The world becomes uncanny when it is no longer perceived as simple
substance, but also as shadow,
a sign of the existence of a
world beyond itself, which it is nevertheless unable fully to disclose.
--Paul Coates, The Gorgon’s
Gaze: German Cinema, Expressionism, and the Image of Horror
The experience--or sensation?--or concept?--of the Uncanny has been
the subject of debates in criticism since the early days of Romanticism: Is it
just a physical response to something creepy, un-expected, or inexplicable? Is
it something more exalted, a variation on the Sublime, or the artistic trace of
an attempt to represent what can never be represented? To understand how these
questions moved from the periphery to the center of ideas about modern art, we
will explore Freud’s influential theory of the Uncanny, as well as other
attempts to explain the lure of the fantastic and supernatural in art. To trace
some of the forms of the Uncanny, we will look into prominent tropes of the
uncanny in film and literature—haunted houses, doubles, and ghosts—in examples
such as: Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the
House of Usher and other tales; E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Sandman; Carl Dreyer, Vampyr;
Jacques Tourneur, Cat People.
Course Objectives:
§ To
comprehend the historical development of the aesthetic category of the Uncanny,
particularly in relation to the Sublime and to psychoanalytic theories of art
and culture.
§ To
evaluate the relevance of the concept of the Uncanny to modern and contemporary
aesthetics, art, and culture, through examination of key examples.
§ To
enhance capacities for critical analysis of film, literature, visual art, and
critical theory through investigation of key examples, testing your own
developing ideas.
All readings
listed on the schedule will be available online at the course Blackboard site at: https://corcoran.blackboard.com/,
along with the syllabus, assignments, and other important and useful
information. We can also use the Blackboard page to submit assignments, share
resources, and send notices or comments to the whole group.
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