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

When a person experiences chills or goose bumps as areaction to roughthing strange or unusual, they are beingaffected by a sense of uncanniness. The psychoanalystSigmund Freud endeavored to explain this feeling ofuncanniness in his essay entitled The Uncanny. Freuds surmise focuses around two different causes for thisreaction. Freud attributes the feeling of uncanniness torepressed infantile complexes that have been revived by someimpression, or when primitive beliefs that have beensurmounted take care 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 view ofrepression of infantile complexes. The story centers aroundthe character of the Sandman, who steals the eyes ofchildren. Freud states that the apprehension that the characterNathaniel feels towards the Sa ndman has more to due with aninfantile castration complex than with the actual 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 blind 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 also beaffected by Freuds theory. When examining Oed... ...s the knowledge of something inthe recesses of our memory that is unattainable in anydefinite sense. Freud does indeed succeed in explaining twovery important causes of uncanniness, and they are easilyidentify in literature and in society.Freud believes that uncanniness is a result ofr epressed infantile complexes and also the confirmation ofprimitive beliefs. Freuds observations are importantbecause they help us better understand our reactions and ourfears, which in turn help us better understand ourselves. As long as people continue to gain some sort of pleasurefrom enduring this sense of uncanniness, writers and filmmakers will 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.