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The Uncanny

The Uncanny is a psychoanalytic concept which was first raised by Ernst Jentsch, a German psychiatrist, in 1906, where he stated that the uncanny is a feeling when someone ‘is not quite “at home” or “at ease” in the situation concerned’[1]. In this sense, the uncanny brought about the idea of a disturbance of the familiar throughout many literary texts. Some characteristics of the uncanny which feature in psychoanalytic texts are the doubles, dreams, repetitions and automatons. Two popular literary texts which are both written in different periods but both convey the uncanny are contemporary Coraline by Neil Gaiman (2002) and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818) written in the nineteenth century.

One characteristic of the uncanny in literature is the doppelganger, as the uncanny ‘involves a kind of duplicity’[2]. In Coraline, when she enters the other world, there are lots of character doubles, as everyone from Coraline’s real life are there, yet they are not quite there at the same time. Although Coraline recognises these characters as similar to real life, they are described in ways such as ‘her other parents’[3] and ‘the new Miss Spink… The new Miss Forcible’ (Gaiman, p. 49). This relates to the uncanny disturbing the familiar as Coraline recognises these characters, so they appear familiar to her, yet through the ‘other’ and the ‘new’ the familiar is then disturbed. Furthermore, when Coraline first sees her other mother, her appearance is described as ‘she looked a little like Coraline’s mother. Only…’ (Gaiman, p. 34). This description caters to the notion of the uncanny, as it makes ‘unfamiliar all sorts of familiar perceptions and beliefs’[4] through Coraline’s own perception of her mother in comparison to the other mother. Coraline’s experience in the other world is therefore familiar to her, yet it is a frightening familiar, giving it an unheimlich (unhomely) feel.

The doppelganger is also explored in Frankenstein through Victor Frankenstein and his monstrous creation. When Victor’s monster is created, the pathetic fallacy of ‘on a dreary night in November’[5] is used to cater to its Gothic genre but it also creates an unheimlich feel as the monster is described by its doppelganger creator with words such as ‘wretch’ and ‘horrid’ (Shelley, p. 59). However, if you look deeper into Victor’s depiction of the monster he appears confused of what he really thinks of his creation. He describes the monster as having ‘skin that scarcely covered the work of muscles’, a ‘shrivelled complexion’ and ‘watery eyes’ (Shelley, p. 59), creating very disturbing and vivid imagery of its horrific appearance, which separates himself entirely from the creature. On the other hand, Victor states that the monster’s ‘hair was of a lustrous black’, ‘his teeth of a pearly whiteness’ (Shelley, p. 59). This therefore creates a contrast of life and death, giving a metaphorical contrast of negative and positive, as Victor symbolically recognises features of the monster’s face as normal, yet other aspects as totally monstrous. This is backed up by the  psychoanalytic idea that the monster is seen ‘as a projection of Frankenstein’s unconscious urges’[6], as Victor views some of the monster’s features as familiar, yet it is disturbed by his uncanny disgust of its monstrous features, therefore refusing to relate to it.

Dreams are another characteristic of psychoanalytic theory which are used to symbolise the uncanny in literary texts. In Coraline, the several visits Coraline takes to the other world could be seen as a series of dreams, as she experiences ‘wish fulfilments… disguised fulfilments of repressed desires’[7]. When Coraline is in the real world, she is constantly bored and unsatisfied, ‘she was bored with her toys, and had read all her books’ (Gaiman, p. 7). Her parents also find her a slight nuisance as she is constantly asking them what she should do, yet they never offer her a satisfying answer, her father even telling her to “go away” (Gaiman, p. 21) at one point.

From a psychoanalytic perspective, Coraline internalises her feelings of boredom around her parents and then experiences what she desires through her visits to the other world. Her other mother and father fulfil all her wishes, from cooking her better food ‘it was the best chicken that Coraline had ever eaten’, to simply making her feel important “we’ve been waiting for you for a long time” (Gaiman, p. 35). Furthermore, earlier on in the book, there is a direct reference to Coraline dreaming of rats singing; ‘she dreamed of black shapes that slid from place to place… they started to sing… their voices were high and whispery’ (Gaiman, p. 12). When Coraline is in the other world, rats sing to her again ‘the rats began to sing, in high, whispery voices’ (Gaiman, p. 37). The repetition of the voices of the rats hints at the idea that the other world is also a dream, as Gaiman directly merges the other world with Coraline’s dreams ‘Coraline was sure she’d heard it before, or something like it, although she was unable to remember exactly where’ (Gaiman, p. 38). The phrase ‘something like it’ therefore directly relates to the feel of the uncanny, as Coraline recognises the song, yet it disturbs the familiar as she isn’t quite sure, which leaves a feeling of ‘that class of the frightening which leads us back to what is known of old and long familiar’[8]. The concept of the other world being a dream therefore symbolises the uncanny as Coraline experiences her familiar surroundings yet they are warped into frightening distortions, experiencing ‘the dream’s uncanny ability to envision with images so perfectly suited’[9].

In Frankenstein, the dreams of Victor are an important aspect of the book which relate to the uncanny. Just after Victor has beheld his creation for the first time, he attempts to reconcile himself through slumber. Instead of this however, he ‘was disturbed by the wildest dreams’ (Shelley, p. 60). During this dream, Victor proclaims that ‘I thought I saw Elizabeth’, so he proceeds to embrace her as a familiarity to him, as her appearance then morphs, as Victor states ‘I thought I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms’ (Shelley, p. 60). The dream then goes on to state that ‘grave-worms’ were crawling near the corpse which presents Gothic imagery, evoking shock in the reader as the familiarity of Elizabeth quickly turns to strangeness of a rotting, Gothic corpse. This therefore presents the uncanny disturbing the familiar as the dream quickly turns from the ease of seeing family members to representing horrific Gothic images.

From a Freudian analytical perspective, the manifest content of this dream is Victor mistaking his sister for a rotting corpse, which on first glance simply takes on a Gothic perspective, reflecting the genre of the book as a whole, and embodying the nature of the horrifying sight Victor experiences of the monster itself. When the dream is looked at for its latent content, we delve into the unconscious of Victor. The uncanny is already presented through the incestuous kiss of his sister, who then turns into his mother, yet to Victor, this appears as canny as he sees no fault in his unconscious desires; ‘the dream is not about the fiend Frankenstein has made but about the fiend he has made himself’[10]. The aspect of the dream which Victor actually finds uncanny is the horrific sights of his dead mother, as she becomes a rotting corpse, which jolts Victor awake in sheer horror.

The image of Victor’s rotting mother therefore also relates directly to the image of the monster, as both instances share similarities. Victor recognises his mother in the dream, yet she is dead, just like Victor recognises the face of the monster as his own, yet beholds its monstrous features. The dream allows the reader to witness the uncanny through ‘those aspects of human life we do not normally see’[11] in Victor’s distressed dream states. This dream therefore symbolically represents Victor’s state of uncanny disturbing the familiar throughout the whole novel, which torments him as the monster is a constant reminder of this.

Repetition is another feature of the uncanny which shows up in literary texts. Gaiman uses this feature in Coraline throughout the book, as Coraline visits the other world many times. A specific example where Gaiman uses this psychoanalytically is when Coraline attempts to escape the other world. At first, Coraline walks through ‘misty, milky whiteness’ (Gaiman, p. 86) which in itself is familiar yet uncanny as it resembles mist but it is a foreign substance. Coraline then comes across the house again despite walking away from it ‘loomed at them out of the formless whiteness’ (Gaiman, p. 87). Coraline is perplexed by this, and says to the cat “how can you walk away from something and still come back to it?” (Gaiman, p. 88). This question could show Gaiman is directly referencing the quote from Freud when he states ‘caught in a mist perhaps… every attempt to find the marked or familiar path may bring one back again’[12].

Furthermore, Freud stated that ‘many people seemed caught in a compulsive repetition of self-destructive behaviour[13]. Coraline coming back to the house again could portray this idea of ‘self-destructive behaviour’ as although she unintentionally comes back, it could represent the situation she has trapped herself in through her own boredom which led her to the house in the first place, catering to the popular phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’. Her knack for exploring due to discontent in her real life sends her into danger that she can’t escape from. This relates to the uncanny as it stems back to when Coraline first enters the other world. When she first walks down the corridor, Coraline realises that there is ‘something very familiar about it’ (Gaiman, p. 33). This gives Coraline a sense of the uncanny already, which could also be seen as a warning, yet she still decides to enter the other world. In this sense, the uncanny disturbs the familiar in Coraline as Coraline becomes stuck in a world of repetitions that are uncanny to her but familiar at the same time. They are constant repetitions of what she already knows but end up becoming a dangerous trap that she can’t escape from.

Automatons and inanimate objects becoming animate are features of the uncanny, they show up in literary texts which present psychoanalytic ideas. In Frankenstein, Victor directly refers to bringing inanimate things to life when he states, ‘I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter’ (Shelley, p. 53). This therefore directly relates to the uncanny as Victor himself can bring about the ‘strange but familiar’ as he creates the monster which is both a familiarity to him and a great strangeness, as it is a twisted act to do, going against the forces of nature.

The monster is also an automaton. This is because Victor creates it with the intention of making it resemble a human being, yet its hideous appearance makes him realise the uncanny monster he has created, through going against nature. However, Shelley gives the monster a voice in volume two; ‘it is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being’ (Shelley, p. 121). This creates a humanising effect, as the reader begins to empathise and even relate to the monster, despite the fact it is still an automaton. Furthermore, when the monster views its reflection it was ‘terrified’ and ‘unable to believe that it was indeed I’ (Shelley, p. 136). This shows that the monster’s mind appears to not fit its body, giving the monster itself a feeling of the uncanny as it is recalling its reflection, yet it can’t relate to it; ‘confronted with a character who is a monster (unheimlich) … physically, psychological, emotionally and ethically human (heimlich)’[14]. In contrast, the monster could also be seen as more humane than what Victor is, as it becomes a thoughtful creature, such as clearing ‘their path from the snow’ (Shelley, p. 136).

Shelley hints therefore at the fact that Victor could also viewed as having the mind of an automaton, through his heartless attitude towards his monstrous creation; “Devil! Do you dare approach me?” (Shelley, p. 117) and for bringing it into existence in the first place. The automaton aspect of the novel therefore caters to the uncanny as Shelley is constantly disturbing the familiar through merging Victor and the monster together into both a mix of the humane and the evil.

The ‘other’ father in Coraline is seen as an automaton, as he is simply a tool for the ‘other’ mother to resemble Coraline’s real father. Coraline also features inanimate objects becoming animate. Gaiman makes inanimate buttons become animate through using buttons to replace the other mother and father’s eyes. This creepy characteristic of the book directly relates to The Sandman, a book written by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816, studied psychoanalytically by Freud, which is about ‘the idea of being robbed of one’s eyes’[15]. The idea of taking someone’s eyes relates to castration, which is uncanny to the reader because according to Freud, it brings back feelings of one’s psychosexual past which is an uncanny feeling which disturbs the familiar.

Although the animate button-eyes tend to be the main feature in Coraline, there are also other inanimate objects becoming animate that Gaiman incorporates strategically into the book. When Coraline is in her ‘other’ bedroom, her inanimate objects become more interesting to her as she states, ‘this is more like it’. They come to life, being ‘wind-up angels that fluttered’, and ‘books with pictures that writhed and crawled’ (Gaiman, p. 36-37). As the book progresses and the other world turns evil, Coraline then sees the inanimate objects that have come alive as uncanny, observing that ‘none of the toys looked particularly soul-like’ (Gaiman, p. 114). Therefore, Gaiman is constantly using the uncanny to disturb the familiar as even Coraline’s bedroom comes to life, a room that would normally be a safe, familiar place.

In conclusion, the uncanny disturbs the familiar in literary texts through several different psychoanalytic ways. Coraline and Frankenstein, despite being written in different time periods, both incorporate several different features that relate to a feel of the uncanny in order to disturb familiar emotions and aspects of our everyday lives. Whether this be through our understanding of aspects such as the ‘double’, repetitions, dreams, or automatons, the reader senses a feel of the uncanny through the unsettling storylines of these literary texts. Yet at the same time, the reader is left feeling perpetually disturbed by the familiar, as they can relate to aspects of both the characters and the seemingly heimlich environments the uncanny takes place in.

 

 

Bibliography

Allen, Graham, Shelley’s Frankenstein (London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008) p. 33.

Baldick, Chris, In Frankenstein’s Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity, and Nineteenth-century writing (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987)

Bennett, Andrew and Royle, Nicholas, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory (New York: Routledge, 2016)

Gaiman, Neil, Coraline (London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2002)

Jentsch, Ernst, ‘Journal of the Theoretical Humanities’, On the psychology of the uncanny (1906), 2.1 (1997)

Kalsched, Donald, The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit (London: Routledge, 1996)

Maxwell, Catherine, The Female Sublime from Milton to Swinburne: Bearing Blindness (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001)

Reed, Henry, Dream Medicine: Learning How to Get Help from our Dreams (United States: We Publish Books, 2005)

Rowlinson, Matthew Charles, Tennyson's Fixations: Psychoanalysis and the Topics of the Early Poetry (Virginia: The University Press of Virginia, 1994)

Royle, Nicholas, The uncanny (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003)

Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein (London: Penguin Group, 2006)

Siivola, Markku, Understanding Dreams: The Gateway to Dreams without Dream Interpretation (New York: Cosimo Books, 2011)

Thomas, Ronald R., Dreams of Authority: Freud and the Fictions of the Unconscious (United States: Cornell University Press, 1990)

Withy, Katherine, Heidegger on Being Uncanny (United States: President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2015)

Wolfreys, Julian, Victorian Hauntings: Spectrality, Gothic, The Uncanny and Literature (Basingstoke: PALGRAVE, 2002)

 

[1] Ernst Jentsch, ‘Journal of the Theoretical Humanities’, On the psychology of the uncanny (1906), 2.1 (1997), (p.8).

[2] Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory (New York: Routledge, 2016) p. 42.

[3] Neil Gaiman, Coraline (London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2002), p. 36.

[4] Nicholas Royle, The uncanny (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003), p. 5.

[5] Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (London: Penguin Group, 2006), p. 59.

[6] Chris Baldick, In Frankenstein’s Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity, and Nineteenth-century writing (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987) p. 47.

[7] Markku Siivola, Understanding Dreams: The Gateway to Dreams without Dream Interpretation (New York: Cosimo Books, 2011) p. 28.

[8] Julian Wolfreys, Victorian Hauntings: Spectrality, Gothic, The Uncanny and Literature (Basingstoke: PALGRAVE, 2002) p. 15.

[9] Henry Reed, Dream Medicine: Learning How to Get Help from our Dreams (United States: We Publish Books, 2005) p. 199.

[10] Ronald R. Thomas, Dreams of Authority: Freud and the Fictions of the Unconscious (United States: Cornell University Press, 1990) p. 89.

[11] Katherine Withy, Heidegger on Being Uncanny (United States: President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2015) p. 3.

[12] Matthew Charles Rowlinson, Tennyson's Fixations: Psychoanalysis and the Topics of the Early Poetry (Virginia: The University Press of Virginia, 1994) p. 42.

[13] Donald Kalsched, The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit (London: Routledge, 1996) p. 80.

[14] Graham Allen, Shelley’s Frankenstein (London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008) p. 33.

[15] Catherine Maxwell, The Female Sublime from Milton to Swinburne: Bearing Blindness (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001) p. 78.

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