ENGL 2132 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
Document Summary
Elements of the uncanny that challenge reality, including mysterious events that cause the protagonist to question the evidence of his or her senses and the presence of seemingly supernatural beings. An exotic setting isolated in time or space from contemporary life, often a ruined mansion or castle. The building may be associated with past violence and contain contains hidden doors, subterranean secret passages, concealed staircases, and other such features. Events, often violent or macabre, that cannot be hidden or rationalized despite the efforts of the narrator. A disturbed or unnatural relation between the orders of things that are usually separate, such as life and death, good and evil, dream life and reality, or rationality and madness. A hidden or double reality beneath the surface of what at first appears to be a single narrative.
