爱伦·坡的文学批评因屡遭非议而没有受到学界足够重视。通过考梳发现,爱伦·坡在美国19世纪文学批评中勇于解构文学民族主义话语下的英美名流权威,批判美国图书市场中商业兜售、抱团吹嘘等对文学批评话语的僭越行径,斥责美国文人卑躬屈膝的态度,并为不受大众欢迎的文学天才打抱不平。爱伦·坡没有止于揭露和鞭挞美国19世纪文学批评界的乱象,而是以独立和自律为理念积极建构文学批评的精神与准则。爱伦·坡在文学批评中彰显的勇气、良知和责任感,对当下的中国文学批评具有建设性意义。

Poe’s literary criticism, because of frequent reproaches, has not received enough attention from academia. Through investigation, it is found that Poe was brave enough to deconstruct the authority of Anglo-American celebrities under the discourse of literary nationalism in American 19th-century literary criticism, criticizing the commercial peddling and puffing by the coteries for their usurpation of literary criticism in the process of the commercialization of the American book market, denouncing the subservient attitude of the American literati, while advocating for unpopular literary geniuses. Poe did not stop at exposing and scolding the chaos of literary criticism in the 19^th-century American literary periodicals, but actively endeavored to construct the spirit and principles of literary criticism based on independence and self-discipline. The courage, conscience and sense of responsibility that Poe demonstrated in his literary criticism are of certain significance for current Chinese literary criticism.