H' P' Lovecraft

1
H. P. Lovecraft
Trends in Scholarship
2
Limits Trends

• What I am not considering
• Anything before 1990 The 80s were dominated by
  Lovecraft Studies, a journal that received little
  exposure outside of the established circle of
  Lovecraft devotees. While I have consulted
  earlier works to establish a background for my
  readings, I will not be discussing them directly.
• Anything from Lovecraft Studies (see the note
  above)
• Biographical concerns My review focuses
  primarily on Lovecrafts fiction writing,
  influences on his writing, and the development of
  his approach to horror writing.
• Derivatives and influences There are countless
  derivative works and many authors who claim HPL
  as an influence
• Major trends in scholarship on which I will
  focus
• The continued arguments over the definition of
  the Cthulhu mythos and HPLs approach to horror
• The shifts in critical approaches to HPLs
  fiction
• The importance of place and tradition in HPLs
  fiction
• The emergence of HPL his criticism from the
  inner-circle

3
Bare Bones Lovecrafts Life 1890 1937

• Born in Providence, RI (The importance of place,
  and particularly New England, will be a defining
  aspect of Lovecrafts work.)
• Wrote widely and extensively amateur journalism,
  poetry, letters, and the fiction for which he is
  best known.
• During his lifetime, he was well knownand
  respected only in the arenas ofamateur
  journalism and weird fiction,such as that
  published in Weird Tales.

4
After His Death1930s 40s

• August Derleth Donald Wandrei formedArkham
  House in 1939 to preserve andpublish his work.
• Derleth was largely responsible for the initial
  construction (and many argue misconception) of
  the Cthulhu Mythos
• W. Paul Cookfriend, supporter, and criticwas
  concerned about popular and critical treatment of
  HPL
• Cook, W. Paul. In Memoriam Howard Phillips
  Lovecraft Recollections, Appreciations,
  Estimates. North Montpelier The Driftwind Press,
  1941.
• Cook, W. Paul. A Plea for Lovecraft. The Ghost
  3 (1945) 55-56.Irreparable harm is being done
  to Lovecraft by indiscriminate and even
  unintelligent praise, by lack of unbiased and
  intelligent criticism, and by a warped sense of
  what is due him in the way of publication of his
  works.

5
Early Reception Criticism40s 50s

• Early reactions to Lovecraft fell into three
  camps fandom adoration, scholarly admiration,
  and critical rejection.
• Lebier, Fritz. A Literary Copernicus.
  Something About Cats and Other Pieces. H. P.
  Lovecraft. Sauk City Arkham House Publishers,
  1949.Howard Phillips Lovecraft was the
  Copernicus of the horror story. He shifted the
  focus of the supernatural dread from man and his
  little world and his gods, to the stars and the
  black and unplumbed gulfs of intergalactic space.
  To do this effectively, he created a new kind of
  horror story and new methods for telling it.
• Wilson, Edmund. Tales of the Marvellous and
  Ridiculous. The New Yorker 24 Nov. 1945.The
  only real horror in most of these fictions is the
  horror of bad taste and bad art. Lovecraft was
  not a good writer. The Lovecraft cult, I fear,
  is on even a more infantile level than the Baker
  Street Irregulars and the cult of Sherlock
  Holmes.

6
Fandom the Fantastique1960s 70s

• Much early writings about Lovecraft camefrom
  fantasy fandom, were full of errors
  and,according to later scholars,
  misconceptionsabout HPLs life and works.
• Some of the major scholarly works include
• Lévy, Maurice. Lovecraft, Ou Du Fantastique.
  ParisChristian Bourgois, 1972.
• de Camp, L. Sprague. Lovecraft A Biography.
  GardenCity Doubleday Co., 1975.
• St. Armand, Barton Levi. H. P. Lovecraft New
  EnglandDecadent. Albuquerque Silver Scarab,
  1979.
• Lin Carter, Frank Belknap Long,
  DarrelSchweitzer,and Richard L. Tierney
  alsoproduced works on Lovecrafts life
  andDerleths mythos.

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The Rise of Lovecraft Studies1980s

• Necronomicon Press was founded in 1979and began
  publishing Lovecraft Studies.
• During the 80s, nearly all scholarlyarticles
  appeared in Lovecraft Studies.
• Major trends and scholars included
• Robert Price (with David Schultz) Revising the
  Cthulhu Mythos as originally cast by August
  Derleth
• Steven Mariconda analysis of Lovecrafts style
  and imagery
• Donald Burleson structuralist /
  deconstructionist criticism besides articles in
  Lovecraft Studies, Burleson also
  publishedBurleson, Donald R. H. P. Lovecraft A
  Critical Study. Westport Greenwood Press, 1983.

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• S. T. Joshi became the dominantLovecraft
  scholar his contributionsduring this decade
  consisted mainlyof editing Lovecraft Studies and
  HPLsfiction for the Arkham House editionsand
  compiling previous scholarship.
• Joshi, S. T. H. P. Lovecraft Four Decades of
  Criticism. Athens Ohio University Press, 1980.
• Joshi, S. T. H. P. Lovecraft and Lovecraft
  Criticism An Annotated Bibliography. Kent Kent
  State University Press, 1981. (Supplemented in
  1984)
• Joshi, S. T. H. P. Lovecraft. Starmont Reader's
  Guide. Ed. Roger C. Schlobin. Vol. 13. Mercer
  Island Starmont House, 1982.

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• Of the few articles during this time that did not
  appear in Lovecraft Studies, those with any
  larger significance rely on their relation to
  other literary figures.
• Burleson, Donald R. Lovecraft The Hawthorne
  Influence. Extrapolation 22.3 (1981) 262-64.
• Cannon, Peter. "The Return of Sherlock Holmes and
  H. P. Lovecraft." Baker Street Journal 34 (1984)
  217-20.
• Price, Robert M. "Stephen King and the Lovecraft
  Mythos." Discovering Stephen King. Ed. Darrell
  Schweitzer. Vol. 8. Starmont Studies in Literary
  Criticism Mercer Island Starmont, 1985. 109-22.
• Cannon, Peter. H. P. Lovecraft. Twayne's United
  States Authors Series. Boston Twayne Publishers,
  1989.
• The dominance of Lovecraft Studies helped to
  encourage dialogue among Lovecraft scholars.
  However, the journals lack of exposure or review
  outside of the Lovecraft circle kept HPLs study
  isolated from the larger scholarly arena (a
  problem faced by most literature of the
  fantastic).

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Revived Deconstructed1990s

• This decade started with a helpful collection
  Joshi, S. T. and David E. Schultz, ed. An
  Epicure in the TerribleA Centennial Anthology
  of Essays in Honor of H. P. Lovecraft.Rutherford
  Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1991.
• S. T. Joshi moved from editor and
  bibliographerto biographer and critic.
• Joshi, S. T. The Weird Tale Arthur Machen, Lord
  Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, M.R. James, Ambrose
  Bierce, H.P. Lovecraft. Austin University of
  Texas Press, 1990.
• Joshi, S. T. H. P. Lovecraft The Decline of the
  West. Mercer Island Starmont House, 1990.
• Joshi, S. T. H. P. Lovecraft A Life. West
  Warwick Necronomicon Press, 1996.
• Joshi, S. T. A Subtler Magick The Writings and
  Philosophy of H. P. Lovecraft. San Bernadino
  Borgo, 1996.
• Joshi, S. T. "H. P. Lovecraft The Fiction of
  Materialism." American Supernatural Fiction From
  Edith Wharton to the Weird Tales Writers. Ed.
  Douglas Robillard and Benjamin F. Fisher. Vol. 6.
  Garland Reference Library of the Humanities. New
  York Garland, 1996.

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• Donald R. Burleson emerged as a prolific critic
  of HPLs work through gender, textual, and
  deconstructionist criticism. However, with the
  exception of Disturbing the Universe, his
  writings all appeared in Lovecraft Studies.
• Burleson, Donald R. "A Note on Metaphor vs.
  Metonymy in The Dunwich Horror'." Lovecraft
  Studies 38 (1998) 16-17.
• Burleson, Donald R. "A Textual Oddity in the
  Quest of Iranon." Lovecraft Studies 34 (1996)
  24-26.
• Burleson, Donald R. "Lovecraft and Adjectivitis
  A Deconstructionist View." Lovecraft Studies 31
  (1994) 22-24.
• Burleson, Donald R. "Lovecraft and Gender.
  LovecraftStudies 27 (1992) 21-25.
• Burleson, Donald R. "Lovecraft and
  Interstitiality.Lovecraft Studies 37 (1997)
  25-34.
• Burleson, Donald R. "Lovecraft Textual
  Keys.Lovecraft Studies 32 (1995) 27-30.
• Burleson, Donald R. Lovecraft Disturbing the
  Universe.Lexington University of Kentucky
  Press, 1990.

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• Lovecraft Studies continued to be the
  primarythough little-exposedsource of most HPL
  scholarship.
• Buchanan, Carl. "The Music of Erich Zann' A
  Psychological Interpretation (or Two)." Lovecraft
  Studies 27 (1992) 10-13.
• Cannon, Peter, et al. "On at the Mountains of
  Madness A Panel Discussion." Lovecraft Studies.
  34 (1996) 2-10.
• Dziemianowicz, Stefan. "On The Call of
  Cthulhu'." Lovecraft Studies 33 (1995) 30-35.
• Lippi, Giuseppi. "Lovecraft's Dreamworld
  Revisited." Lovecraft Studies 26 (1992) 23-25.
• Mariconda, Steven J. "H. P. Lovecraft Art,
  Artifact, and Reality." Lovecraft Studies 29
  (1993) 2-12.
• Mariconda, Steven J. "Tightening the Coil The
  Revision of 'the Whisperer in Darkness'."
  Lovecraft Studies 32 (1995) 12-17.
• Montelone, Paul. "The Rats in the Walls' A
  Study in Pessimism." Lovecraft Studies 32 (1995)
  18-26.
• Schweitzer, Darrell. "About 'the Whisperer in
  Darkness'." Lovecraft Studies 32 (1995) 8-11.
• Setiya, Kieran. "Empiricism and the Limits of
  Knowledge in Lovecraft." Lovecraft Studies 25
  (1991) 18-22.

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• Despite the dominance of Lovecraft Studies, HPL
  scholarship did begin to receive more exposure
  through texts and articles in other scholarly
  journals.
• Major Works
• Airaksinen, Timo. The Philosophy of H. P.
  Lovecraft The Route to Horror. New Studies in
  Aesthetics. Vol. 29. New York Peter Lang, 1999.
• Stanley, John H., ed. Books at Brown
  1991-1992(Lovecraft Issue). Vol. 38-39.
  Providence The Friendsof the Library of Brown
  University, 1995.
• Cannon, Peter. Lovecraft Remembered. Sauk
  CityArkham House, 1998.
• Price, Robert M. H. P. Lovecraft and the
  CthulhuMythos.San Bernardino Borgo, 1990.
• Bloom, Howard, ed. Modern Horror Writers. New
  YorkChelsea House Publishers, 1994.

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• Articles of note outside of Lovecraft Studies
• Bloom, Clive. "This Revolting Graveyard of the
  Universe The Horror Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft."
  American Horror Fiction From Brockden Brown to
  Stephen King. Ed. Brian Docherty. New York St.
  Martin's, 1990. 59-72.
• Campbell, James. "Cosmic Indifferentism in the
  Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft." American
  Supernatural Fiction From Edith Wharton to the
  Weird Tales Writers. Ed. Douglas Robillard and
  Benjamin F. Fisher. Vol. 6. Garland Reference
  Library of the Humanities. New York Garland,
  1996. 167-228.
• Oates, Joyce Carol. "The King of Weird." New York
  Review of Books 43.17 (Oct. 31 1996) 46,
  48-53.Her attention went a long way in
  advancing HPLs reputation.
• Lovett-Graff, Bennett. "Shadows over Lovecraft
  Reactionary Fantasy and Immigrant Eugenics."
  Extrapolation A Journal of Science Fiction and
  Fantasy 38.2 (Fall 1997) 175-92.
• Boelhower, William. "'I Am Providence' Working
  Sites of Identity." Formations of Cultural
  Identity in the English-Speaking World. Ed.
  Jochen Achilles and Carmen Birkle. Vol. 251.
  Anglistische Forschungen. Heidelberg Carl Winter
  Universitätsverlag, 1998. 241-54.
• Bloom, Clive, ed. "Symposium on H. P. Lovecraft."
  Gothic Horror A Reader's Guide from Poe to King
  and Beyond. Los Angeles Science Fiction Society.
  New York St. Martin's, 1998. 78-95.

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Lovecrafts Disinterment2000 to Present

• Necronomicon Press closed in 1999, and with it
  Lovecraft Studies suspended publication.
• This forced HPL scholarship out of the limited
  market of Lovecraft Studies (at least until 2004
  when Necronomicon re-opened and resumed LS
  publication).
• Also, editions of Lovecrafts fiction began to
  appear from larger and more reputable publishing
  houses, including the 2005 H. P. Lovecraft Tales
  from Library of America as well as Penguin
  Classics and Modern Library editions.

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• Major works since 2000
• Connors, Scott, ed. A Century Less a
  DreamSelected Criticism on H. P. Lovecraft.
  HolicongWildside Press, 2002.
• Joshi, S. T. A Dreamer and a Visionary H.
  P.Lovecraft in His Time. Liverpool
  LiverpoolUniversity Press, 2001.
• Joshi, S. T. and David E. Schultz, eds. Lord ofa
  Visible World An Autobiography in
  Letters.Athens Ohio University Press, 2000.
• Joshi, S. T., and David E. Schultz. An H.
  P.Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Westport Greenwood
  Press, 2001.
• Joshi, S. T., ed. Primal Sources Essays on H. P.
  Lovecraft. New York Hippocampus Press, 2003.
• Mitchell, Charles P. The Complete H. P. Lovecraft
  Filmography. Westport Greenwood, 2001.
• Oakes, David A. Science and Destabilization in
  the Modern American Gothic Lovecraft, Matheson,
  and King. Westport Greenwood Press, 2000.

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• Articles of Note
• Tucker, Kenneth. "The Case of Howard Phillips
  Lovecraft A Serious Artist Manqué?" Journal of
  Evolutionary Psychology 21.3-4 (2000) 217-29.
• Will, Bradley A. "H. P. Lovecraft and the
  Semiotic Kantian Sublime." Extrapolation A
  Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy 43.1
  (2002) 7-21.
• Lowell, Mark. "Lovecraft's 'Cthulhu Mythos'."
  Explicator 63.1 (Fall 2004) 47-50.
• Evans, Timothy H. "Tradition and Illusion
  Antiquarianism, Tourism and Horror in H. P.
  Lovecraft." Rev. of Peer. Extrapolation A
  Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy 45.2
  (2004) 176-95.
• Berruti, Massimo. "H.P. Lovecraft and the
  Anatomyof Nothingness The Cthulhu Mythos."
  SemioticaJournal of the International
  Association for SemioticStudies/Revue de
  l'Association Internationale deSémiotique
  150.1-4 (2004) 363-418.
• In 2004, Necronomicon Press re-openedand issued
  Lovecraft Studies 44, a tradepaperback
  collection of essays, images,and fiction.
  Currently, the journal is on asemi-regular
  schedule (it was originally aquarterly
  publication).

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Still Troubled by Dreams

• Extending the reach of Lovecraft studies,both
  through publication in other scholarlyjournals
  and by increasing the reputationand exposure of
  Lovecraft Studies.
• Attention from Joyce Carol Oates, StevenKing and
  others, as well as Library ofAmerica and other
  editions of Lovecraftswork, should increase
  exposure andpopularity and thus hopefully his
  study.
• Scholars would be well-served by takingpart of
  Joshis advice a focus on Lovecraftsinfluence
  and importance through the totalityof his work
  (rather than any single piecefiction or
  otherwise).
• I still disagree with Joshis anti-fan
  approach,however. The fan-base is the popular
  enginethat drives scholarly efforts and brings
  thoseefforts to a larger audience.