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Papers by Cristina Pérez

Estudios del Observatorio/Observatorio Studies

We share here a selection of the papers presented at the annual Symposium of the Observatory of t... more We share here a selection of the papers presented at the annual Symposium of the Observatory of the Spanish Language and Hispanic Cultures in the United States, which, as is tradition, bore the title New Perspectives on Hispanic Cultures and took place on June 1st and 2nd, 2023. The general theme chosen for this edition was “Spanish in/for Science and Technology.” The medical field was most clearly present in the program, with presentations centered largely on the training and teaching of Spanish for the Health Sciences, placing the focus as much on professionals (nurses and doctors) as on patients. This 87th issue of Estudios del Observatorio/Observatorio Studies includes six of the papers. They appear in this volume in the language in which they were presented during the session, either English or Spanish, but the abstract of each study is offered in both languages.

Students of American literature still comfortably assume, among other misconceptions, that Poe an... more Students of American literature still comfortably assume, among other misconceptions, that Poe and other nineteenth-century writers worked for and by the penny press. This dearth of scholarship is one of the reasons why so many people continue to rely on old myths, dismissing Poe as a racist, an addict, or a Casanova infatuated with young ladies and remembering him as a caricature of what he really was rather than as the first man who posed a possible solution to Olber’s paradox in 1848—among other many scientific speculations which, as the study will show, turned out to be supported with strong experimental evidence. In fact, Poe was among the most widely respected men of his era, but his collaborations on science and medicine continue to be neglected by the majority of the public and academia. My work stems from a fascination with this side of Poe as a scientist, a trajectory that has made me think critically about the ways in which science, pseudoscience, and medicine have been c...

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Book review of Charles L. Crow (ed.) A Companion to American Gothic (New Jersey: Wiley and Sons, ... more Book review of Charles L. Crow (ed.) A Companion to American Gothic (New Jersey: Wiley and Sons, 2014) for THE IRISH JOURNAL OF GOTHIC AND HORROR STUDIES Issue #14 (Summer 2015).

Edgar Allan Poe’s knowledge gathered from mesmerists and pseudoscientists of his time finds a ref... more Edgar Allan Poe’s knowledge gathered from mesmerists and pseudoscientists of his time finds a reflection in his short stories in the form of organic decomposition and electrical theories. One can also observe in Poe’s texts an attempt to satirize, criticize and leave record of his ambitious interest in the nineteenth-century medicine and medical practices. America
was witnessing the rise of a scientific era where most of the scientific theories as known today were being developed. On the other hand, America was under the influence of
sensationalism: pseudoscience and the pseudoscientific theories, which were in the borders of hoax and truth. The growing popularity of scientific sensationalism by physics in the
American prewar period, professional medical publications, treaties such as Klecksographien by Justinus Kerner (which was source of inspiration, also, to the well-known Hermann
Rorschach), magazines, English periodicals of the 1830s and theatre, influenced Poe and his creations significantly. This is reflected in some of Poe’s stories: dyspnea, anxiety, paroxysm,
coma, suspended animation, use of prosthetics, bio-augmentation, bio-modification and epilepsia in “Loss of Breath;” monomania, catatonia, catalepsia, narcolepsia and inbreed in “Eleanora” and “The Fall of the House of Usher;” cataplexy in “Berenice;” miasmatic theories, Spanish influenza, and yellow fever in “The Masque of the Read Death;”
hallucinogens, hypnotics, sedatives and ancient anesthesia in “The Man that was Used Up,” proboscis and cyclopia in “Bon-Bon;” analgesia in “The Business Man;” and tuberculosis in
“Ligeia.” This article will delve deeper in the medical aspect of these scientific narrations in Edgar Allan Poe’s work.

Keywords: pseudoscience, Edgar Allan Poe, nineteenth-century, literature, medicine

Book Reviews by Cristina Pérez

Estudios del Observatorio/Observatorio Studies

We share here a selection of the papers presented at the annual Symposium of the Observatory of t... more We share here a selection of the papers presented at the annual Symposium of the Observatory of the Spanish Language and Hispanic Cultures in the United States, which, as is tradition, bore the title New Perspectives on Hispanic Cultures and took place on June 1st and 2nd, 2023. The general theme chosen for this edition was “Spanish in/for Science and Technology.” The medical field was most clearly present in the program, with presentations centered largely on the training and teaching of Spanish for the Health Sciences, placing the focus as much on professionals (nurses and doctors) as on patients. This 87th issue of Estudios del Observatorio/Observatorio Studies includes six of the papers. They appear in this volume in the language in which they were presented during the session, either English or Spanish, but the abstract of each study is offered in both languages.

Students of American literature still comfortably assume, among other misconceptions, that Poe an... more Students of American literature still comfortably assume, among other misconceptions, that Poe and other nineteenth-century writers worked for and by the penny press. This dearth of scholarship is one of the reasons why so many people continue to rely on old myths, dismissing Poe as a racist, an addict, or a Casanova infatuated with young ladies and remembering him as a caricature of what he really was rather than as the first man who posed a possible solution to Olber’s paradox in 1848—among other many scientific speculations which, as the study will show, turned out to be supported with strong experimental evidence. In fact, Poe was among the most widely respected men of his era, but his collaborations on science and medicine continue to be neglected by the majority of the public and academia. My work stems from a fascination with this side of Poe as a scientist, a trajectory that has made me think critically about the ways in which science, pseudoscience, and medicine have been c...

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Book review of Charles L. Crow (ed.) A Companion to American Gothic (New Jersey: Wiley and Sons, ... more Book review of Charles L. Crow (ed.) A Companion to American Gothic (New Jersey: Wiley and Sons, 2014) for THE IRISH JOURNAL OF GOTHIC AND HORROR STUDIES Issue #14 (Summer 2015).

Edgar Allan Poe’s knowledge gathered from mesmerists and pseudoscientists of his time finds a ref... more Edgar Allan Poe’s knowledge gathered from mesmerists and pseudoscientists of his time finds a reflection in his short stories in the form of organic decomposition and electrical theories. One can also observe in Poe’s texts an attempt to satirize, criticize and leave record of his ambitious interest in the nineteenth-century medicine and medical practices. America
was witnessing the rise of a scientific era where most of the scientific theories as known today were being developed. On the other hand, America was under the influence of
sensationalism: pseudoscience and the pseudoscientific theories, which were in the borders of hoax and truth. The growing popularity of scientific sensationalism by physics in the
American prewar period, professional medical publications, treaties such as Klecksographien by Justinus Kerner (which was source of inspiration, also, to the well-known Hermann
Rorschach), magazines, English periodicals of the 1830s and theatre, influenced Poe and his creations significantly. This is reflected in some of Poe’s stories: dyspnea, anxiety, paroxysm,
coma, suspended animation, use of prosthetics, bio-augmentation, bio-modification and epilepsia in “Loss of Breath;” monomania, catatonia, catalepsia, narcolepsia and inbreed in “Eleanora” and “The Fall of the House of Usher;” cataplexy in “Berenice;” miasmatic theories, Spanish influenza, and yellow fever in “The Masque of the Read Death;”
hallucinogens, hypnotics, sedatives and ancient anesthesia in “The Man that was Used Up,” proboscis and cyclopia in “Bon-Bon;” analgesia in “The Business Man;” and tuberculosis in
“Ligeia.” This article will delve deeper in the medical aspect of these scientific narrations in Edgar Allan Poe’s work.

Keywords: pseudoscience, Edgar Allan Poe, nineteenth-century, literature, medicine