I’ve been spending a lot of my research time lately investigating the subgenre of Folk Horror and enjoying what might be called the revival’s second wave, or a rising appreciation of it among cinephiles, spearheaded in recent days by the recent release of Kier-La Janisse’s documentary, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched from Severin Films. I’m… Continue reading Folk Horror Expedition
Category: Theory
Theoretical musings about the uncanny. Includes scholarship, articles, presentations, exhibitions and books on theories of The Uncanny.
New Online Course: “The Uncanny & The Abject”
“The Uncanny and The Abject”: Applying Psychology to Disturb the Reader Live Saturday, May 22, 5 P.M. EST — StokerCon 2021 Online Also Available Asynchronously Following the Event! Details TBA DESCRIPTION: This two hour online workshop will unravel the psychological theories of the Uncanny and the Abject. Together, we will explore how they pertain to… Continue reading New Online Course: “The Uncanny & The Abject”
Doublement
One of the reasons that the Double is often considered frightening is because it represents a kind of evil twin — an Other that threatens the ego. We find such doubles everywhere — from fictional tales to unexpectedly catching our own reflections in the mirror. These encounters with the doppelgänger threaten to erase the ego… Continue reading Doublement
UO Feminist Media Studies Symposium (10-11 Feb 2017)
This Spring, the University of Oregon Cinema Studies program is hosting a Symposium on Feminist Media Studies in honor of the program founder, Kathleen Rowe Karlyn. Kathleen was my Ph.D. dissertation advisor in the UO English Department back in the late 90’s, helping guide me through the initial research and early draft of The Popular… Continue reading UO Feminist Media Studies Symposium (10-11 Feb 2017)
Terror Management Theory and the Uncanny Valley (Video)
Here’s a video clip from my lecture last October at Neumann University on the Uncanny Valley. About an hour into the discussion of why androids and animatronics might creep us out, I gave this overview of “terror management theory” to explore how it applies to theories of the uncanny (das Unheimliche) and the representations of… Continue reading Terror Management Theory and the Uncanny Valley (Video)
The Return of the Uncanny and the Rise of the Uncanny Valley
Although there is some wise debate about the reliability of Google NGrams as statistical proof, it is still interesting to see the way the term “uncanny” has come into — and gone out of — fashion over the years… Here’s how google NGram tracks the appearance of the term “uncanny” in all books between 1800… Continue reading The Return of the Uncanny and the Rise of the Uncanny Valley
CFP: The Other Daemonic: Estranging the Uncanny
From cfp.english.upenn.edu… “The Other Daemonic: Estranging the Uncanny” Brown University Comparative Literature Graduate Student Conference March 20-21, 2015 Keynote: Prof. Zachary Lesser, University of Pennsylvania contact email: browncomplitgradconference@yahoo.com Have we started to feel at home in the uncanny? A feeling so singular, yet so hard to define, the uncanny has become quite familiar to literary… Continue reading CFP: The Other Daemonic: Estranging the Uncanny
Bukimi-no-Tani – “The Uncanny Valley Revisited: A Tribute to Masahiro Mori”
Last November, Ken Goldberg at UC Berkeley organized a special conference on “The Uncanny Valley Revisited: A Tribute to Masahiro Mori” — hosted by the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) in Tokyo, and there is fantastic coverage of this event — which includes streaming video of all the presentations — at… Continue reading Bukimi-no-Tani – “The Uncanny Valley Revisited: A Tribute to Masahiro Mori”
AUDIO: China Mieville Keynote Address from ICFA 2012: On Monsters
In the following audio capture, author China Mieville delivers a keynote address entitled “On Monsters: Or, Nine or More (Monstrous) NOT Cannies.” It was presented at the 33rd Annual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando, Florida, in Spring 2012. Mieville performs an entertaining and trenchant re-examination of the term “uncanny” and… Continue reading AUDIO: China Mieville Keynote Address from ICFA 2012: On Monsters
VIDEO: Arnzen Lecture on The Popular Uncanny at Neumann University
Many thanks to my friend, Dr. William Hamilton, Neumann University (near Philadelphia, PA), and Dave Bullis of BullWitt Media for inviting, hosting and producing the video for this lecture last October. It turned out fantastic! You can watch the entire event above or full-screen it directly on youtube. The video is almost an hour-and-a-half long,… Continue reading VIDEO: Arnzen Lecture on The Popular Uncanny at Neumann University