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Insinuations: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Literature
The Unconcept: The Freudian Uncanny in Late-Twentieth-Century Theory
The Unconcept is the first genealogy of the concept of the Freudian uncanny, tracing the development, paradoxes and movements of this negative concept through various fields and disciplines from psychoanalysis, literary theory and philosophy to film studies, genre studies, sociology, religion, architecture theory, and contemporary art. Anneleen Masschelein explores the vagaries of this 'unconcept' in the twentieth century, beginning with Freud's seminal essay 'The Uncanny, ' through a period of conceptual latency, leading to the first real conceptualizations in the 1970s and then on to the present dissemination of the uncanny to exotic fields such as hauntology, the study of ghosts, robotics and artificial intelligence. She unearths new material on the uncanny from the English, French and German traditions, and sheds light on the specific status of the concept in contemporary theory and practice in the humanities. This essential reference book for researchers and students of the uncanny is written in an accessible style. Through the lens of the uncanny, the familiar contours of the intellectual history of the twentieth century appear in a new and exciting light.
- GenresTheory
239 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2011
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February 16, 2016I'm not going to rate this because it was (a) written by one of my professors, who is (b) infinitely smarter than me and (c) I'm just so not qualified to critique academic publications. With that being said, I can give a bit of information regarding what this is about.
The basic idea
So, The Unconcept started as a thesis which studies the idea of Unheimlichkeit, both in its original context in writings of Freud and Heidegger, as well as in its pre-technological and modern use in the fields of science, religion, literature, sociology, psychology, etc. Unheimlichkeit (or "the uncanny" as it is called here) basically is a feeling of alienation, that something is not entirely right / doesn't fit / is missing, a creepiness that you can't quite place. The actual thesis part of this book is around 160 pages and very readable. Even with my tendencies to read slowly and highlight and sticky-note everything that seems relevant and/or interesting, it took me only a bit more than half a day to read this through.
The structure
There are five chapters.
Chapter 1: a definition of "the uncanny" and how the idea has developed throughout different times and contexts.
Chapter 2: a situation of the concept in Freud's work. You can expect a lot of castration talk and mentions that Freud is terribly afraid of vaginas. I wish I was kidding about that one, but he actually describes them as weapons women can use against men, which is why men are so afraid of women in the first place. No, that doesn't sound unhealthy at all.
Chapter 3: a further exploration of the uncanny, in non-Freudian contexts, which includes Lacan and Derrida. Part of it focuses on human anxiety and a distinction between "real" and neurotic anxiety is made and examined.
Chapter 4: this chapter focuses on the conceptualisation of the Unheimlichkeit and in this respect, Todorov and Cixous are discussed as important theorists.
Chapter 5: This was, in my opinion, the most interesting, because it discusses the sociological aspects of "the uncanny" and gives specific examples of its use in modern culture. The previous parts were probably very good, but a bit too abstract for me, because this is the first I read on the subject, so I didn't always understand all the allusions to other theories.
What else?
The role "the uncanny" has played in different literary genres and in the works of Heidegger, Otto, Derrida, Lacan, Todorov, Cixous, and Kristeva (among others), but also in modern academic and popular culture. Some examples include X-Men, zombies, robots and cyborgs, Avatar, and The Lord of the Rings.
The Unconcept is very well written. I'm always extra critical when English texts are written by non-native speakers, but the quality of the writing is very good. The text was well-structured and the arguments were clear. Masschelein is not afraid to lace her words with some humour and she always remains critical and sometimes even sceptical, which is evident in the passages on Freud's more ridiculous anxieties of vaginas and the like.
In any case, reading the Unconcept has made me very curious about the works of Hélène Cixous and Julia Kristeva. They go on my ever-growing Summer reading list.
The basic idea
So, The Unconcept started as a thesis which studies the idea of Unheimlichkeit, both in its original context in writings of Freud and Heidegger, as well as in its pre-technological and modern use in the fields of science, religion, literature, sociology, psychology, etc. Unheimlichkeit (or "the uncanny" as it is called here) basically is a feeling of alienation, that something is not entirely right / doesn't fit / is missing, a creepiness that you can't quite place. The actual thesis part of this book is around 160 pages and very readable. Even with my tendencies to read slowly and highlight and sticky-note everything that seems relevant and/or interesting, it took me only a bit more than half a day to read this through.
The structure
There are five chapters.
Chapter 1: a definition of "the uncanny" and how the idea has developed throughout different times and contexts.
Chapter 2: a situation of the concept in Freud's work. You can expect a lot of castration talk and mentions that Freud is terribly afraid of vaginas. I wish I was kidding about that one, but he actually describes them as weapons women can use against men, which is why men are so afraid of women in the first place. No, that doesn't sound unhealthy at all.
Chapter 3: a further exploration of the uncanny, in non-Freudian contexts, which includes Lacan and Derrida. Part of it focuses on human anxiety and a distinction between "real" and neurotic anxiety is made and examined.
Chapter 4: this chapter focuses on the conceptualisation of the Unheimlichkeit and in this respect, Todorov and Cixous are discussed as important theorists.
Chapter 5: This was, in my opinion, the most interesting, because it discusses the sociological aspects of "the uncanny" and gives specific examples of its use in modern culture. The previous parts were probably very good, but a bit too abstract for me, because this is the first I read on the subject, so I didn't always understand all the allusions to other theories.
What else?
The role "the uncanny" has played in different literary genres and in the works of Heidegger, Otto, Derrida, Lacan, Todorov, Cixous, and Kristeva (among others), but also in modern academic and popular culture. Some examples include X-Men, zombies, robots and cyborgs, Avatar, and The Lord of the Rings.
The Unconcept is very well written. I'm always extra critical when English texts are written by non-native speakers, but the quality of the writing is very good. The text was well-structured and the arguments were clear. Masschelein is not afraid to lace her words with some humour and she always remains critical and sometimes even sceptical, which is evident in the passages on Freud's more ridiculous anxieties of vaginas and the like.
In any case, reading the Unconcept has made me very curious about the works of Hélène Cixous and Julia Kristeva. They go on my ever-growing Summer reading list.
February 18, 2014
Funnily enough, I'm writing my dissertation on the uncanny, which actually wasn't my plan at all. It was going to be quite strictly about spirit photography in general, but somehow along the way it turned out to be about uncanny. At first I didn't like the idea, as it is a very Freudian concept (which Masschelein truly shows in her book) and I very much dislike Freud's endless remarks on castration and all that. However, after everything I've read, this book included, I've realised that uncanny is actually what I'm all about as a person. The way I've learnt it about myself, all because of coincidences, is in itself a bit uncanny.
This book is a very important part of my research and the critique Masschelein offers on Freud's essay is very well researched, I can't even imagine how much work she's put into this. Even if it is an academic text, she still manages to make it sound interesting and at least I feel like I'm intrigued to read even more on the subject.
This book is a very important part of my research and the critique Masschelein offers on Freud's essay is very well researched, I can't even imagine how much work she's put into this. Even if it is an academic text, she still manages to make it sound interesting and at least I feel like I'm intrigued to read even more on the subject.
May 20, 2014
An interesting book on the history of a concept. Masschelein traces the historical development of the uncanny specifically as Freud develops it and the way later critics have assimilated it. While a thorough and detailed account, one thing which could have been developed further is the concept's pre-Freud history, alongside competing conceptualizations. While I understand that this is not Masschelein's project, it narrows the reach of the term. However, the extensive influence Freud and his concept has had, is very interesting to follow. Particularly the way that deconstruction has taken over the uncanny as yet another key term to destabilize meaning with.
December 14, 2022
Course requirement read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews