The Uncanny through the Ages
The Uncanny through the Ages
Rana El Kholy
There is a constant Western interest in the uncanny in both medieval and modern cultures. The concept of the uncanny can be traced in Thomas Malory’s medieval romance Morte D’Arthur, H.G. Wells’ modern science fiction novel The Time Machine and in Hollywood’s movie Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi. On one hand, these works have many features in common. On the other hand, there are dissimilarities between them substantiating that they belong to different cultures.
Figure 1The Western interest in the uncanny has developed from the medieval age to the modern age. To start with, the interest in the uncanny and supernatural in the middle ages is depicted in romance literary works. In Thomas Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, there are many references to mystic things and happenings. First, there is the interest in monstrosity. Malory describes “a great giant which had slain, murdered and devoured” a lot of people. Secondly, the interest in magic is presented when it is stated that “Merlin cast an enchantment to the knight that he fell to the earth in a great sleep.” Lastly, an unnatural happening takes place when a knight is described as “invisible”. Moreover, the same interest in the uncanny is demonstrated in the late nineteenth century but in a different literary genre, science-fiction. In The Time Machine (1895), H. G. Wells depicts the Morlocks, ape-like creatures that have large eyes, white skin and fur, and are fearful of light and fire. The Time Traveller, the hero, describes them as “carnivorous”, “inhuman and malign”, having “pale, chinless faces” with “great, lidless, pinkish-grey eyes.” Furthermore, the American Hollywood movie, Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi portrays the interest in the uncanny. First of all, there is the attraction to monstrosity. In Jabba the Hutt’s palace, Luke Skywalker is dropped into the pit of the Rancor (figure 1), which is a fearsome, deadly beast with large teeth, claws and armored skin. After Luke slays it, Jabba (figure 2) condemns him along with Han Solo and Chewbacca to a slow death in the belly of Sarlacc. “In his belly,” C-3PO announces, “you will find a new definition of pain and suffering as you are slowly digested over a thousand years.” In addition, spirits of dead characters appear at the
Figure 2end of the movie. Luke catches sight of the spirit figures of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker (figure 3), who are staring proudly back at him.
Figure 3These three different literary works of art show the similarity between the different cultures they represent. To start with, in all these works there is an interest in monstrosity. In Morte D’Arthur, there is a reference to “a great giant”. Likewise, the Time Traveller describes the Morlocks in The Time Machine as “inhuman” and “carnivorous”. In the same manner, different beasts are portrayed in Star Wars, such as the Rancor and the Sarlacc. Moreover, in each of these works, there is a hero who either defeats or escapes from the monsters. A knight kills the “great giant” in Morte D’Arthur. The Time Traveller beats the Morlocks off and escapes into the future in his time machine. Similarly, Luke kills the Rancor by crushing it under a huge door and manages to escape from the painful death in the Sarlacc’s belly in Star Wars. This point of similarity indicates that in the cultures these works belong to, there is always a need for a hero to conquer evil and restore balance in society.
On the contrary, some differences can be pointed out in these works of art reflecting the different cultures they embody. First of all, each one of these works is set in a special age. Morte D’Arthur depicts the medieval age. The Time Machine is set in modern England. Star Wars movies start with the famous phrase, “Along time ago in a galaxy far, far away”. Furthermore, there is the difference of magic versus technology. Magic is rather apparent in Morte D’Arthur when Merlin casts “an enchantment to the knight” to make him fall asleep. Contrarily, in The Time Machine, new technologies are found, such as the invention of the time machine. In a similar way, there is a reference to advanced technology in Star Wars. An example is C-3PO (figure 4), a protocol droid. It is a robot that assists its owner in communicating, mainly with the translation of languages and in correctly observing the norms and etiquette of unfamiliar cultures. This point of comparison, magic versus technology, is a reflection of the various interests of people. For example, Morte D’Arthur is a representation of medieval people’s ignorance and illiteracy. They were interested only in uncanny things and obsessed only with magic. On the other hand, The Time Machine is a portrait of nineteenth century people who were interested in the uncanny phenomena
Figure 4regarding the future. Unlike for the medieval people, this was no sign of ignorance because they did not believe in magic but in the progress of technology. Finally, in Star Wars, there is an interest in other galaxies and whether there are other creatures in our universe or not. This is also not an indication of ignorance, but a mark of curiosity. The last dissimilarity between these works of art is that they belong to two different genres; romance and science-fiction. Morte D’Arthur is a romance, a European form of literature, which usually recounted the marvelous adventures of a chivalrous, heroic knight, often of super-human ability, who fought and defeated monsters and giants to win the favour of his inconsistent princess. On the other hand, The Time Machine and Star Wars movies are distinguished as science-fiction works. Science-fiction is the literature in which speculative technology, time travel, alien races, intelligent robots, gene-engineering or space travel contribute to the plot or background.
To sum up, the interest in the uncanny and the supernatural can be tracked down from the middle ages to the modern age. This can be done through the observant study of Thomas Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine and Hollywood’s movie Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi. These works of art demonstrate the similar and different features of the cultures they stand for. Hence, it has been proven that people have and will always be interested in the uncanny, the supernatural and the unreasonable, no matter what culture they belong to and no matter how modern they seem to be.
References:
* www.wikipedia.com
* www.bookrags.com
* http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/index.html
* Culture Lectures given by Dr Ahmed Gamal
* The Text of Thomas Malory’s Morte D’Arthur: http://etext.lib.vriginia.edu/ebooks/
* The Text of The Time machine: www.bookrags.com
* The Movie: Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi
Rana El Kholy
There is a constant Western interest in the uncanny in both medieval and modern cultures. The concept of the uncanny can be traced in Thomas Malory’s medieval romance Morte D’Arthur, H.G. Wells’ modern science fiction novel The Time Machine and in Hollywood’s movie Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi. On one hand, these works have many features in common. On the other hand, there are dissimilarities between them substantiating that they belong to different cultures.
Figure 1The Western interest in the uncanny has developed from the medieval age to the modern age. To start with, the interest in the uncanny and supernatural in the middle ages is depicted in romance literary works. In Thomas Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, there are many references to mystic things and happenings. First, there is the interest in monstrosity. Malory describes “a great giant which had slain, murdered and devoured” a lot of people. Secondly, the interest in magic is presented when it is stated that “Merlin cast an enchantment to the knight that he fell to the earth in a great sleep.” Lastly, an unnatural happening takes place when a knight is described as “invisible”. Moreover, the same interest in the uncanny is demonstrated in the late nineteenth century but in a different literary genre, science-fiction. In The Time Machine (1895), H. G. Wells depicts the Morlocks, ape-like creatures that have large eyes, white skin and fur, and are fearful of light and fire. The Time Traveller, the hero, describes them as “carnivorous”, “inhuman and malign”, having “pale, chinless faces” with “great, lidless, pinkish-grey eyes.” Furthermore, the American Hollywood movie, Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi portrays the interest in the uncanny. First of all, there is the attraction to monstrosity. In Jabba the Hutt’s palace, Luke Skywalker is dropped into the pit of the Rancor (figure 1), which is a fearsome, deadly beast with large teeth, claws and armored skin. After Luke slays it, Jabba (figure 2) condemns him along with Han Solo and Chewbacca to a slow death in the belly of Sarlacc. “In his belly,” C-3PO announces, “you will find a new definition of pain and suffering as you are slowly digested over a thousand years.” In addition, spirits of dead characters appear at the
Figure 2end of the movie. Luke catches sight of the spirit figures of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker (figure 3), who are staring proudly back at him.
Figure 3These three different literary works of art show the similarity between the different cultures they represent. To start with, in all these works there is an interest in monstrosity. In Morte D’Arthur, there is a reference to “a great giant”. Likewise, the Time Traveller describes the Morlocks in The Time Machine as “inhuman” and “carnivorous”. In the same manner, different beasts are portrayed in Star Wars, such as the Rancor and the Sarlacc. Moreover, in each of these works, there is a hero who either defeats or escapes from the monsters. A knight kills the “great giant” in Morte D’Arthur. The Time Traveller beats the Morlocks off and escapes into the future in his time machine. Similarly, Luke kills the Rancor by crushing it under a huge door and manages to escape from the painful death in the Sarlacc’s belly in Star Wars. This point of similarity indicates that in the cultures these works belong to, there is always a need for a hero to conquer evil and restore balance in society.
On the contrary, some differences can be pointed out in these works of art reflecting the different cultures they embody. First of all, each one of these works is set in a special age. Morte D’Arthur depicts the medieval age. The Time Machine is set in modern England. Star Wars movies start with the famous phrase, “Along time ago in a galaxy far, far away”. Furthermore, there is the difference of magic versus technology. Magic is rather apparent in Morte D’Arthur when Merlin casts “an enchantment to the knight” to make him fall asleep. Contrarily, in The Time Machine, new technologies are found, such as the invention of the time machine. In a similar way, there is a reference to advanced technology in Star Wars. An example is C-3PO (figure 4), a protocol droid. It is a robot that assists its owner in communicating, mainly with the translation of languages and in correctly observing the norms and etiquette of unfamiliar cultures. This point of comparison, magic versus technology, is a reflection of the various interests of people. For example, Morte D’Arthur is a representation of medieval people’s ignorance and illiteracy. They were interested only in uncanny things and obsessed only with magic. On the other hand, The Time Machine is a portrait of nineteenth century people who were interested in the uncanny phenomena
Figure 4regarding the future. Unlike for the medieval people, this was no sign of ignorance because they did not believe in magic but in the progress of technology. Finally, in Star Wars, there is an interest in other galaxies and whether there are other creatures in our universe or not. This is also not an indication of ignorance, but a mark of curiosity. The last dissimilarity between these works of art is that they belong to two different genres; romance and science-fiction. Morte D’Arthur is a romance, a European form of literature, which usually recounted the marvelous adventures of a chivalrous, heroic knight, often of super-human ability, who fought and defeated monsters and giants to win the favour of his inconsistent princess. On the other hand, The Time Machine and Star Wars movies are distinguished as science-fiction works. Science-fiction is the literature in which speculative technology, time travel, alien races, intelligent robots, gene-engineering or space travel contribute to the plot or background.
To sum up, the interest in the uncanny and the supernatural can be tracked down from the middle ages to the modern age. This can be done through the observant study of Thomas Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine and Hollywood’s movie Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi. These works of art demonstrate the similar and different features of the cultures they stand for. Hence, it has been proven that people have and will always be interested in the uncanny, the supernatural and the unreasonable, no matter what culture they belong to and no matter how modern they seem to be.
References:
* www.wikipedia.com
* www.bookrags.com
* http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/index.html
* Culture Lectures given by Dr Ahmed Gamal
* The Text of Thomas Malory’s Morte D’Arthur: http://etext.lib.vriginia.edu/ebooks/
* The Text of The Time machine: www.bookrags.com
* The Movie: Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi
posted by Happy-Go-Lucky @ 10:44 PM
<< Home