A1 Journal article (refereed)
“Where, Meantime, Was the Soul?” : The Uncanny as an Aesthetic Image of Impossibility (2024)
Pihlaja, E. (2024). “Where, Meantime, Was the Soul?” : The Uncanny as an Aesthetic Image of Impossibility. American Imago, 81(1), 133-154. https://doi.org/10.1353/aim.2024.a923508
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Pihlaja, Eeva
Journal or series: American Imago
ISSN: 0065-860X
eISSN: 1085-7931
Publication year: 2024
Volume: 81
Issue number: 1
Pages range: 133-154
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication country: United States
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/aim.2024.a923508
Publication open access: Not open
Publication channel open access:
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/94432
Abstract
The uncanny experience refers to unsettling feelings that emerge when confronted with events that seem remotely familiar but still strange and opaque. It relies on magical thinking, as the experience seems to take place emphatically in the sensorial realm, partly lacking symbolic quality. In this article, I approach the uncanny as representing an inability to represent, revealing discontinuities and gaps in experience. I suggest that the uncanny representation can be approached creatively and turned into an aesthetic experience. The uncanny as an aesthetic experience enables a creative elaboration of being unable to overcome a gap. Thus, it can contribute to self-growth and deepening of a subjective sense of self. To illustrate the creative potential of the uncanny I look at two examples, one from literature and the other a personal account. I further elaborate on the position of the uncanny in the field of aesthetics by comparing it with the sublime experience and suggest that the uncanny is a negative of the sublime. In the sublime, a representation of the infinite and unspeakable is formed, while the uncanny, in contrast, represents the impossibility of doing so.
Keywords: art; philosophy of art; experiences (knowledge); experiencing; aesthetics
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
VIRTA submission year: 2024
Preliminary JUFO rating: 1
