The psychological concept of the uncanny as something that is strangely familiar, rather than just mysterious, was perhaps first fixed by Sigmund Freud in his essay Das Unheimliche. Because the uncanny is familiar, yet incongruous, it has been seen as creating cognitive dissonance within the experiencing subject, due to the paradoxical nature of being simultaneously attracted to yet repulsed by an object. This cognitive dissonance often leads to an outright rejection of the object, as one would rather reject than rationalize, as in the uncanny valley effect.’…
Uncanny, “ …whether a lifeless object might not be in fact animate”. In Sigmund’s collection of…
Realism is both reliant on and thoroughly undermined by the uncanny. Realism was prominent during the 19th and 20th centuries. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms realism is a ‘general attitude’ of literature that ‘rejects idealization, escapism and other extravagant qualities of romance.’ It must be noted that realism is not simply a realistic “slice of life” but a ‘system of conventions producing a lifelike illusion.’ The uncanny is a ‘kind of disturbing strangeness evoked’ in literature. Freud’s 1919 essay The Uncanny, or Das Unheimlich, discusses the subject in detail, stating that the uncanny is a subject which ‘arouses dread and horror.’…
As the nineteenth century rolled in, members of psychological study started to have a more accurate understanding of the connection between the body and mind. Sigmund Freud was one such forward thinker and he promoted theories that unconscious thoughts of the mind can hold a strong influence on one’s health drawing on the original beliefs of the Greeks (Parsons, 1958).…
After creating the monster Frankenstein is overcome by terror and fear, “Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly that I felt the palpitation of every artery”(p. 36). He often becomes ill when faced with tragedy and horror, retreating into himself and into solitude. The Narrator and his companions are horrified by what they discover under his home, “a subterraneous world of limitless mystery and horrible suggestion”(P.401) and “Horror piled on horror as we began to interpret the architectural remain”(P.402). The grotesque monster of Frankenstein’s and the horrible past of the Narrators ancestors result in feeling of terror and…
The Psychodynamic Approach (Originator: Sigmund Freud 1856 – 1939) focuses on an individual’s unconscious thoughts that stem from childhood experiences and now affect their current behaviour and thoughts. The urges that drive us emanate from our unconscious and we are driven by them to repeat patterns of behaviour. Therapy includes free association, the analysis of resistance and transference, dream analysis and interpretation and is usually long term. The aim is to make the unconscious conscious in order for the client to gain insight.…
Download free eBooks of classic literature, books and novels at Planet eBook. Subscribe to our free eBooks blog and email newsletter.…
Uncanny. The word itself mocks it 's own paradoxical definition. This paper aims to sufficiently explain the concept of the uncanny in relation to Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle 's An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory – Chapter Five “The Uncanny.” In this chapter, it is suggested that there are thirteen unlucky forms that the uncanny can take. From these thirteen forms, four have stood out as striking, and those will be discussed in detail in this paper. Furthermore, in discussing the four prominent traits, a relation between personal experiences and a full understanding the concept of “the uncanny” can help an individual better understand the situation in an new way We must also note that the element of uncanny can be found not only in real life, but also in literature. Is literature uncanny, and what makes it so? Or is literature not uncanny at all? Aimed to develop an understanding of the uncanny and it 's role in literature, different aspects of writings will be analyzed in order to answer these questions.…
appearances and motifs such as ghosts and monsters, are embodiments of people’s deepest fears and longings.…
From the moment you’re born, your mind begins to develop certain emotions, a lot of which help you determine how to feel about different types of situations. One of these emotions is fear. Everybody is afraid of something in life. However, is being afraid always a bad thing? Given people’s high demand for horror these days, this would turn this problem into a paradox, creating some room for pleasure within horror’s spooky content. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the reasons why some people like horror, despite its repulsive features. My argument will be based on the idea that people like horror because of the curiosity it awakens and also because horror films allow us to believe in the existence of unnatural beings, like ghosts or demons, which is a key step in the process of discovering unknown truths about…
My Kinsman, Major Molineux and Young Goodman Brown present Nathaniel Hawthorne's belief in the universality of sin. These works provide numerous perspectives into the nature of the human condition and the individual's role within it. Hawthorne fictionalizes a world where communion with man is essential for spiritual satisfaction. The main characters of these stories face moral dilemmas through their pursuit of human communion. Whether the problems are moral, psychological, or both, Hawthorne insists that the individual must come to affirm a tie with the procession of life, must come to achieve some sense of brotherhood of man. In order to commune with mankind, one has to give up a secure, ordered and innocent world. The individual becomes liable to a fearsome array of complex emotions. One feels alienated by a community that forces himself to corruption while his isolation creates an ambiguity. The newly initiated into the rites of man appears no more moral than those who he disdains. Hawthorne presents a world where communion with mankind leads to corruption while isolation from humans is an unpardonable sin. Nathaniel Hawthorne presents an interesting predicament in man's search for communion with his fellow man. Coming of age in Hawthorne's time requires an affirmation of sin, communion with sinners and celebration of life through sin. Hawthorne creates this environment by grounding the consequences on earth. To feel the universal throb of brotherhood, one must recognize sin, participate in and celebrate it. Hawthorne affirms, recognizes and revels in the depravity of the human condition.…
File:Mori Uncanny Valley.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013.File:Mori Uncanny Valley.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mori_Uncanny_Valley.svg. [Accessed 23 September 2013].…
The best horror movies tap into what are known as evolutionary-cognitive fears, the things humanity has learned to be afraid of from centuries of existence. Children under three see a snake, especially one poised to strike, much sooner than a flower when shown the two on a computer screen (Matsaka, 2010). This indicates that some fears are not learned during life, but are planted in the brain from birth. These evolutionary-cognitive fears consist of predation, contagion, and violation of person. The effect of these on movies is clear through villains like Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs), who eats his victims alive; Freddy Krueger with his claws (Nightmare on Elm Street), or more obviously Jaws (Jaws), King Kong (King Kong), zombies, and demonic possession. The first two evolutionary-cognitive fears are clear, but violation of person is not. This comes from what Freud called the ‘uncanny valley’, when things are similar to human, close enough to be recognisable, but just enough unlike human to give off an eerie feeling. Examples include the way zombies move, the invisible or transparent appearance of ghosts, the existence of vampires. In a more abstract sense, clown makeup and masks have the effect of hiding the wearer’s true emotions,…
The film Touch of Evil is perceived as being a film noir due to its tone of darkness in addition to, consisting of moral judgment between right and wrong along with the standards of ethical conduct of law enforcement. For example, the corrupt law enforcement Captain Hawk Quinlan (Orson Welles) portraying the stereotypical fat and sloppy cop that was staging evidence make false arrest. Also, the rule of including the theme femme fatale a seducer of men and leading them to danger was eliminated. This was viewed negatively and went against the societal norms for women to be the devoted wife and mother of the home. Additionally, the film noir protagonist in the film is Vargas who works as a Mexican drug enforcement agent.…
These chilling visions, along with the physical symptoms just described, are part of an unnerving condition called sleep…