Critical Theory in a Digital Age, CCU, ENGL 483 2017

Sigmund Freud: Defining the "Uncanny"

       According to Sigmund Freud, the uncanny "belongs to all that is terrible--to all that arouse dread and creeping horror" (1). People tend to use the word "uncanny" every time they are frightened by something, or every time they see or hear something creepy. Freud argues that dread and terror are things that are associated with the uncanny, but it isn't exactly what the uncanny is. The uncanny isn't strange or unfamiliar, but it is actually something that is known to us, something that we may have experienced before (2). Looking at definitions in other languages that translate with "uncanny", Freud uses the German word, "heimlich" to provide more details to state exactly what the uncanny is. Heimlich means "belonging to the house, not strange, familiar, tame, comfortable, etc" (2). 

       The uncanny makes people recall events that they do not wish to be familiar. Freud states (as cited by Shelling) "everything is uncanny that ought to have remained hidden and secret, and yet comes to light" (4). The reason why people are so frightened by things they call "uncanny" is because it makes people remember paste events that they try their hardest not to think about. Martin Jay also describes the uncanny as "something which is secretly familiar, which has undergone repression and then returns from it" (3). 

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