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

When a person experiences chills or goose bumps as a reaction to something strange or unusual, they are being affected by a sense of uncanniness. The psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud endeavored to explain this feeling of uncanniness in his essay entitled â€Å"The Uncanny†. Freud’s theory focuses around two different causes for this reaction. Freud attributes the feeling of uncanniness to repressed infantile complexes that have been revived by some impression, or when primitive beliefs that have been surmounted seem once more to be confirmed. The first point of his theory that Freud discusses in the essay is the repression of infantile complexes that cause an uncanny experience. Freud uses E.T.A. Hoffman’s short story, â€Å"The Sandman†, to explain the idea of repression of infantile complexes. The story centers around the character of the Sandman, who steals the eyes of children. Freud states that the fear that the character Nathaniel feels towards the Sandman has more to due with an infantile castration complex than with the actual fear of losing his eyes. In Freud’s theory he states that the â€Å"Study of dreams, phantasies and myths has taught us that a morbid anxiety connected with the eyes and with going blind is often enough a substitute for the dread of castration†(Freud 383). If Freud’s belief is true, than it is Nathaniel’s fear of castration that causes him in the end to go mad and throw himself from parapet. Nathaniel’s fear is embodied in the character of the Sandman, whom Freud says represents Nathaniel’s father, and thus is the cause of his fear of castration. The Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex would also be affected by Freud’s theory. When examining Oed... ...s the knowledge of something in the recesses of our memory that is unattainable in any definite sense. Freud does indeed succeed in explaining two very important causes of uncanniness, and they are easily identified in literature and in society. Freud believes that uncanniness is a result of repressed infantile complexes and also the confirmation of primitive beliefs. Freud’s observations are important because they help us better understand our reactions and our fears, which in turn help us better understand ourselves. As long as people continue to gain some sort of pleasure from enduring this sense of uncanniness, writers and film makers will continue to use Freud’s methods to bring about the uncanny. Works Cited Freud, Sigumund. "The Uncanny." Literary Theory: An Anthology. Ed. by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. New York: Blackwell, 1998.