Freuds Concept of the Uncanny Essay -- Freudian concept of the uncann

When a person experiences chills or hombre bumps as areaction to something strange or unusual, they are worldaffected by a sense of uncanniness. The psychoanalystSigmund Freud endeavored to explain this olfactory property ofuncanniness in his essay entitled The Uncanny. Freudstheory focuses more or less two different causes for thisreaction. Freud attributes the feeling of uncanniness torepressed infantile complexes that have been revive by someimpression, or when primitive beliefs that have beensurmounted search once more to be confirmed. The first point of his theory that Freud discusses inthe essay is the repression of infantile complexes thatcause an uncanny experience. Freud uses E.T.A. Hoffmansshort story, The Sandman, to explain the idea ofrepression of infantile complexes. The story centers aroundthe case of the Sandman, who steals the eyes ofchildren. Freud states that the disquietude that the characterNathaniel feels tow ards the Sandman has more to due with aninfantile castration complex than with the unfeigned fear oflosing his eyes. In Freuds theory he states that the Studyof dreams, phantasies and myths has taught us that a morbidanxiety connected with the eyes and with going wile isoften enough a substitute for the dread of castration(Freud383). If Freuds belief is true, than it is Nathanielsfear of castration that causes him in the end to go mad andthrow himself from parapet. Nathaniels fear is embodied inthe character of the Sandman, whom Freud says representsNathaniels father, and thus is the cause of his fear ofcastration. The Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex would as well as beaffected by Freuds theory. When examining Oed... ...s the knowledge of something inthe recesses of our holding that is unattainable in anydefinite sense. Freud does indeed succeed in explaining twovery important causes of uncanniness, and they are easilyidentified in literature and in society.Freud believes that un canniness is a result ofrepressed infantile complexes and also the confirmation ofprimitive beliefs. Freuds observations are importantbecause they help us kick downstairs understand our reactions and ourfears, which in turn help us better understand ourselves. As long as people continue to march on some sort of pleasurefrom enduring this sense of uncanniness, writers and filmmakers depart continue to use Freuds methods to bring aboutthe uncanny.Works CitedFreud, Sigumund. The Uncanny. literary Theory An Anthology. Ed. by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. New York Blackwell, 1998.