Tattooing, piercing and the transgressive body. In M. Aaron (Ed.), The body’s perilous pleasure. Dangerous desires and contemporary culture (pp. 165–187). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Vitoriano, H. B. S., & Gomes, A. L. (2015). The Raven and the intermediality. Polifonia, Cuiabá-MT, 22(32), 104–118.
Watzlawik, M., Silva Guimaraes, D., Han, M., & Jung, A. (2016). First names as signs of personal identity: An intercultural comparison. Psychology & Society, 8(1), 1–21.
Weber, E. T. (2008). Proper names and persons: Peirce’s semiotic consideration of proper names. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, 44(2), 346–362.
Wertsch, J. V., & Smolka, A. L. B. (1994). Continuing the dialogue: Vygotsky, Bakhtin, and Lotman. In H. Daniels (Ed.), Charting the agenda. Educational activity after Vygotsky (pp. 69–90). London: Routledge.
Wiley, N. (1994). The semiotic self. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Zittoun, T. (2006). Dynamics and inferiority: Ruptures and transitions in self development. In L. Mathias Simão & J. Valsiner (Eds.), Otherness in question: Labyrinths of the self (pp. 187–214). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Watzlawik, M. (2017). A Liaison of Poetry and Tattoos: The Multivoicedness in Edgar Allan Poe’s Poem “The Raven”. In: Lehmann, O., Chaudhary, N., Bastos, A., Abbey, E. (eds) Poetry And Imagined Worlds. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64858-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64858-3_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64857-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-64858-3
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)