Abstract
Abstract De Quincey’s mischievous, parodical play with Kant’s aesthetic absolutism and Aristotle’s theory of tragedy reveals an ironical tone of his aesthetics of murder. It suggests that what he surveys in earnest is not the aestheticization of murder but the aestheticiability of murder. The facile treatment of murder in aesthetic terms conveys more satirical overtones when we associate it with the periodical press in which it was produced and read. To be specific, De Quincey draws upon an autobiographical mode to ironize his own contribution to magazine sensationalism. While he is highly capable of tapping into the commercially popular modes of sensational writing about criminality, violence, and transgression, he implicitly and ironically shows his reluctance to merge himself with the literary market. De Quincey’s fear to the overwhelming periodical press may conclude the self-reflexive irony of his aesthetics of murder.
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