Lovecraft and the Uncanny: A Psychoanalytic Critique of H.P. Lovecrafts' The Outsider

Lovecraft and the Uncanny: A Psychoanalytic Critique of H.P. Lovecrafts' The Outsider

Presenter(s)

Jules Carr-Chellman

Comments

Presentation: 1:20-1:40, Kennedy Union 222

Description

Scholarship on H.P. Lovecraft’s literature often will erroneously label his work as simply grotesque or weird. In this paper, I will use a psychoanalytical lens to critically examine Lovecraftian literature and argue that his fiction is not merely grotesque, but instead that his work displays elements of the uncanny that are ciphered in with more intentionally weird parts of his narrative. The first objective of this project is to define the uncanny as it is understood by Sigmund Freud: a feeling that occurs when something that is meant to be hidden is revealed. Having established Freud’s psychoanalytical framework of the uncanny, I will then apply it to H.P. Lovecraft's short story The Outsider.

Publication Date

4-17-2024

Project Designation

Honors Thesis

Primary Advisor

Andy Slade

Primary Advisor's Department

English

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Lovecraft and the Uncanny: A Psychoanalytic Critique of H.P. Lovecrafts' The Outsider

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