The Uncanny: Sigmund Freud's Profound Exploration of the Mysterious and Unsettling

by David McLintock Sigmund Freud

The Uncanny by Sigmund Freud, David McLintock, et The Uncanny is a seminal work by Sigmund Freud, expertly translated and analyzed by David McLintock and others. In this influential psychological study, Freud explores the concept of the uncanny—the feeling of something strangely familiar yet unsettling. Through case studies, literary analysis, and psychoanalytic theory, Freud delves into the intricacies of the human psyche and the uncanny's relation to the unconscious, repression, and the uncanny in literature and art.

Key The Uncanny in Literature and Freud examines how the feeling of the uncanny is evoked in literature, art, and cultural phenomena. He explores how elements such as doubles, repetition, the return of the repressed, and eerie coincidences contribute to the sense of the uncanny. Freud's analysis of famous works, including E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Sandman and Poe's tales, sheds light on the power of the uncanny in storytelling and its resonance with human psychology. Repression and the Return of the The book delves into the relationship between the uncanny and repressed desires, fears, and traumatic experiences. Freud argues that the uncanny often arises when repressed content from the unconscious mind resurfaces, causing discomfort and anxiety. Through in-depth analysis, Freud explores the connection between the uncanny and the human psyche's intricate mechanisms of repression and expression. Psychoanalysis and the The Uncanny contributes to the field of psychoanalysis by providing insights into the workings of the unconscious mind. Freud delves into the role of the unconscious in shaping human experience and perception of the uncanny. The book explores the influence of early childhood experiences, dreams, and repressed memories in manifesting the uncanny, offering readers a deeper understanding of the human psyche and its complexities.

32 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 2, 2019

Reviews

[Paula Cappa · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a writer in supernatural or horror, Freud’s essay The Uncanny presents a perspective about creativity, imagination, fantasy, and the art of the uncanny (uncanny defined as fear and dread, eerie and haunting, also secrets of wisdom, hidden and dangerous, and wisdom of God). While I prefer Carl Jung’s theories on creativity, Freud’s opinion is certainly intriguing if not provocative for creative writers, especially in the genre of supernatural fiction. It becomes clear through his text that dreams, daydreams, and fantasies are all works of art, but more to the point Freud says, these are the keys to a writer’s motivation.

Much of the book is on daydreaming, night-dreams, fantasy, and the creativity of Leonardo di Vinci’s art (also Leonardo’s sexuality and the Mona Lisa). The takeaway is that the uncanny is the ‘returning past’ in the realm of uncertainty. Freud cites E.T.A Hoffman (The Sandman) to be the master storyteller of the uncanny. I was not surprised to read that Freud sees fiction as bound up with our early childhood …”a child’s need to reread itself over and over in relation to its own family.” So, while reading horror or the supernatural, we do exercise this human need to read about ourselves (we all apparently have uncanny fears and dread elemental in our lives), the writers of the uncanny, in Freud’s words “Creative writers are valuable allies and their evidence is to be highly prized, for they are apt to know a whole host of things between heaven and earth of which our philosophy has not yet let us dream.” Indeed. If you’ve read Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature" this essay will make a nice bookend to stimulate and infuse confidence that your dreams, fantasies, and nightmares are valid worlds to explore and build on. Highly recommended.

[Delanie Dooms · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reviewing the single essay entitled "The Uncanny" and published in 1919.

In this rather famous essay, Freud suggests that there are two means by which the psyche feels uncanniness. The first is that of repressed familiar things--such as infant beliefs. The second is that of primitive beliefs--e.g., the belief in the omnipotence of thought--being confirmed by such-and-such events in life, like wishing someone to have a stroke and that person soon thereafter dying to one.

He makes it fairly clear that his observations on this head must be taken to be purely about reality. Fictional creations, such as fairytales, contain many things which would ordinarily be uncanny (like, again, the omnipotence of thought) without being so in the story. Contrarily, in other stories, the same uncanny things are capable of remaining strange within the context of the narrative; additionally, storytellers can bring about more and varied fear factor in their narratives, impossible to happen in real life.