PRABEER SIKDAR, DC WARANGAL, Aug 31
Does
a famous writer’s childhood spent in an alien location for a brief period have a bearing on his works? It
does, claims Robert Densmore Brill, 70, a former flight engineer of US Air Force and a private detective, who claims to have
demystified writings of US poet and short story writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) based on the study of the latter’s
time spent in Scotland during 1815-1820. Invited
by Kakatiya University’s English department for a talk on the fresh interpretation of Poe’s work, the US-based
Brill says he researched on the missing childhood of the writer by making 13 trips to Scotland from 1997-2000, made possible
largely to the subsidized air fares. Brill
claims to have traced the extended family tree of Poe in Scotland up to 1655 form the previously known period of 1743-1809
(Poe’s year of birth) in the US. Though seen with skepticism by US-based literary scholars, Brill’s
independent research on Poe’s works is backed by Indian scholars of American Literature, particularly Dr M. Rajeshwar,
Dean, English Department, KU, who as former editor of Atlantic Literary Review, an international literary journal
published from New Delhi, first published a small part of Brill’s research.
“I am not a doctorate scholar of any US university but my research
on Poe’s missing years was purely guided by my interests in the symbolism he used in his works,” says Brill, pointing
out his earlier stint as a police detective for 10 years helped him to spot missing links in Poe’s works.
Known as the first writer to introduce detective genre
in English, brill [sic] claims to have found the ‘true meanings’ of certain words used by Poe in some of his masterpieces
like The Murders in the Rue Morgue (one of the first detective stories in English) including his well-known poem The Raven.
“When he speaks of the murders in The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Poe was actually referring to the [“…”
removed] explains Brill. Speaking
highly about Brill’s research, Dr Rajeshwar, Dean of English Department, KU, says students of American literature would
now see Poe’s writing in a different light.
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| Article in Deccan Chronicle transcribed above |
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| Article in India-wide newspaper |
| Deans Rajeshwar and Damodar, with Brill to right |
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| Examining an exhibit from Brill's manuscript |
The disclosure of what Poe's symbol of "murder" meant is fully
discussed in my manuscript, yet to be published. Nevertheless, I presented the staff and students of the Department
of English readings of the chapters in which I tell the reader how I came upon an understanding of Poe's "murders,"
and "death," as well as how they function in his short stories. I also read my chapter on "The
Raven," for the same reason, as the poem captures Poe's existential concepts fully articulated in his Eureka,
written shortly, thereafter. Given what Hugo has stated the use of the grotesque in the romantic genre
of literature, and Poe at the zenith of that literary period, one can appreciate that every word Poe chose to write his
poetry and tell his stories was done so with precision. These pages on my visit to India remain
are, "under construction." The visitor will observe that there are duplicates of photographs, and other errors
which a professional web master does not make.
| Sending Brill off after the visit... |
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| Prof. of English, Dr.Rajashekar. |
| I informed students that Nietzsche had read Poe. |
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| Cover of The Portable Nietzsche, by Kaufmann. |
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| Professor Karin and Brill at India 1250 A. D. eara fort |
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| Some of the male students |
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| With Dr. Ramakirshna, Professor Emeritus, Poe authority, looking at Poe Family Tree by Brill |
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| Scene of Hindu Temple destroyed by invading Muslims a thousand years ago. |
| Three local cultural icons are in the photo below. |
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| Collage Lord Buddha, Queen Kakatia, and hospitable Muslim's Break Fast meal. |
| Andhra Pradesh, the state in India for site of... |
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| Thirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Temple |
| Below is a photo by Brill, cf. Kenmotsu's! |
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| Female attaire in India is the most colorful in Asia |
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| Scene of typically friendly university students, waving to Brill. |
Professor Raseshwar and his new Ph. D. Professors, Yakaiah Kathy and Kiran, graciously
took me on visits to venues of their ancient culture and civilization in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh (a state in India).
A visit to the website of the City of Warangal will show them, but the web-site does not capture the
hospitality of these children of a new democracy. Where ever we went, I was made to feel like a celebrity. For
example, from little children playing in the sand, who stopped to scream a, "Hello, hello!," to the young,
female, university students above, waving their hands and smiling with warm "Hello!," on the Muslim holiday,
to shop-keepers, who went out of their way to show me how to get somewhere, and everyone else. Being amongst these Indians,
about whom I had only heard of in context with "out-sourcing" jobs from America, it was too wonderful an experience
to believe. It was not until I return to my hotel room and had a look in the mirror that I realized how elderly I really
looked! But what does India have in connection with Edgar Allan Poe? There in is but one of the mysteries
that Kenmotsu and I found during our visits to Scotland.
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| Upper left photo of the statue of Lord Buddha on exhibit in The Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh |
In the photos that begin at the top of page, Brill is seen with the Department
Chair, Dr. Damodar, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, my host, Professor Rajeshwar, as well as a photo of my attempting
to have these very serious scholars of English language and literature smile for the camera. The student body come from
a very competitive and blessed group of the most serious people in India. They are, I observed, from a culture that is
the most dedicated to culture and cause as exist in the world today. Nevertheless, their Stoic behavior and devotion
to their religious beliefs accommodate the visitor who demonstrates humility, that they respect. I had no purpose nor
room to discuss the three taboos of conversation in polite, American culture: politics, religion, and sex.
Part of my presentation to these
young students of English Language and Literature was an overview of America's most valued early writers, Hawthorn, Melville,
Thoreau, Twain, and Hemingway. I took extracts from my manuscript and discussed these writers' contributions to our
American literary canon. However I discovered during my project that, as a child, Neitzche had read Poe; consequently, I
introduced this great German thinker and writer to these students. I had previously informed the president of the Neitzche
Society of this discovery. This volume is but one that I read in coming to a better understanding of Neitzche.
The extraordinary experience with this visit is that everyone with whom this
writer came in contact spoke superb British English. No translator was necessary. Nevertheless, my host, Professor
Rajeshwar, was certain that I should visit some of the thousand-year-old cultural relics of the Hindus who first populated
the city. Especially of interest were the temple and fort relics that were vandalized by the invading Muslims in 1250
A. D., and who were driven out by the colonial occupation of the British Forces. It is relevant to note that it was
Alexander (Sandy) Allan's shipping line that extended out to East India, and after which such commercial shipping was named.
For reasons of easy recognition of such connection with that enterprise by his readers of that time, Poe used the term, "West
Indiaman," in his stories. Therefore, while "the East is east, and the West is west," the twain did meet
with Allan Shipping.
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