Das Unheimliche

In this seminal essay, the author turns the analytical eye of psychoanalysis toward a rarely explored aesthetic territory: the feeling of the uncanny. He asks why certain familiar objects or experiences suddenly provoke a chilling sense of strangeness, and how this differs from ordinary fear. Drawing on earlier psychological work and linguistic history, he outlines two possible routes to understanding the uncanny – cataloguing concrete examples or tracing the word’s evolution. The argument gradually unfolds that the uncanny arises when the familiar becomes disturbingly unfamiliar.

The text weaves together literary references, clinical observations, and cultural anecdotes to illustrate how the uncanny surfaces in art, folklore, and everyday life. By examining moments when repressed memories or forgotten childhood images reappear, the author reveals a deep psychological mechanism that turns the known into the eerie. Listeners will discover a clear, thought‑provoking framework for recognizing the uncanny in their own experiences, making this exploration both intellectually rigorous and surprisingly personal.