ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The uncanny is the psychological experience of something as not simply mysterious, but creepy, often in a strangely familiar way. It may describe incidents where a familiar thing or event is encountered in an unsettling, eerie, or taboo context.

Detailed explanation-2: -Example: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Gilman’s feminist parable centers upon something that is very familiar (wallpaper) which yet evokes strange feelings and hallucinations in the character. Many critics discuss Dickens’ ghost stories as prime specimens of unheimlich.

Detailed explanation-3: -Examples of the Uncanny Examples of situations that can provoke an uncanny feeling include inanimate objects coming alive, thoughts appearing to have an effect in the real world, seeing your double (the doppelgänger effect), representations of death such as ghosts or spirits, and involuntary repetitions.

Detailed explanation-4: -The term is attributed to non-physical entities, such as angels, demons, gods, and spirits. It also includes claimed abilities embodied in or provided by such beings, including magic, telekinesis, levitation, precognition, and extrasensory perception.