Е. А. По

Returning to “The Purloined Letter” introduces the question of interpretation on two intertwined levels – the internal (the fictional characters’ comments) and the external (the critics’ comments). The paper has the task of tracing interpretive strategies through characters’ voices, i.e. through the conflict of internal interpretations. Monsieur G’s method insists on the typical and on hermeneutic depth. The detective Dupin uses the contrasting approach; he conceptualizes the logic of the incommensurable and mimicry. The anonymous narrator's voice is not impartial, he confides in Dupin and so there are blind spots in the narrative itself. The following paper unfolds two detective micro-plots by following the tracks of the epigraphist and the author of the purloined letter. I examine the poetics of narrative as isomorphic to the manners in which we interrogate the interpretations of the characters within it. The conclusion is not surprising – reading is a real detective story.