The Old and New Weird: A Study of Lovecraft's Legacy Focusing on the Sublime, the Uncanny, Narrative Empathy and Projection in At the Mountain of Madness, The Mist and The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
Author
Okholm, Camilla Fugleberg
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2024
Submitted on
2024-01-03
Pages
83
Abstract
This thesis examines how H.P. Lovecraft’s weird fiction has evolved in contemporary literature, focusing on At the Mountain of Madness (1936), The Mist (1980), and The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013). Methodologically, it combines close and comparative readings with atmospheric aesthetics (the sublime in Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant and the uncanny in Sigmund Freud) and affective approaches (narrative empathy in Suzanne Keen and Freud’s projection), with particular attention to first-person narrators and cosmicism. The aim is to map continuities and shifts between older weird traditions and newer weird fiction, clarifying the genre’s often ambiguous features. The analysis finds that the sublime and the uncanny operate across all three texts but are prioritized differently: Lovecraft foregrounds the sublime and atmospheric dread over empathic characterization, King builds tension through reader empathy, and Gaiman increasingly mobilizes the uncanny; at the same time, all three authors adapt key Lovecraftian elements to new purposes.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan H.P. Lovecrafts weird fiction har udviklet sig i nyere litteratur, med fokus på At the Mountain of Madness (1936), The Mist (1980) og The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013). Metodisk kombinerer studiet en nær- og sammenlignende læsning med atmosfæriske æstetikker (det sublime hos Edmund Burke og Immanuel Kant samt det uhyggelige hos Sigmund Freud) og affektive tilgange (narrativ empati hos Suzanne Keen og Freuds projektion), med særlig opmærksomhed på førstepersonsfortællere og kosmicisme. Formålet er at kortlægge både kontinuiteter og forskydninger mellem den ældre weird tradition og nyere weird fiction og dermed nuancere genrens ofte omdiskuterede kendetegn. Analysen viser, at det sublime og det uhyggelige går igen i alle tre tekster, men vægtes forskelligt: Lovecraft prioriterer det sublime og atmosfærisk gru frem for empatisk karaktertegning, King skaber spænding gennem læserens empati med karaktererne, og Gaiman anvender i stigende grad det uhyggelige; samtidig viderefører alle tre forfattere centrale Lovecraftianske elementer i nye rammer.
[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]