The Uncanny by Shaun Akturk

We started off by understanding Freud's theory of; "Heimlich" (Something homelike - a feeling of something that is "agreeable" and "acceptable") and the "Un-heimlich" (The un-homelike - something that the reader feels "out of place" or "falsely placed"). We as literature students must understand that these terms do not oppose each other. "The Un-heimlich sets up a different kind of existence". It is clear through the word “different" the uncanny is a scenario of ambivalence, and not the expected ideas of opposition.

The Uncanny is the Heimlich invading the Un-Heimlich or vice versa.

We later attempted to understand and discuss what David Punters adaptation of "The Uncanny" in relation to Gothic meant. Specifically looking at chapter 3 of "Wuthering Heights" Lockwood’s dream contains strong links the uncanny, as far as David Punter is concerned. Punter, states that dreams are constructed by the Heimlich (Evidently, even the most bizarre ideas of the dreamer, put forward in the dream are considered Heimlich, as it is conjured up through a Heimlich character.)

The uncanny, can be found both in the structure and characters chronology of W.Heights. The layered structure which narrates from a mix of past and present, something Punter describes as the "fabric of time". In which the Un-heimlich being the past invading the Heimlich present. Readers will see this in the filtered narration, in its structure and physically upon characters. The narration sequence ranging from the past Nelly reveals and the present of Lockwood. Catherine Linton's ghost a character of the past attacks the Heimlich present, that Lockwood lives in literally - Lockwood tells us his "fingers closed on the fingers of a little ice-cold hand!...The intense horror. The fact that the horror facet of Gothic literature is exposed here evokes a similar sense of fear from the reader. Furthermore this is a prime example of "the uncanny". Punters notion of the uncanny suggest that what is possible, likely and authorised in literature is in fact "unstable" in Gothic - ultimately anything is possible. Writers use the uncanny, as gaps in a kaput shield, which readers use to hide away from the monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein monster and Catherine Linton.

We were asked to write up about the uncanny...Here is mine its a bit weak but, I just wanted to be able to revise from it easily later on in the year...

"Lockwood thinking pattern of reality is disturbed, because of his touching of the "ice-cold hand" his logical understanding is in invaded by the Un-heimlich - a physical sense of horror from the Heimlich character Lockwood. Freud concept of a combination between the Heimlich and Un-heimlich (the uncanny) is exposed to a gothic text because of Punters own ideas. Where he suggests the narrative structuring of Wuthering Heights is evidently contains strong references to the notion of the Un-heimlich invading the Heimlich.

The "fabric of time" whereby the past invades into the universal Heimlich of present time - is exactly what happens in W.H. The generic chronological order of narration is not present in W.H and this creates an enigmatic and ambivalent text, where readers are disturbed by the misunderstood layers of an unorganised and unstable text. The filters that create the story are provided by Nelly a symbol of the past, and Lockwood a more present and modern character. The invasion of "Catherine Linton’s... Ice-cold finger" affects the pragmatic world of Lockwood. Readers are positioned to view the order of events just as Lockwood does. If we were to consider ourselves Lockwood it would be acceptable to say that our own misshapen understanding chronological events and the supernatural, surface and evoke a genuine sense of fear (containing both horror and terror elements).

Characters are also trapped into this sense of the uncanny. Heathcliff character feels the invasion from the "different" Lockwood. The reader a character in it self, is categorized into the "uncanny of the monumental". The excessiveness of Heathcliff over powers our own worldly concerns and displaces our understanding of a conventional style of life, because of the extremeness and distorted equilibrium in the world of the Wuthering Heights and the its Heimlich characters."

It would be good if everyone could write their own essay on this blog, and place a comment as it will help everyone else in developing their own ideas.