Magritte's Mirrors

Rene Magritte, "The False Mirror," 1928

René Magritte, "Portrait of Edward James," 1937

"I have myself shown... why human knowledge is determined in that 'little reality' [that paucity of reality] which the Surrealists, in their restless way, saw as its limitation" (3-4)

Picasso's mirror

Pablo Picasso, "Woman Before a Mirror," 1932

PRECIS- Peter Pan's Shadow

In the article, Lacan discusses the idea of the "I" complex. The idea he uses is that when children are little they are unable to comprehend most things in their world; however, they are able to recognize themselves in their reflections. Do you ever wonder why children are so fascinated with mirrors? It is because it is something that they recognize.

As the article progresses, Lacan develops his argument suggesting that you have to understand the reflection before you can understand the many attempts at replication in the world around us. It reminds me of Peter Pan, when Peter is attempting to reign in his shadow. He didn't understand what it was but felt that he wouldn't be able to do anything until he was able to control it (by sewing it to himself). This idea that we have to move away from the mirror is also similar to Plato's cave. In the Allegory of the cave, there are prisoners who are unable to move but can only see the distorted images on the wall. In Lacan's argument, there aren't distorted images, but there are the children (18 months) that are stuck in front of the mirror, unable to stand and walk away from their image but all they can do is lean closer and hope to make more clarity of the situation.

Where are we in relationship to the mirror? Are we still the small child trying to make sense of the only thing that we can see, ourselves? Or are we ready to look out into the world of replication and attempt to make sense of that?

Phrase: Unreal is not imaginary

Lacan says, "Unreal is not imaginary" (205).  Lacan tries to explain the libido as an organ even though he says that this organ does not actually exist.  He states "the unreal is defined by articulating itself on the real in a way that eludes us, and it is precisely this that requires that its representation should be mythical, as I have made it (205).  I picked this phrase because I think Lacan and Freud are both trying to explain something that has no textile existence but we know is there or we know something is happening to us.  Lacan tries to explain the libido in the human being by relating it to an organ and Freud uses the uncanny to try and explain the deja vu phenomenon.  Both are things that happen to us as humans but we are unsure of as to why.  Lacan says it best when he says "But the fact that it is unreal does not prevent an organ from embodying itself" (205).  The quote goes along with the saying, "if you believe it to be true, then it is true."

Precis/ The Mirror Stage

Lacan writes in his "The Mirror Stage" that we are first conscious of our perceptions when we (as infants) see our reflections in the mirror. This is a distorted image, however, an imago, which the OED defines as an "idealized mental picture of oneself." Lacan often brings up matters of "spatiality" and anatomical "incompleteness" that lead to a fragmented notion of oneself (4). From this incomplete/fragmented perception, and this notion of meconnaissance (an "illusion of autonomy"), the Ego emerges (6). He discusses the "secondariness" of the "I"--how it is secondary to false recognition of oneself (the meconnaissance) and that it provides the "most extensive definition of neurosis" (7).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaques_Lacan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_stage http://science.jrank.org/pages/11347/Structuralism-Poststructuralism-Jacques-Lacan-Michel-Foucault-Gilles-Deleuze.html

word: DOUBLE--Sarah Knoth

DOUBLE

 

OED’s definition:

 b. A counterpart; an image, or exact copy (of a thing or person).    c. spec. The apparition of a living person; a wraith, fetch.

 

The word double in Lacan’s Ecrits is the word that helps the reader wrap his head Lacan’s theory and around the ideas of the Gestalt principle, the id, the ego, and the mirror. In his essay, Lacan tries to explain to his reader the process of a person’s understanding of his own existence. What’s interesting about the OED’s definition is that it’s first attempt to explain the double is to compare it to the word counterpart. In this case, our counterpart is our mirror-image. Lacan goes on to explain to the reader the significance of identification. This identification can be found through the mirror stage---seeing one’s double---and then advancing to the revelation of the “relation between the organism and its reality (4). I found it interesting that the human infant can become conscious of his existence through the image of his double in a mirror; therefore, we have a greater understanding and a greater “autonomy than animal knowledge” (3). With this comparison, it is essential to the reader that he understands the significance of a reflection. My dog still barks at herself when she sees her double in the reflection of our glass sliding door; I, on the other hand, don’t get scared with I see my double because I have an understanding of my reality and my existence, or as much as I can thus far.

 

ttp://bert.lib.indiana.edu:2055/cgi/entry/50068959?query_type=word&queryword=double&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=GuOY-xXzhUT-18865&hilite=50068959

DOUBLE

 

OED’s definition:

 b. A counterpart; an image, or exact copy (of a thing or person).    c. spec. The apparition of a living person; a wraith, fetch.

 

The word double in Lacan’s Ecrits is the word that helps the reader wrap his head Lacan’s theory and around the ideas of the Gestalt principle, the id, the ego, and the mirror. In his essay, Lacan tries to explain to his reader the process of a person’s understanding of his own existence. What’s interesting about the OED’s definition is that it’s first attempt to explain the double is to compare it to the word counterpart. In this case, our counterpart is our mirror-image. Lacan goes on to explain to the reader the significance of identification. This identification can be found through the mirror stage---seeing one’s double---and then advancing to the revelation of the “relation between the organism and its reality (4). I found it interesting that the human infant can become conscious of his existence through the image of his double in a mirror; therefore, we have a greater understanding and a greater “autonomy than animal knowledge” (3). With this comparison, it is essential to the reader that he understands the significance of a reflection. My dog still barks at herself when she sees her double in the reflection of our glass sliding door; I, on the other hand, don’t get scared with I see my double because I have an understanding of my reality and my existence, or as much as I can thus far.

 http://bert.lib.indiana.edu:2055/cgi/entry/50068959?query_type=word&queryword=double&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=GuOY-xXzhUT-18865&hilite=50068959

Word: "EGO"

"EGO"

Lacan uses the word "ego" in his work focusing on the "mirror stage" (2). According to the OED, "ego" can mean:

"1. That which is symbolized by the pronoun I; the conscious thinking subject, as opposed to the non-ego or object. Also humorously, for ‘self’."

or:

"2. In speech: I, the speaker. Hence ego v. trans., to say ‘ego’ when claiming an object, in response to ‘quis?’. Schoolboy slang."

The OED lists a few other definitions that are also related to Lacan's intended meaning, but I believe the most effective to use in this instance in which he uses the word "ego" is "the sense of one's identity or self gained from the results of self-perception and external perceptions of oneself."

This Lacan does use "ego" to refer to self, as in the first two definitions, but this last "sense of one's identity..." works with his statement of "the agency of ego, before its social determination...by which he [the self] must resolve as I his discordance with his own reality" (2).
The OED speaks of using "external perceptions" to determine one's identity. At this point in Lacan's argument, he states that the self is exposed to his own image without the realization that "the other" exists. Therefore, he must come to terms with his "ego" or identity before social influence can teach him how to view himself. He must create his own reality.
Lacan's description of the "mirror stage" and mimesis asks how one can truly determine his identity. Is mimesis or one's mirror image an "other" or entirely oneself? Is true reality the seeing of oneself without any social comparisons or with the full exposure to society and others?

Oxford English Dictionary
http://dictionary.oed.com

Word- Imago

Imago:

i·ma·goes or i·ma·gi·nes (-g-nz)

1. An insect in its sexually mature adult stage after metamorphosis.

2. Psychology An often idealized image of a person, usually a parent, formed in childhood and persisting unconsciously into adulthood.

as defined by The Free Dictionary

PHRASE- "Sexuality is established..."

"Sexuality is established in the field of the subject by a way that is that of lack" (204).

This phrase is important because it marks the beginning of Lacan's explanation of how we, as humans, discover our individual sexuality. This statement follows an example of how libido alone cannot be the driving force behind human reproduction. Lacan explains how an innocent person (one who has absolutely no knowledge of sex and reproduction) feels the drive for sexual fulfillment, but ultimately doesn't know how to satisfy the feelings.

The first lack that Lacan attempts to describe is somewhat hard to translate. Basically, Lacan says that the first lack arises when the subject discovers that the signifier, whom he is dependent on, is also in the field of the Other. Lacan goes on to describe the second lack as what the subject loses in sex and reproduction. According to Lacan, "...the living being, by being subject to sex, has fallen under the blow of individual death" (205). In other words, reproduction through sex marks the death of the individual in some sense because, in reproduction, a "copy" is produced.

Word: Dehiscence

Dehiscence is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a “gaping, opening by divergence of parts, especially as a natural process.” Lacan argues in “The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience” that man’s “specific prematurity of birth” alters its ability to form a relationship between itself and reality (4). Dehiscence is the naivety that leads man into the mirror stage and it is this that he must work to understand so he may move from the Innenwelt to the Umwelt.

Lacan, James. “The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience.” Ecrits. Tr. Alan Sheridan (New York City: W. W. Norton & Co, 1977) pp 4.

Oxford English Dictionary Online.

OTHER

OED Definition:

9. Chiefly Philos. Usu. with the. Freq. with capital initial. That which is the counterpart or converse of something specified or implied; (spec. in structuralist and post-structuralist critical and psychoanalytic thought) that which is not the self or subject; that which lies outside or is excluded from the group with which one identifies oneself; (in Lacanian thought) the unconscious, the symbolic order. Now usually opposed to self.

The Other, at least as I interpreted it, is your ideal self, the you that exists on a metaphysical plane. Language and speech, as symbols of the thing itself, lay in the Other. The Other is the phallus, the search for perfection within ourselves.

Phrase: ".This lack is real because it relates..."

"This lack is real because it relates to something real, namely, that the living being, by being subject to sex, has fallen under the blow of individual death" (205).

It seems to me as though many of the early theorists have a major issue with the idea of sex or sexual reproduction. I am probably totally off base, but I feel like this phrase could almost tie in with the issue of the "reproduction" or the copy of a copy. One loses part of himself by reproducing, and even such the reproduction is still secondary. Man feels superior to the copy, thinking the copy will never be at its level. Yet, reproduction is essential to keep exsistence going.

PHRASE: "This jubilant assumption of his specular image by the child..."

"This jubilant assumption of his specular image by the child at the infans stage, still sunk in his motor incapacity and nursling dependence, would seem to exhibit in an exemplary situation the symbolic matrix in which the I is precipitated in a primordial form, before it is objectified in the dialectic of identification with the other, and before language restores to it, in the universal, its function as subject." (2)

Lacan is discussing the mirror stage of an infant from about the age of six months. The mirror stage discussed is when the infant sees himself as a reflection, as in a mirror, recognizes himself and is made happy by this recognition. Lacan sees this recognition as important because the infant is seeing himself in his purest form, as his thoughts about himself do not include thinking of himself as a "subject" or seeing himself through the eyes of "others". The infant is seeing himself without the social world becoming involved in his perception; he will spend his life, according to Lacan, comparing himself to the image he first saw when he was an infant, because the image seen at six months is the image that is left untainted by the rest of the social world. He will never be able to achieve the purity of the reflection he saw of himself at the infant stage, hence why Lacan calls it "the Ideal-I."

"I see myself (?), therefore I am"

"I am led, therefore, to regard the function of the mirror-stage as a particular case of a function of the imago, which is to extablish a relation betweent he organism and its reality-or, as they say, between the innenwelt and the umwelt."
It seems the 'mirror stage' serves to show a person his form, thus his reality, his actual being, while also calling up for him, the appearance of his automation-his mechanicalness. This concept appropriately harkens back to Freud's discussion on man's horror at his recognition of his nature is something (like a doll, or robot) that is an automation. Lacan also points us to the importance of the "mirror stage" in establishing to a man, his reality, his existence, and he is seen to the others; reminding us that a man is not merely unto himself, but exists in relation to the other organisms around him.

Phrase: "I am led, therefore, to regard the function of the mirror-stage..."

"I am led, therefore, to regard the function of the mirror-stage as a particular case of the function of the imago, which is to establish a relation between the organism and its reality-or, as they say, between the Innenwelt and the Umwelt" (4).

Lacan states that the mirror-stage allows one to develop a connection to the world. Or, in other words, it is during the mirror-stage that humans not only come to realize their own existence, but also the existence of an outside world. This realization occurs upon seeing the image of ones' self, not the image of another being. For Lacan, the concept of "I" is formed later in relation to other beings and the "symbolic matrix," which is language.

Phrase - "A freedom that is never more authentic than when it is within the walls of a prison"

"A freedom that is never more authentic than when it is within the walls of a prison; a demand for commitment, expressing the impotence of a pure consciousness to master any situation; a voyeristic-sadistic idealization of the sexual relation; a personality that realizes itself on in suicide; a consciousness of the other than can be satisfied only by Hegelian murder" (page 6). 

This paragraph is Lacan's attempt to explain what has arisen in human beings due to the realization of our determination of our own lives, of existentialism. He explains that throughout history, the concept of the other has been passed down from generation to generation, and the idea of society has not grown past this kind of oxymoronic state. The duality emphasized here not only links back to Freud's concept of the double but to Plato's musings on the representations of reality which tend to distort it. Lacan goes on to say that our experiences are "prejudice" to the "dialectic of knowledge," and that we should not let our ego think that reality is too real.  

Word: Unreal

In Lacan's chapter on The Subject and the Other: Alienation, he talks about the unreal in response to the embodiment of a missing organ: the labido.
According to dictionary.com, unreal is defined as:

"1.not real or actual.
2.imaginary; fanciful; illusory; delusory; fantastic.
3.lacking in truth; not genuine; false; artificial: unreal propaganda serving as news."

However, Lacan says "Unreal is not imaginary. The unreal is defined by articulating itself in a real way that eludes us, and it is preciesly this that requires that it's representation should be mythical[...]" 205. This idea of the unreal ultimately relates back to his discussion of the Other, which also is a creature of the unreal yet tries to embody itself against the subject.

Platonic Directionality versus the Uncanny

Francisco Goya, "Two Old People Eating Soup," 1819-23

Piet Mondrian, "Broadway Boogie Woogie" 1942-3

Word: AESTHETICS

According to askoxford.com AESTHETIC means:

  • plural noun usu. treated as sing. 1 a set of principles concerned with the nature of beauty, especially in art. 2 the branch of philosophy which deals with questions of beauty and artistic taste.

I think that dictionary.com gives a better definition of the word because it gives multiple definitions and each one can be applied to Freud.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - 

–adjective

1.	pertaining to a sense of the beautiful or to the science of aesthetics.

2.	having a sense of the beautiful; characterized by a love of beauty.

3.	pertaining to, involving, or concerned with pure emotion and sensation as opposed to pure intellectuality.

–noun

4.	a philosophical theory or idea of what is aesthetically valid at a given time and place: the clean lines, bare surfaces, and sense of space that bespeak the machine-age aesthetic.

6.

Archaic. the study of the nature of sensation. I think that Freud wants us to think of aesthetic as a way for analyzing Fear and Dread instead of art and beauty.  They are pretty much opposites.  He uses the rest of his essay to explain what the aesthetics are of fear and dread and that part of our psyches we use to analyze those two feelings.

The Uncanny

What was that? Uncanny.

Freud’s The Uncanny is the theory behind deja vue, and Freud of course connects it to sexual repressions toward ones parents. A prime example of this is his comparison to men feeling “as if they’ve come home” when they fall in love because it is a return to their mother’s genitals. The idea of the uncanny is that something that once seriously affected you has been repressed or forgotten through time. But something of such great an influence cannot be easily forgotten, so the memory is lodged deep within you, and can be brought to the surface through unexpected events or things that remind the subconscious. Leaving the carrier of the memory with the uncertain feeling that they have been some where before, or experienced something before, but they do not know why; leaving them with an “uncanny” sensation.

precis-the uncanny

In Freud's treatise, he seeks to find the origins of, or explanation for, "the uncanny," feelings of uneasiness, fear, or dread.  He does so by first examining the etymology of synonymous words and their definitions, and ends on the conclusion that the uncanny can simplistically be related to "something that should have remained hidden but has come into the open."  

In order to both support this initial claim, and extrapolate further upon it, Freud moves on to analyzing examples of situations or experiences that he deems as having an "uncanny" quality.  He looks in literature at the story of the Sand-Man, concluding that the uncanniness in that instance originates from the "infantile castration complex," as evidenced by the symbolism supposedly inherent in the fear of losing one's eyes and the trauma related to the loss of one's father.

The following example deals with the idea of the doppleganger, which, Freud claims, initially served as a comfort for the fear of death for primitive man, but has become fearful and uncomfortable since primitive narcissism has been overcome after the formulation of the modern ego.

Freud then goes on to examine the fear that derives from being reminded of man's alleged "compulsion to repeat," arriving at the conclusion that being reminded of such a primal compulsion brings about feelings of the uncanny.

The examples treated by Freud culminate in his conclusion that the fear or dread of the uncanny can be attributed to an unconscious reminder of the forgotten, animistic, primitive stages of human psychological development, and thus, the psychoanalytical representation of that which "should have remained secret but has come into the open."

Phrase; "Uncanny is what one calls everything that was meant to remain secret and hidden and has come into the open".

Freud's use of this quote from Schelling perhaps describes best what Freud wishes to convey in the use of the word "uncanny." The relationship between a subject and the uncanny is a clouded confusion in which that which we sense and know abstractly becomes that which we see before us. The examples of "The Sand-Man" and seeing "double" embody this sense of an unexpected encounter with the deeply familiar in myriad and seemingly impossible (yet paradoxically necessary) situations.

-Kip C

You say tomato, I say uncanny.

What in our world is familiar? Unfamiliar? In “The Uncanny” Sigmund Freud discusses how these classifications dictate the uncanny. While providing us (at great length) with what defines uncanny, it is the intangible that Freud circles. Almost immediately, Freud, citing Jentsch, establishes that “people differ greatly in their sensitivity to this kind of feeling” (124). What creates these differences is not only the individual, but his or her reaction to what is both familiar and unfamiliar. After finishing his laundry list of classifications of the term, Freud states: “The uncanny (das Unheimliche, ‘the unhomely’) is in some was a species of the familiar (das Heimliche, ‘the homely’) (134). What this does is muddy the distinction between familiarity and unfamiliarity, as what is both known and unknown can be classified (albeit in different ways) as the uncanny. To come back to the title of my post, reading this, for whatever reason, I thought of the debate between TOE-MAY-TOE and TOE-MAH-TOE. We know what we are discussing, yet the question exists. People may differ in their "sensitivity" but there is still general understanding of the concept, or in the case of uncanny, that weird feeling you just can't put your finger on.

Phrase

"Unintended Repetition"

Much of Freud's The Uncanny is about repetition. The repression of "frightening elements" often leads to their return, for example (147). Furthermore, in Freud's discussion of "doubleness" he notes that there is a "constant reccurring of the same thing, the repetition of the same facial features, the same characters, the same destinies..." (142). These are all intentional things, or so it would seem, since in the latter example Freud says that a person may choose that identification with someone else (142). This makes the idea of unintentionally repeating something--like when Freud wanders back to the little Italian houses (admitedly without asking for directions)-- an interesting contrast to this notion of an "instinctual" compulsion to repeat, and to many of his examples of uncanniness that stem from intentional repetition. Still, he says that whatever reminds us of our "inner compuslsion to repeat" makes us feel that uncanniness, and his examples of unintended repetition remind us of that (144;145).

WORD- UNCANNY

The main aim of Freud's essay is to accurately define "the uncanny;" therefore, I thought it would be practical and interesting to see how the OED online and other dictionaries online define the word. The definition that relates the best and incorporates many of the same aspects that Freud saw as important is given by the OED. Definition 4B reads, "Partaking of a supernatural character; mysterious, weird, uncomfortably strange or unfamiliar. (Common from c 1850.)" In addition, dictionary.com defines uncanny as "having or seeming to have a supernatural or inexplicable basis; beyond the ordinary or normal; extraordinary: uncanny accuracy; an uncanny knack of foreseeing trouble." Both definitions get at the Freudian belief that the uncanny is characterized by the uncertain. For example, they both use synonyms for uncertainty such as "unfamiliar" in the OED definition and "extraordinary" in the dictionary.com definition. Freud, however, adds more to his definition. He states that the uncanny can also result from what he calls "unintended repetition," which is when an unimportant common event unexpectedly occurs repeatedly.

The Others=The Uncanny?

Sorry I could not find a way to upload the actual scene from this movie that I will be showing in class. At any rate...

The Others engages numerous concepts discussed in Freud's essay on the Uncanny, and I believe that the film, in many ways, can serve to augment understanding of Freud's essay.

The film concerns a mother and her two photosensitive children, who have been cloistered in their home on an isolated island while the man of the house is away at war. A family that claims to have been servants in the house years before, comes back to serve the new lady of the house; soon after, Grace and her children start to believe the house is 'haunted' when in actuality, living beings are inhabiting it. Grace and her children do not know they are dead, whereas the family serving them is aware that in fact, both families are dead.

-They do not know they are dead because they have repressed the incident of their deaths. That which is secret becomes un-secret to them (p.133 & 134)

-They live in a 'house' they belive to be 'haunted' (which is infact inhabited by Alive human beings)

-Grace (the mother), while trying to go to town, is "lost in a fog" (p.144) only to return to the same spot; only to encounter "the familiar" (i.e. her husband), at which point her husband remarks that he has been looking for "home." We can also presume he is dead. His return home, and then subsequent abandonment is one of the more interesting questions to ponder...that is...why does he leave? Is it because he can see his wife doesn't know she is dead, because he is afraid of being dead, or perhaps, because of a fear of the "uncanny"? (What does that have to do with the sense of uncanniness toward the female genetalia?) (P.151) is this Charles' repression of home=uncanny, or repression of death? (Half of what Freud says can not be applied to women! Hello mysogyny, p.140-castration complex, p.151-female genitalia as foreign)

-The constant and eternal repetition of their lives (the servants and the family) since they do not know they are dead (recall the incantation at the end of the movie "the house is ours") (p.144)

PRECIS: Your Fanny is "Uncanny"

In this text, Freud attempts to describe the uncanny as an offshoot of the "realm of the frightening" (123). The uncanny is not only what is unfamiliar and therefore scary, but specifically what has been familiar before. The "unhomely," or uncanny, is directly related to "the homely." Freud gives several examples of the uncanny throughout the text, which he lists on pg. 149: Animism (using the Sandman story to illustrate a doll-like mechanical person, as well as the uncanny Sandman and uncanny experiences of Nicholas's), magic/sorcery, the omnipotence of thoughts, unintended repetition (a type of deja vu) and the castration complex (we are afraid of losing appendages). The way Freud presents the uncanny is as a whole different breed of horror than just fear. The uncanny touches a person on a deeper level, bringing hidden or buried personal fears to the surface. Some of these fears may be infantile, as with the castration complex, which means that it stems from a fear that a person may have had since infancy. For example, Freud talks of the infantile wish of girls to have their dolls come alive. I will admit that when I would go on family vacations, I would pretend that my dolls had come to life while I was gone and had moved. I was not afraid of this prospect--in fact I hoped it would have happened--which further illustrated that the uncanny is not necessarily the same as fear.

Another example Freud gives is the "motif of the double" (142). It relates to mirror images and shadows, and Freud supposes that it also relates to the immortal soul. The double is insurance for humans that their continued existence. The double in this text interestingly enough seems related to Plato's shadows on the ground and the mirror theory of Irigaray.

Freud's most interesting use of the uncanny, though, is the female genitals. It's where we came from, which makes it familiar, and yet many neurotic men find it uncanny.

Word: Uncanny

According to Wikipedia, The Uncanny is a "Freudian concept of an instance where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time, resulting in a feeling of it being uncomfortably strange." 

It also has a brief section at the bottom of the page describing it's etymology - or rather stating that "the word itself does not convey its actual meaning." So, although the word seems familiar to us, its meaning is unfamiliar in its context. However, in it's case, in stead of rejecting it completely (as it is simply a word and not a concept), we rely on the meaning that is familiar, regardless of whether or not it is correct.  While etymology was not Freud's exact discussion, it's a bit uncanny that the word 'uncanny' fits it's own description, even though it doesn't shut down our reasoning. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Uncanny

WORD: heimlich

Heimlich: secret, clandestine, furtive. Langescheidt Standard Dictionary German 1993

Freud used heimlich to help enhance his definition of unheimlich, or the uncanny. I found that interesting because I had simply assumed the definition of heimlich would be the opposite of unheimlich. I attempted to start with the OED, but found that there was no definition for the word heimlich, but there was a definition for unheimlich. Based on the meaning I found in Langenscheidt, how heimlich helped to define unheimlich became a little clearer; when one finds out a secret, there is a tendency to feel an uncanny sensation. The person believes he/she should have seen it the whole time, or how could they not have seen the signs leading up to the big reveal. The normal or everyday suddenly becomes unnatural or surprising, leading to a sensation of the "uncanny".

Phrase: something that should have remained hidden and has come into the open

One of the main definitions for “uncanny” is given as “something that should have remained hidden and has come into the open” (148). One of the definitions given in the beginning is “unhomely,” which is similar to “unfamiliar.” In the beginning, Freud states that things are frightening to us because they are unfamiliar. I found this phrase/definition interesting because he says that we as humans are always looking for patterns, and something is usually uncanny because it has been strangely repeated. However, the phrase says that some (most? all?) of these things are actually repressed experiences. So, something uncanny is familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. I’m not sure if Freud has any theories on déjà vu, but the two ideas seem almost identical. Déjà vu is in itself, of course, an uncanny experience, but he makes no mention of the actual words in this text. Is this the beginning of the idea of déjà vu, or is Freud just trying to go a different route?


Not used to write this entry, but interesting: Wikipedia article on déjà vu

Precis: das Heimlich und das Unheimlich, Two Sides of a Single Coin

The major argument Freud undertakes is tied up in his statement that "the uncanny is in some way a species of the familiar." The most grim and macabre instances of uncanniness come from things that are eerily familiar, yet at the same time strangely unknown. Freud discusses the frightening aspect of the double because of its similarity to the self (Doppelganger). This and other disturbing "unintended repetitions" of events or things in our lives cause us fear, even to the point that we can be afraid of being "excessively fortunate." We fear to know too much. The greater the deviation from the everyday (the less time between one seeing the "number 62" repeated, the amount of time between one making a prophetic statement and it becoming reality etc.) the more frighteningly uncanny something is.

Word: Repressed

REPRESSED (v): According to dictionary.com one definition of repressed means: "To exclude (painful or disturbing memories, for example) automatically or unconsciously from the conscious mind" (http://dictionary.reference.com/) Freud uses this term a couple times throughout his essay saying that a cause of the uncanny can be something that was once frightening being repressed and then returns. He gave an example of the Sand-Man. A young boy was once severely frightened by the "Sand-Man." After some time getting help, he had his life back on track. The man was even to be married soon. The feeling of the uncanny returned when the man saw the man whom he thought was the Sand-Man, bringing back all of the horrible feelings, eventually causing his death.

We have nothing to fear but psychoanalysis. I mean repression.

In "The Uncanny" Sigmund Freud attempts to define through psychoanalytic hop-scotch just what the uncanny entails. Freud of course begins with giving us multi-lingual definitions of the word but as he illustrates, you just can't pin point its essence in a word. The uncanny is a certain feeling that humans have inherited from the primitive man. The uncanny is not the easy cop out, "the unknown" that everyone concludes. Rather one must know through undercurrent similiarities in illustrations how to fully acquire and understand the nature of the uncanny. He concludes that "this uncanny element is actually nothing new or strange, but something that was long familiar to the psyche and was estranged from it only through being repressed."(p. 148) If psychoanalysis did anything for Freud other than convince him everyone wants a penis, he learned that finding the root of our emotions is not the straight path.

Word: EGO

The word ego appears several times in Freud's "The Uncanny."  He uses the word when describing his concept of the 'double' in relation to the uncanny (142-3).  According to Merriam-Webster Online, the ego is "one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory that serves as the organized conscious mediator between the person and reality especially by functioning both in the perception of and adaptation to reality."  To best understand Freud's concept of the ego, compare this definition to super-ego and id.  Also, Wikipedia has an informative entry under "Id, ego, and super-ego."

How Weird Is Intellectual Uncertainty?

What Freud does in “The Uncanny” is try to define the unnatural things that creep into our affecting impulses. He notes the previous study of common aesthetics as purely concerned with positive emotions. Through his comparison of the definitions of German words Heimlich and Unheimlich, and analysis of “The Sandman” in which he thinks the uncanny is used as a literary device, Freud persuades the reader into the unknown territory of the eerie. “[T]he uncanny would always be an area in which a person was unsure of his way around” (Freud; p. 125). Some clear examples of the uncanny that I took from the reading seem to be coincidence or déjà vu, feeling an oddness, like something unnatural is occurring.