1lL UN(ANN\

Sigmund lreud
I
It is onlv rarelv that a psvcho-analvst eels impelled to inestigate the subject o aesthetics. een when
aesthetics is understood to mean not merelv the theorv o beautv but the theorv o the qualities o eeling.
le works in other strata o mental lie and has little to do with the subdued emotional impulses which.
inhibited in their aims and dependent on a host o concurrent actors. usuallv urnish the material or the
studv o aesthetics. But it does occasionallv happen that he has to interest himsel in some particular
proince o that subject: and this proince usuallv proes to be a rather remote one. and one which has
been neglected in the specialist literature o aesthetics.
1he subject o the 'uncannv' is a proince o this kind. It is undoubtedlv related to what is rightening - to
what arouses dread and horror: equallv certainlv. too. the word is not alwavs used in a clearlv deinable
sense. so that it tends to coincide with what excites ear in general. \et we mav expect that a special core o
eeling is present which justiies the use o a special conceptual term. One is curious to know what this
common core is which allows us to distinguish as 'uncannv': certain things which lie within the ield o
what is rightening.
As good as nothing is to be ound upon this subject in comprehensie treatises on aesthetics. which in
general preer to concern themseles with what is beautiul. attractie and sublime: that is. with eelings o
a positie nature: and with the circumstances and the objects that call them orth. rather than with the
opposite eelings o repulsion and distress. I know o onlv one attempt in medico-psvchological literature. a
ertile but not exhaustie paper bv Jentsch 1906,. But I must coness that I hae not made a erv
thorough examination o the literature. especiallv the oreign literature. relating to this present modest
contribution o mine. or reasons which. as mav easilv be guessed. lie in the times in which we lie: so that
mv paper is presented to the reader without anv claim to prioritv.
In his studv o the 'uncannv': Jentsch quite rightlv lavs stress on the obstacle presented bv the act that
people arv so erv greatlv in their sensitiitv to this qualitv o eeling. 1he writer o the present
contribution. indeed. must himsel plead guiltv to a special obtuseness in the matter. where extreme
delicacv o perception would be more in place. It is long since he has experienced or heard o anvthing
which has gien him an uncannv impression. and he must start bv translating himsel into that state o
eeling. bv awakening in himsel the possibilitv o experiencing it. Still. such diiculties make themseles
powerullv elt in manv other branches o aesthetics: we need not on that account despair o inding
instances in which tee qualitv in question will be unhesitatinglv recognized bv most people.
1wo courses are open to us at the outset. Lither we can ind out what meaning has come to be attached to
the word 'uncannv' in the course o its historv: or we can collect all those properties o persons. things.
sense-impressions. experiences and situations which arouse in us the eeling o uncanniness. and then iner
the unknown nature o the uncannv rom what all these examples hae in common. I will sav at once that
both courses lead to the same result: the uncannv is that class o the rightening which leads back to what
is known o old and long amiliar. low this is possible. in what circumstances the amiliar can become
uncannv and rightening. I shall show in what ollows. Let me also add that mv inestigation was actuallv
begun bv collecting a number o indiidual cases. and was onlv later conirmed bv an examination o
linguistic usage. In this discussion. howeer. I shall ollow the reerse course.
1he German word vvbeivticbis obiouslv the opposite o beivticb |'homelv'|. beivi.cb |'natie'| the
opposite o what is amiliar: and we are tempted to conclude that what is 'uncannv' is rightening preciselv
because it is vot known and amiliar. Naturallv not eervthing that is new and unamiliar is rightening.
howeer: the relation is not capable o inersion.
\e can onlv sav that what is noel can easilv become rightening but not bv anv means all. Something has
to be added to what is noel and unamiliar in order to make it uncannv.
On the whole. Jentsch did not get bevond this relation o the uncannv to the noel and unamiliar. le
ascribes the essential actor in the production o the eeling o uncanniness to intellectual uncertaintv: so
that the uncannv would alwavs. as it were. be something one does not know one's wav about in. 1he better
orientated in his enironment a person is. the less readilv will he get the impression o something uncannv
in regard to the objects and eents in it.
It is not diicult to see that this deinition is incomplete. and we will thereore trv to proceed bevond the
equation 'uncannv' as 'unamiliar'. \e will irst turn to other languages. But the dictionaries that we consult
tell us nothing new. perhaps onlv because we ourseles speak a language that is oreign. Indeed. we get an
impression that manv languages are without a word or this particular shade o what is rightening.
I should like to express mv indebtedness to Dr. 1heodor Reik or the ollowing excerpts:
Latin: K.L. Georges. Deutschlateinisches buch. 1898,. An uncannv place: locus suspectus: at an uncannv
time o night: intempesta nocte.
Greek: Rost's and Schenkl's Lexikons,. Leros i.e.. strange. oreign,.
Lnglish: rom the dictionaries o Lucas. Bellows. llumlgel and Muret-Sanders,. Uncomortable. uneasv.
gloomv. dismal. uncannv. ghastlv: o a house, haunted: o a man, a repulsie ellow.
lrench: Sachs-Villatte,. Inquitant. sinistre. lugubre. mal a son aise.
Spanish: 1ollhausen. 1889,. Sospechoso. de mal aguro. lgubre. siniestro.
1he Italian and Portuguese languages seem to content themseles with words which we should describe as
circumlocutions. In Arabic and lebrew uncannv` means the same as daemonic`. gruesome`.
Let us thereore return to the German language. In Daniel Sanders`s \orterbuch der Deutschen Sprache
1860. 1. 29,. the ollowing entrv. which I here reproduce in ull. is to be ound

under the word heimlich`. I hae laid stress on one or two passages bv italicizing them.
eivticb. adj.. subst. eivticb/eit pl. eivticb/eitev,: I. Also beiveticb. beivetig. belonging to the house. not
strange. amiliar. tame. intimate. riendlv. etc.
a, Obsolete, belonging to the house or the amilv. or regarded as so belonging c. Latin tavitiari..
amiliar,: Die eivticbev. the members o the household: Der beivticbe Rat Gen. xli. 45: 2 Sam. xxiii. 23: I
(hron. xii. 25: \isd. iii. 4,. now more usuallv Cebeiver Rat |Priv (ouncillor|.
b, O animals: tame. companionable to man. As opposed to wild. e.g.. Animals which are neither wild nor
beivticb`. etc. \ild animals . that are trained to be beivticb and accustomed to men.` I these voung
creatures are brought up rom earlv davs among men thev become quite beivticb. riendlv` etc. - So also:
It the lamb, is so beivticb and eats out o mv hand.` Neertheless. the stork is a beautiul beiveticb bird.`
c, Intimate. riendlv comortable: the enjovment o quiet content. etc.. arousing a sense o agreeable
restulness and securitv as in one within the our walls o his house. Is it still beivticb to vou in vour countrv
where strangers are elling vour woods` She did not eel too beivticb with him.` Along a high. beivticb.
shadv path .. beside a purling. gushing and babbling woodland brook.` 1o destrov the eivticb/eit o the
home.` I could not readilv ind another spot so intimate and beivticb as this.` \e pictured it so
comortable. so nice. so cosv and beivticb.` In quiet eivticb/eit. surrounded bv close walls.` A careul
housewie. who knows how to make a pleasing eivticb/eit tav.ticb/eit |domesticitv|, out o the smallest
means.` 1he man who till recentlv had been so strange to him now seemed to him all the more beivticb.`
1he protestant land-owners do not eel . beivticb among their catholic ineriors.` \hen it grows beivticb
and still. and the eening quiet alone watches oer vour cell.` Ouiet. loelv and beivticb. no place more
itted or the rest.` le did not eel at all beivticb about it.` - Also. |in compounds| 1he place was so
peaceul. so lonelv. so shadilv-beivticb.` 1he in- and outlowing waes o the current. dreamv and lullabv-
beivticb.` (. in especial |vbeivticb |see below|. Among Swabian Swiss authors in especial. oten as a
trisvllable: low beiveticb it seemed to Io again o an eening. when he was at home.` It was so beivetig in
the house.` 1he warm room and the beivetig aternoon.` \hen a man eels in his heart that he is so small
and the Lord so great - that is what is trulv beivetig.` Little bv little thev grew at ease and beivetig among
themseles.` lriendlv eivetig/eit.` I shall be nowhere more heimelich than I am here.` 1hat which comes
rom aar . assuredlv does not lie quite beivetig tbeivatticb |at home|. trevvavacbbarticb |in a neighbourlv
wav|, among the people.` 1he cottage where he had once sat so oten among his own people. so beivetig.
so happv.` 1he sentinel`s horn sounds so beivetig rom the tower. and his oice inites so hospitablv.` \ou
go to sleep there so sot and warm. so wonderullv beiv`tig.` - )bi. torv ot tbe rora ae.erre. to becove geverat iv
oraer to protect tbi. pertectty gooa .ev.e ot tbe rora trov becovivg ob.otete tbrovgb av ea.y covtv.iov ritb II |see below|.
(: ")be Zec/. |a amilv name| are att beivticb`. in sense II, "`eivticb`. . !bat ao yov vvaer.tava by
beivticb`. !ett. . tbey are ti/e a bvriea .privg or a arieavp pova. Ove cavvot rat/ orer it ritbovt atray. barivg tbe
teetivg tbat rater vigbt cove vp tbere agaiv. Ob. re catt it vvbeivticb`: yov catt it beivticb`. !ett. rbat va/e. yov
tbiv/ tbat tbere i. .ovetbivg .ecret ava vvtrv.trortby abovt tbi. tavity.` tCvt./or).
1. d, Lspeciallv in Silesia: gav. cheerul: also o the weather.
II. (oncealed. kept rom sight. so that others do not get to know o or about it. withheld rom others. 1o
do something beivticb. i.e.. behind someone`s back: to steal awav beivticb: beivticb meetings and
appointments: to look on with beivticb pleasure at someone`s discomiture: to sigh or weep beivticb: to
behae beivticb. as though there was something to conceal: beivticb loe-aair. loe. sin: beivticb places
which good manners oblige us to conceal, 1 Sam. V. 6. 1he beivticb chamber` priv, 2 Kings x. 2.,.
Also. the beivticb chair`. 1o throw into pits or eivticb/eitev`. - Led the steeds beivticb beore Laomedon.`
- As secretie. beivticb. deceitul and malicious towards cruet masters . as rank. open. svmpathetic and
helpul towards a riend in misortune.` \ou hae still to learn what is beivticb holiest to me.` 1he beivticb
art` magic,. \here public entilation has to stop. there beivticb conspirators and the loud battle-crv o
proessed reolutionaries.` A holv. beivticb eect.` I hae roots that are most beivticb. I am grown in the
deep earth.` Mv beivticb pranks.` I he is not gien it openlv and scrupulouslv he mav seize it beivticb and
unscrupulouslv.` le had achromatic telescopes constructed beivticb and secretlv.` lenceorth I desire that
there should be nothing beivticb anv longer between us.` - 1o discoer. disclose. betrav someone`s
teivticb/eitev: to concoct eivticb/eitev behind mv back`. In mv time we studied eivticb/eit.` 1he hand
o understanding can alone undo the powerless spell o the eivticb/eit o hidden gold,.` Sav. where is the
place o concealment . in what place o hidden eivticb/eit.` Bees. who make the lock o eivticb/eitev`
i.e.. sealing-wax,. "learned in strange eivticb/eitev` magic arts,.
lor compounds see aboe. Ic. Note especiallv the negatie vv: eerie. weird. arousing gruesome ear:
Seeming quite vvbeivticb and ghostlv to biv.` 1he vvbeivticb. earul hours o night.` I had alreadv long
since elt an vvbeivicb`. erev gruesome eeling.` Now I am beginning to hae an vvbeivticb eeling.` . leels
an vvbeivticb horror.` |vbeivticb and motionless like a stone image.` 1he vvbeivticb mist called hill-og.`
1hese pale vouths are vvbeivrticb and are brewing heaen knows what mischie.` "Unheivticb i. tbe vave tor
ererytbivg tbat ovgbt to bare revaivea ... .ecret ava biaaev bvt ba. cove to tigbt` Schelling,.- 1o eil the diine. to
surround it with a certain |vbeivticb/eit.` - |vbeivticb is not oten used as opposite to meaning II aboe,.
\hat interests us most in this long extract is to ind that among its dierent shades o meaning the word
beivticb`` exhibits one which is identical with its opposite. vvbeirvticb`. \hat is beivticb thus comes to be
vvbeivticb. (. the quotation rom Gutzkow: \e call it vvbeivticb: vou call it beivticb.`) In general we are
reminded that the word beivticb` is not unambiguous. but belongs to two sets o ideas. which. without
being contradictorv. are vet erv dierent: on the one hand it means what is amiliar and agreeable. and on
the other. what is concealed and kept out o sight. Unheimlich` is customarilv used. we are told. as the
contrarv onlv o the irst signiication o` beivticb`. ava not o the second. Sanders tells us nothing
concerning a possible genetic connection between these two meanings o beivticb. On the other hand. we
notice that Schelling savs something which throws quite a new light on the concept o the |vbeivticb. or
which we were certainlv not prepared. According to him. eervthing is vvbeivticb that ought to hae
remained secret and hidden but has come to light.
Some o the doubts that hae thus arisen are remoed i we consult Grimm`s dictionarv. 18. 4. Part 2.
83 .,
\e read:
eivticb: adj. and ad. rervacvtv.. occvttv.: MlG. heimelich. heimlich.
P. 84., In a slightlv dierent sense: I eel beivticb. well. ree rom ear.` . . .
|3| tb) eivticb is also used o a place ree rom ghostlv inluences . amiliar. riendlv. intimate.
P. 85: |, lamiliar. amicable. unresered.
lrom the idea o homelike`. belonging to the house`. the urther idea is deeloped o
.ovetbivg ritbararv trov tbe eye. ot .travger.. .ovetbivg covceatea. .ecret: ava tbi. iaea i. epavaea iv vavy ray. .
P. 86., On the let bank o the lake there lies a meadow beivticb in the wood.` Schiller. !itbetv )ett. 1. 4.,
. Poetic licence. rarelv so used in modern speech . eivticb i. used in conjunction with a erb
expressing the act o concealing: In the secret o his tabernacle he shall hide me beivticb.` Ps. xxii. 5., .
eivticb parts o the human bodv. pvaevaa . the men that died not were smitten on their beivticb parts.` 1
Samuel . 12., .
1. Oicials who gie important adice which has to be kept secret in matters o state are
called beivticb councillors: the adjectie. according to modern usage. has been replaced bv
gebeiv |secret| ... Pharaoh called Joseph`s name "him to whom secrets are reealed"`
beivticb councillor,. Gen. xli. 45.,


P. 88., 6. eivticb. as used o knowledge - mvstic. allegorical: a beivticb meaning. vy.ticv.. airivv.. occvttv..
tigvratv..
P. 88., eivticb in a dierent sense. as withdrawn rom knowledge. unconscious . eivticb also has the
meaning o that which is obscure. inaccessible to knowledge . Do vou not see 1hev do not trust us:
thev ear the beivticb ace o the Duke o lriedland.` Schiller. !attev.teiv. ager. ceve 2.)
. )be votiov ot .ovetbivg biaaev ava aavgerov.. rbicb i. epre..ea iv tbe ta.t
paragrapb. i. .titt tvrtber aeretopea. .o tbat beivticb` cove. to bare tbe veavivg v.vatty a.cribea to vvbeivticb`. 1hus: At
times I eel like a man who walks in the night and beliees in ghosts: eerv corner is beivticb and ull o
terrors or him`. Klinger. )beater. 3. 298.,

1hus beivticb is a word the meaning o which deelops in the direction o ambialence. until it inallv
coincides with its opposite. vvbeivticb. |vbeivticb is in some wav or other a sub-species o beivticb. Let us
bear this discoerv in mind. though we cannot vet rightlv understand it. alongside o Schelling`s deinition
o the |vbeivticb. I we go on to examine indiidual instances o uncanniness. these hints will become
intelligible to us.


II

\hen we proceed to reiew things. persons. impressions. eents and situations which are able to arouse in
us a eeling o the uncannv in a particularlv orcible and deinite orm. the irst requirement is obiouslv to
select a suitable example to start on. Jentsch has taken as a erv good instance doubts whether an
apparentlv animate being is reallv alie: or conerselv. whether a lieless object might not be in act
animate`: and he reers in this connection to the impression made bv waxwork igures. ingeniouslv
constructed dolls and automata. 1o these he adds the uncannv eect o epileptic its. and o maniestations
o insanitv. because these excite in the spectator the impression o automatic. mechanical processes at work
behind the `ordinarv appearance o mental actiitv. \ithout entirelv accepting this author`s iew. we will
take it as a starting point or our own inestigation because in what ollows he reminds us o a writer who
has succeeded in producing uncannv eects better than anvone else.
Jentsch writes: 'In telling a storv one o the most successul deices or easilv creating uncannv eects is to
leae the reader in uncertaintv whether a particular igure in the storv is a human being or an automaton
and to do it in such a wav that his attention is not ocused directlv upon his uncertaintv. so that he mav not
be led to go into the matter and clear it up immediatelv. 'I'hat. as we hae said. would quicklv dissipate the
peculiar emotional eect o the thing. L. 1. A. lomann has repeatedlv emploved this psvchological
artiice with success in his antastic narraties.`
1his obseration. undoubtedlv a correct one. reers primarilv to the storv o 1he Sand-Man" in
lomann`s ^acbt.tvc/ev. which contains the original o Olvmpia. the doll that appears in the irst act o
Oenbach`s opera. )ate. ot ottvavv. but I cannot think - and I hope most readers o the storv will agree
with me - that the theme o the doll Olvmpia. who is to all appearances a liing being. is bv anv means
the onlv. or indeed the most important. element that must be held responsible or the quite unparalleled
atmosphere o uncanniness eoked bv the storv. Nor is this atmosphere heightened bv the act that the
author himsel treats the episode o Olvmpia with a aint touch o satire and uses it to poke un at the
voung man`s idealization o his mistress. 1he main theme o the storv is. on the contrarv. something
dierent. something which gies it its name. and which is alwavs re-introduced at critical moments: it is the
theme o the Sand-Man` who tears out children`s eves.
1his antastic tale opens with the childhood recollections o the student Nathaniel. In spite o his present
happiness. he cannot banish the memories associated with the mvsterious and terriving death o his
beloed ather. On certain eenings his mother used to send the children to bed earlv. warning them that
the Sand-Man was coming`: and. sure enough. Nathaniel would not ail to hear the heav tread o a isitor.
with whom his ather would then be occupied or the eening. \hen questioned about the Sand-Man. his
mother. it is true. denied that such a person existed except as a igure o speech: but his nurse could gie
him more deinite inormation: le`s a wicked man who comes when children won`t go to bed. and throws
handuls o sand in their eves so that thev jump out o their heads all bleeding. 1hen he puts the eves in a
sack and carries them o to the hal-moon to eed his children. 1hev sit up there in their nest. and their
beaks are hooked like owls` beaks. and thev use them to peck up naughtv bovs` and girls` eves with.`
Although little Nathaniel was sensible and old enough not to credit the igure o the Sand-Man with such
gruesome attributes. vet the dread o him became ixed in his heart. le determined to ind out what the
Sand-Man looked like: and one eening. when the Sand-Man was expected again. he hid in his ather`s
studv. le recognized the isitor as the lawver (oppelius. a repulsie person whom the children were
rightened o when he occasionallv came to a meal: and he now identiied this (oppelius with the dreaded
Sand-Man. As regards the rest o the scene. lomann alreadv leaes us in doubt whether what we are
witnessing is tee irst delirium o the panic-stricken bov. or a succession o eents which are to be regarded
in thc storv as being real. lis ather and the guest are at work at a brazier with glowing lames. 1he little
eaesdropper hears (oppelius call out: 'Lves here! Lves here!' and betravs himsel bv screaming aloud.
(oppelius seizes him and is on the point o dropping bits o red-hot coal rom the ire into his eves. and
then o throwing them into the brazier. but his ather begs him o and saes his eves. Ater this the bov
alls into a deep swoon: and a long illness brings his experience to an end. 1hose who decide in aour o
the rationalistic interpretation o the Sand-Man will not ail to recognize in the child`s phantasv the
persisting inluence o his nurse`s storv. 1he bits o sand that are to be thrown into the child`s eves turn
into bits o red-hot coal rom the lames: and in both cases thev are intended to make his eves jump out. In
the course o another isit o the Sand-Man`s. a vear later. his ather is killed in his studv bv an explosion.
1he lawver (oppelius disappears rom the place without leaing a trace behind.
Nathaniel. now a student. beliees that he has recognized this phantom o horror rom his childhood in an
itinerant optician. an Italian called Giuseppe (oppola. who at his uniersitv town. oers him weather-
glasses or sale. \hen Nathaniel reuses. the man goes on: Not weather-glasses not weather-glasses also
got ine eves. ine eves!` 1he student`s terror is allaved when he inds that the proered eves are onlv
harmless spectacles. and he buvs a pocket spv-glass rom (oppola. \ith its aid he looks across into
Proessor Spalanzani`s house opposite and there spies Spalanzani`s beautiul. but strangelv silent and
motionless daughter. Olvmpia. le soon alls in loe with her so iolentlv that. because o her. he quite
orgets the cleer and sensible girl to whom he is betrothed. But Olvmpia is an automaton whose clock-
work has been made bv Spalanzani. and whose eves hae been put in bv (oppola. the Sand-Man. 1he
student surprises the two Masters quarrelling oer their handiwork. 1he optician carries o the wooden
eveless doll: and the mechanician. Spalanzani. picks up Olvmpia`s bleeding eves rom the ground and
throws them at Nathaniel`s breast. saving that (oppola had stolen them rom the student. Nathaniel
succumbs to a resh attack o madness. and in his delirium his recollection o his ather`s death is mingled
with this new experience. lurrv up! hurrv up! ring o ire!` he cries. Spin about. ring o ire - lurrah!
lurrv up. wooden doll! loelv wooden doll. spin about - .` le then alls upon the proessor. Olvmpia`s
ather`. and tries to strangle him.
Rallving rom a long and serious illness. Nathaniel seems at last to hae recoered. le intends to marrv his
betrothed. with whom he has become reconciled. One dav he and she are walking through the citv market-
place. oer which the high tower o the 1own lall throws its huge shadow. On the girl`s suggestion. thev
climb the tower. leaing her brother. who is walking with them. down below. lrom the top. (lara`s
attention is drawn to a curious object moing along the street. Nathaniel looks at this thing through
(oppola`s spv-glass. which he inds in his pocket. and alls into a new attack o madness. Shouting Spin
about. wooden doll!` he tries to throw the girl into the gul below. ler brother. brought to her side bv her
cries. rescues her and hastens down with her to saetv. On the tower aboe. the madman rushes round.
shrieking Ring o ire. spin about!` - and we know the origin o the words. Among the people who begin
to gather below there comes orward the igure o the lawver (oppelius. who has suddenlv returned. \e
mav suppose that it was his approach. seen through the spv-glass. which threw Nathaniel into his it o
madness. As the onlookers prepare to go up and oerpower the madman. (oppelius laughs and savs: \ait
a bit: he`ll come down o himsel.` Nathaniel suddenlv stands still. catches sight o (oppelius. and with a
wild shriek \es! "ine eves - ine eves"!` lings himsel oer the parapet. \hile he lies on the paing-
stones with a shattered skull the Sand-Man anishes in the throng.
1his short summarv leaes no doubt. I think. that the eeling o something uncannv is directlv attached to
the igure o the Sand-Man. that is. to the idea o being robbed o one`s eves. and that Jentsch`s point o an
intellectual uncertaintv has nothing to do with the eect. Uncertaintv whether an object is liing or
inanimate. which admittedlv applied to the doll Olvmpia. is quite irreleant in connection with this other.
more striking instance o uncanniness. It is true that the writer creates a kind o uncertaintv in us in the
beginning bv not letting us know. no doubt purposelv. whether he is taking us into the real world or into a
purelv antastic one o his own creation. le has. o course. a right to do either: and i he chooses to stage
his action in a world peopled with spirits. demons and ghosts. as Shakespeare does in avtet. in Macbetb
and. in a dierent sense. in )be )evpe.t and . via.vvver^igbt`. Dreav. we must bow to his decision and
treat his setting as though it were real or as long as we put ourseles into this hands. But this uncertaintv
disappears in the course o lomann`s storv. and we perceie that he intends to make us. too. look
through the demon optician`s spectacles or spv-glass - perhaps. indeed. that the author in his erv own
person once peered through such an instrument. lor the conclusion o the storv makes it quite clear that
(oppola the optician reallv is the lawver (oppelius and also. thereore. the Sand-Man.
1here is no question thereore. o anv intellectual uncertaintv here: we know now that we are not supposed
to be looking on at the products o a madman's imagination. behind which we. with the superioritv o
rational minds. are able to detect the sober truth: and vet this knowledge does not lessen the impression o
uncanniness in the least degree. 1he theorv o intellectual uncertaintv is thus incapable o explaining that
impression.
\e know rom psvcho-analvtic experience. howeer. that the ear o damaging or losing one's eves is a
terrible one in children. Manv adults retain their apprehensieness in this respect. and no phvsical injurv is
so much dreaded bv them as an injurv to the eve. \e are accustomed to sav. too. that we will treasure a
thing as the apple o our eve. A studv o dreams. phantasies and mvths has taught us that anxietv about
one's eves. the ear o going blind. is oten enough a substitute or the dread o being castrated. 1he sel-
blinding o the mvthical criminal. Oedipus. was simplv a mitigated orm o the punishment o castration -
the onlv punishment that was adequate or him bv the te tatiovi.. \e mav trv on rationalistic grounds to
denv that ears about the eve are deried rom the ear o castration. and mav argue that it is erv natural
that so precious an organ as the eve should be guarded bv a proportionate dread. Indeed. we might go
urther and sav that the ear o castration itsel contains no other signiicance and no deeper secret than a
justiiable dread o this rational kind. But this iew does not account adequatelv or the substitutie relation
between the eve and the male organ which is seen to exist in dreams and mvths and phantasies: nor can it
dispel the impression that the threat o being castrated in especial excites a peculiarlv iolent and obscure
emotion. and that this emotion is what irst gies the idea o losing other organs its intense colouring. All
urther doubts are remoed when we learn the details o their 'castration complex' rom the analvsis o
neurotic patients. and realize its immense importance in their mental lie.
Moreoer. I would not recommend anv opponent o the psvcho-analvtic iew to select this particular storv
o the Sand-Man with which to support his argument that anxietv about the eves has nothing to do with
the castration complex. lor whv does lomann bring the anxietv about eves into such intimate
connection with the ather's death And whv does the Sand-Man alwavs appear as a disturber o loe le
separates the unortunate Nathaniel rom his betrothed and rom her brother. his best riend: he destrovs
the second object o his loe. Olvmpia. the loelv doll: and he dries him into suicide at the moment when
he has won back his (lara and is about to be happilv united to her. Llements in the storv like these. and
manv others. seem arbitrarv and meaningless so long as we denv all connection between ears about the eve
and castration: but thev become intelligible as soon as we replace the Sand-Man bv the dreaded ather at
whose hands castration is expected.

\e shall enture. thereore. to reer the uncannv eect o the Sand-Man to the anxietv belonging to the
castration complex o childhood. But haing reached the idea that we can make an inantile actor such as
this responsible or eelings o uncanniness. we are encouraged to see whether we can applv it to other
instances o the uncannv. \e ind in the storv o the Sand-Man the other theme on which Jentsch lavs
stress. o a doll which appears to be alie. Jentsch beliees that a particularlv aourable condition or
awakening uncannv eelings is created when there is intellectual uncertaintv whether an object is alie or
not. and when an inanimate object becomes too much like an animate one. Now. dolls are o course rather
closelv connected with childhood lie. \e remember that in their earlv games children do not distinguish at
all sharplv between liing and inanimate objects. and that thev are especiallv ond o treating their dolls like
lie people. In act. I hae occasionallv heard a woman patient declare that een at the age o eight she had
still been coninced that her dolls would be certain to come to lie i she were to look at them in a
particular. extremelv concentrated. wav. So that here. too. it is not diicult to discoer a actor rom
childhood. But. curiouslv enough. while the Sand-Man storv deals with the arousing o an earlv childhood
ear. the idea o a liing doll` excites no ear at all: children hae no ear o their dolls coming to lie. thev
mav een desire it. 1he source o uncannv eelings would not. thereore. be an inantile ear in this case.
but rather an inantile wish or een merelv an inantile belie. 1here seems to be a contradiction here: but
perhaps it is onlv a complication. which mav be helpul to us later on.

lomann is the unrialled master o the uncannv in literature. lis noel. Die tiire ae. )evtet. )be Derit`.
tiir. contains a whole mass o themes to which one is tempted to ascribe the uncannv eect o the
narratie: but it is too obscure and intricate a storv or us to enture upon a summarv o it. 1owards the
end o the book the reader is told the acts. hitherto concealed rom him. rom which the action springs:
with the result. not that he is at last enlightened. but that he alls into a state o complete bewilderment.
1he author has piled up too much material o the same kind. In consequence one`s grasp o the storv as a
whole suers. though not the impression it makes. \e must content ourseles with selecting those themes
o uncanniness which are most prominent. and with seeing whether thev too can airlv be traced back to
inantile sources. 1hese themes are all concerned with the phenomenon o the double`. which appears in
eerv shape and in eerv degree o deelopment. 1hus we hae characters who are to be considered
identical because thev look alike. 1his relation is accentuated bv mental processes leaping rom one o
these characters to another - bv what we should call telepathv -. so that the one possesses knowledge.
eelings and experience in common with the other. Or it is marked bv the act that the subject identiies
himsel with someone else. so that he is in doubt as to which his sel is. or substitutes the extraneous sel
or his own. In other words. there is a doubling. diiding and interchanging o the sel. And inallv there is
the constant recurrence o the same thing - the repetition o the same eatures or character-traits or
icissitudes. o the same crimes. or een the same names through seeral consecutie generations.
1he theme o the double` has been erv thoroughlv treated bv Otto Rank 1914,. le has gone into the
connections which the double` has with relections in mirrors. with shadows. with guardian spirits. with
the belie in the soul and with the ear o death: but he also lets in a lood o light on the surprising
eolution o the idea. lor the double` was originallv an insurance against the destruction o the ego. an
energetic denial o the power o death`. as Rank savs: and probablv the immortal` soul was the irst
double` o the bodv. 1his inention o doubling as a preseration against extinction has its counterpart in
the language o dreams. which is ound o representing castration bv a doubling or multiplication o a
genital svmbol. 1he same desire led the Ancient Lgvptians to deelop the art o making images o the dead
in lasting materials. Such ideas. howeer. hae sprung rom the soil o unbounded sel-loe. rom the
primarv narcissism which dominates the mind o the child and o primitie man. But when this stage has
been surmounted. the double` reerses its aspect. lrom haing been an assurance o immortalitv. it
becomes the uncannv harbinger o death.
1he idea o the double` does not necessarilv disappear with the passing o primarv narcissism. or it can
receie resh meaning rom the later stages o the ego`s deelopment. A special agencv is slowlv ormed
there. which is able to stand oer against the rest o the ego. which has the unction o obsering and
criticizing the sel and o exercising a censorship within the mind. and which we become aware o as our
conscience`. In the pathological case o delusions o being watched. this mental agencv becomes isolated.
dissociated rom the ego. and discernible to the phvsician`s eve. 1he act that an agencv o this kind exists.
which is able to treat the rest o the ego like an object - the act. that is. that man is capable o sel-
obseration - renders it possible to inest the old idea o a double` with a new meaning and to ascribe a
number o things to it - aboe all. those things which seem to sel-criticism to belong to the old
surmounted narcissism o earliest times.
But it is not onlv this latter material. oensie as it is to the criticism o the ego. which mav be
incorporated in the idea o a double. 1here are also all the unulilled but possible utures to which we still
like to cling in phantasv. all the striings o the ego which aderse external circumstances hae crushed.
and all our suppressed acts o olition which nourish in us the illusion o lree \ill. |(. lreud. 1901b.
(hapter XII B,.|
But ater haing thus considered the vavite.t motiation o the igure o a 'double'. we hae to admit that
none o this helps us to understand the extraordinarilv strong eeling o something uncannv that perades
the conception: and our knowledge o pathological mental processes enables us to add that nothing in this
more supericial material could account or the urge towards deence which has caused the ego to project
that material outward as something oreign to itsel. \hen all is said and done. the qualitv o uncanniness
can onlv come rom the act o the 'double' being a creation dating back to a erv earlv mental stage. long
since surmounted - a stage. incidentallv. at which it wore a more riendlv aspect. 1he 'double' has become
a thing o terror. just as. ater the collapse o their religion. the gods turned into demons.
1he other orms o ego-disturbance exploited bv lomann can easilv be estimated along the same lines as
the theme o the double`. 1hev are a harking-back to particular phases in the eolution o the sel-
regarding eeling. a regression to a time when the ego had not vet marked itsel o sharplv rom the
external world and rom other people. I beliee that these actors are partlv responsible or the impression
o uncanniness. although it is not easv to isolate and determine exactlv their share o it.
1he actor o the repetition o the same thing will perhaps not appeal to eervone as a source o uncannv
eeling. lrom what I hae obsered. this phenomenon does undoubtedlv. subject to certain conditions and
combined with certain circumstances. arouse an uncannv eeling. which. urthermore. recalls the sense o
helplessness experienced in some dream-states. As I was walking. one hot summer aternoon. through the
deserted streets o a proincial town in Italv which was unknown to me. I ound mvsel in a quarter o
whose character I could not long remain in doubt. nothing but painted women were to be seen at the
windows o the small houses. and I hastened to leae the narrow street at the next turning. But ater haing
wandered about or a time without enquiring mv wav. I suddenlv ound mvsel back in the same street.
where mv presence was now beginning to excite attention. I hurried awav once more. onlv to arrie bv
another aetovr at the same place vet a third time. Now. howeer. a eeling oercame me which I can onlv
describe as uncannv. and I was glad enough to ind mvsel back at the piazza I had let a short while
beore. without anv urther ovages o discoerv. Other situations which hae in common with mv
adenture an unintended recurrence o the same situation. but which dier radicallv rom it in other
respects. also result in the same eeling o helplessness and o uncanniness. So. or instance. when. caught
in a mist perhaps. one has lost one`s wav in a mountain orest. eerv attempt to ind the marked or amiliar
path mav bring one back again and again to one and the same spot. which one can identiv bv some
particular landmark. Or one mav wander about in a dark. strange room. looking or the door or the electric
switch. and collide time ater time with the same piece o urniture -- though it is true that Mark 1wain
succeeded bv wild exaggeration in turning this latter situation into something irresistiblv comic.
I we take another class o things. it is easv to see that there. too. it is onlv this actor o inoluntarv
repetition which surrounds what would otherwise bv innocent enough with an uncannv atmosphere. and
orces upon us the idea o something ateul and inescapable when otherwise we should hae spoken onlv
o chance`. lor instance. we naturallv attach no importance to the eent when we hand in an oercoat and
get a cloakroom ticket with the number. let us sav. 62: or when we ind that our cabin on a ship bears that
number. But the impression is altered i two such eents. each in itsel indierent. happen close together
- i we come across the number 62 seeral times in a single dav. or i we begin to notice that eervthing
which has a number - addresses. hotel rooms. compartments in railwav trains - inariablv has the same
one. or at all eents one which contains the same igures. \e do eel this to be uncannv. And unless a man
is utterlv hardened and proo against the lure o superstition. he will be tempted to ascribe a secret meaning
to this obstinate recurrence o a number: he will take it. perhaps. as an indication o the span o lie allotted
to him. Or suppose one is engaged in reading the works o the amous phvsiologist. lering. and within the
space o a ew davs receies two letters rom two dierent countries. each rom a person called lering.
though one has neer beore had anv dealings with anvone o that name. Not long ago an ingenious
scientist Kammerer. 1919, attempted to reduce coincidences o this kind to certain laws. and so deprie
them o their uncannv eect. I will not enture to decide whether he has succeeded or not.
low exactlv we can trace back to inantile psvchologv the uncannv eect o such similar recurrences is a
question I can onlv lightlv touch on in these pages: and I must reer the reader instead to another work.
alreadv completed. in which this has been gone into in detail. but in a dierent connection. lor it is
possible to recognize the dominance in the unconscious mind o a 'compulsion to repeat' proceeding rom
the instinctual impulses and probablv inherent in the erv nature o the instincts - a compulsion powerul
enough to oerrule the pleasure principle. lending to certain aspects o the mind their daemonic character.
and still erv clearlv expressed in the impulses o small children: a compulsion. too. which is responsible
or a part o the course taken bv the analvses o neurotic patients. All these considerations prepare us or
the discoerv that whateer reminds us o this inner 'compulsion to repeat' is perceied as uncannv.
Now. howeer. it is time to turn rom these aspects o the matter. which are in anv case diicult to judge.
and look or some undeniable instances o the uncannv. in the hope that an analvsis o them will decide
whether our hvpothesis is a alid one.
In the storv o "1he Ring o Polvcrates`. 1he king o Lgvpt turns awav in horror rom his host. Polvcrates.
because he sees that his riend`s eerv wish is at once ulilled. his eerv care promptlv remoed bv kindlv
ate. lis host has become uncannv` to him. lis own explanation. that the too ortunate man has to ear
the env o the gods. seems obscure to us: its meaning is eiled in mvthological language. \e will thereore
turn to another example in a less grandiose setting. In the case historv o an obsessional neurotic. I hae
described how the patient once staved in a hvdropathic establishment and beneited greatlv bv it. le had
the good sense. howeer. to attribute his improement not to the therapeutic properties o the water. but
to the situation o his room. which immediatelv adjoined that o a erv accommodating nurse. So on his
second isit to the establishment he asked or the same room. but was told that it was alreadv occupied bv
an old gentleman. whereupon he gae ent to his annovance in the words: I wish he mav be struck dead
or it.` A ortnight later the old gentleman reallv did hae a stroke. Mv patient thought this an uncannv`
experience. 1he impression o uncanniness would hae been stronger still i less time had elapsed between
his words and the untoward eent. or i he had been able to report innumerable similar coincidences. As a
matter o act. he had no diicultv in producing coincidences o this sort: but then not onlv he but eerv
obsessional neurotic I hae obsered has been able to relate analogous experiences. 1hev are neer
surprised at their inariablv running up against someone thev hae just been thinking o. perhaps or the
irst time or a long while. I thev sav one dav 'I haen't had anv news o so-and-so or a long time'. thev
will be sure to get a letter rom him the next morning. and an accident or a death will rarelv take place
without haing passed through their mind a little while beore. 1hev are in the habit o reerring to this
state o aairs in the most modest manner. saving that thev hae 'presentiments' which 'usuallv' come true.
One o the most uncannv and wide-spread orms o superstition is the dread o the eil eve. which has
been exhaustielv studied bv the lamburg oculist Seligmann 1910-11,. 1here neer seems to hae been
anv doubt about the source o this dread. \hoeer possesses something that is at once aluable and ragile
is araid o other people's env. in so ar as he projects on to them the env he would hae elt in their
place. A eeling like this betravs itsel bv a look een though it is not put into words: and when a man is
prominent owing to noticeable. and particularlv owing to unattractie. attributes. other people are readv to
beliee that his env is rising to a more than usual degree o intensitv and that this intensitv will conert it
into eectie action. \hat is eared is thus a secret intention o doing harm. and certain signs are taken to
mean that that intention has the necessarv power at its commend.
1hese last examples o the uncannv are to be reerred to the principle which I hae called 'omnipotence o
thoughts'. taking. the name rom an expression used bv one o mv patients. And now we ind ourseles on
amiliar ground. Our analvsis o instances o the uncannv has led us back to the old. animistic conception
o the unierse. 1his was characterized bv the idea that the world was peopled with the spirits o human
beings: bv the subject's narcissistic oeraluation o his own mental processes: bv the belie in the
omnipotence o thoughts and the technique o magic based on that belie: bv the attribution to arious
outside persons and things o careullv graded magical powers. or 'mama': as well as bv all the other
creations with the help o which man. in the unrestricted narcissism o that stage o deelopment. stroe to
end o the maniest prohibitions o realitv. It seems as i each one o us has been through a phase o
indiidual deelopment corresponding to this animistic stage in primitie men. that none o us has passed
through it without presering certain residues and traces o it which are still capable o maniesting
themseles. and that eervthing which now strikes us as 'uncannv' ulils the condition o touching those
residues o animistic mental actiitv within us and bringing them to expression.
At this point I will put orward two considerations which. I think. contain the gist o this short studv. In
the irst place. i psvcho-analvtic theorv is correct in maintaining that eerv aect belonging to an
emotional impulse. whateer its kind. is transormed. i it is repressed. into anxietv. then among instances
o rightening things there must be one class in which the rightening element can be shown to be
something repressed which recvr.. 1his class o rightening things would then constitute the uncannv: and it
must be a matter o indierence whether what is uncannv was itsel originallv rightening or whether it
carried some otber aect. In the second place. i this is indeed the secret nature o the uncannv. we can
understand whv linguistic usage has extended aa. eivticbe |homelv`| into its opposite. aa. |vbeivticbe p.
226,: or this uncannv is in realitv nothing new or alien. but something which is amiliar and old-established
in the mind and which has become alienated rom it onlv through the process o repression. 1his reerence
to the actor o repression enables us. urthermore. to understand Schelling`s deinition |p. 224| o the
uncannv as something which ought to hae remained hidden but has come to light.
It onlv remains or us to test our new hvpothesis on one or two more examples o the uncannv.
Manv people experience the eeling in the highest degree in relation to death and dead bodies. to the return
o the dead. and to spirits and ghosts. As we hae seen |p. 221| some languages in use to-dav can onlv
render the German expression an vvbeivticb house` bv a bavvtea house`. \e might indeed hae begun our
inestigation with this example. perhaps the most striking o all. o something uncannv. but we rerained
rom doing so because the uncannv in it is too much intermixed with what is purelv gruesome and is in
part oerlaid bv it. 1here is scarcelv anv other matter. howeer. upon which our thoughts and eelings hae
changed so little since the erv earliest times. and in which discarded orms hae been so completelv
presered under a thin disguise. as our relation to death. 1wo things account or our conseratism: the
strength o our original emotional reaction to death and the insuiciencv o our scientiic knowledge about
it. Biologv has not vet been able to decide whether death is the ineitable ate o eerv liing being or
whether it is onlv a regular but vet perhaps aoidable eent in lie. It is true that the statement All men are
mortal` is paraded in text-books o logic as an example o a general proposition: but no human being reallv
grasps it. and our unconscious has as little use now as it eer had or the idea o its own mortalitv.
Religions continue to dispute the importance o the undeniable act o indiidual death and to postulate a
lie ater death: ciil goernments still beliee that thev cannot maintain moral order among the liing i
thev do not uphold the prospect o a better lie hereater as a recompense or mundane existence. In our
great cities. placards announce lectures that undertake to tell us how to get into touch with the souls o the
departed: and it cannot be denied that not a ew o the most able and penetrating minds among our men o
science hae come to the conclusion. especiallv towards the close o their own lies. that a contact o this
kind is not impossible. Since almost all o us still think as saages do on this topic. it is no matter or
surprise that the primitie ear o the dead is still so strong within us and alwavs readv to come to the
surace on anv proocation. Most likelv our ear still implies the old belie that the dead man becomes the
enemv o his surior and seeks to carrv him o to share his new lie with him. (onsidering our
unchanged attitude towards death. we might rather enquire what has become o the repression. which is
the necessarv condition o a primitie eeling recurring in the shape o something uncannv. But repression
is there. too. All supposedlv educated people hae ceased to beliee oiciallv that the dead can become
isible as spirits. and hae made anv such appearances dependent on improbable and remote conditions:
their emotional attitude towards their dead. moreoer. once a highlv ambiguous and ambialent one. has
been toned down in the higher strata o the mind into an unambiguous eeling o pietv.
\e hae now onlv a ew remarks to add - or animism. magic and sorcerv. the omnipotence o thoughts.
man's attitude to death. inoluntarv repetition and the castration complex comprise practicallv all the
actors which turn something rightening into something uncannv.
\e can also speak o a liing person as uncannv. and we do so when we ascribe eil intentions to him. But
that is not all: in addition to this we must eel that his intentions to harm us are going to be carried out with
the help o special powers. A good instance o this is the Cettatore`. that uncannv igure o Romanic
superstition which Schaeer. with intuitie poetic eeling and proound psvcho-analvtic understanding. has
transormed into a svmpathetic character in his o.et Movttort. But the question o these secret powers
brings us back again to the realm o animism. It was the pious Gretchen`s intuition that Mephistopheles
possessed secret powers o this kind that made him so uncannv to her.

Sic hlt dass ich ganz sicher ein Genie.
Vielleieht sogar der 1euel bin.

1he uncannv eect o epilepsv and o madness has the same origin. 1he lavman sees in them the working
o orces hitherto unsuspected in his ellow-men. but at the same time he is dimlv aware o them in remote
corners o his own being. 1he Middle Ages quite consistentlv ascribed all such maladies to the inluence o
demons. and in this their psvchologv was almost correct. Indeed. I should not be surprised to hear that
psvcho-analvsis. which is concerned with laving bare these hidden orces. has itsel become uncannv to
manv people or that erv reason. In one case. ater I had succeeded - though none too rapidlv - in
eecting a cure in a girl who had been an inalid or manv vears. I mvsel heard this iew expressed bv the
patient`s mother long ater her recoerv.
Dismembered limbs. a seered head. a hand cut o at the wrist. as in a airv tale o lau's. eet which
dance bv themseles. as in the book bv Schaeer which I mentioned aboe - all these hae something
peculiarlv uncannv about them. especiallv when. as in the last instance. thev proe capable o independent
actiitv in addition. As we alreadv know. this kind o uncanniness springs rom its proximitv to the
castration complex. 1o some people the idea o being buried alie bv mistake is the most uncannv thing o
all. And vet psvcho-analvsis has taught us that this terriving phantasv is onlv a transormation o another
phantasv which had originallv nothing terriving about it at all. but was qualiied bv a certain lasciiousness
- the phantasv. I mean. o intra-uterine existence.
1here is one more point o general application which I should like to add. though. strictlv speaking. it has
been included in what has alreadv been said about animism and modes o working o the mental apparatus
that hae been surmounted: or I think it deseres special emphasis. 1his is that an uncannv eect is oten
and easilv produced when the distinction between imagination and realitv is eaced. as when something
that we hae hitherto regarded as imaginarv appears beore us in realitv. or when a svmbol takes oer the
ull unctions o the thing it svmbolizes. and so on. It is this actor which contributes not a little to the
uncannv eect attaching to magical practices. 1he inantile element in this. which also dominates the
minds o neurotics. is the oer-accentuation o psvchical realitv in comparison with material realitv - a
eature closelv allied to the belie in the omnipotence o thoughts. In the middle o the isolation o war-
time a number o the Lnglish trava Maga.ive ell into mv hands: and. among other somewhat redundant
matter. I read a storv about a voung married couple who moe into a urnished house in which there is a
curiouslv shaped table with carings o crocodiles on it. 1owards eening an intolerable and erv speciic
smell begins to perade the house: thev stumble oer something in the dark: thev seem to see a ague orm
gliding oer the stairs - in short. we are gien to understand that the presence o the table causes ghostlv
crocodiles to haunt the place. or that the wooden monsters come to lie in the dark. or something o that
sort. It was a nae enough storv. but the uncannv eeling it produced was quite remarkable.
1o conclude this collection o examples. which is certainlv not complete. I will relate an instance taken
rom psvcho-analvtic experience: i it does not rest upon mere coincidence. it urnishes a beautiul
conirmation o our theorv o the uncannv. It oten happens that neurotic men declare that thev eel there
is something uncannv about the emale genital organs. 1his vvbeivticb place. howeer. is the entrance to the
ormer eiv |home| o all human beings. to the place where each one o us lied once upon a time and in
the beginning. there is a joking saving that Loe is home-sickness`: and wheneer a man dreams o a place
or a countrv and savs to himsel. while he is still dreaming: this place is amiliar to me. I`e been here
beore`. we mav interpret the place as being his mother`s genitals or her bodv. In this case too. then. the
vvbeivticb is what was once beivi.cb. amiliar: the preix vv` |un-`| is the token o repression.

III

In the course o this discussion the reader will hae elt certain doubts arising in his mind: and he must
now hae an opportunitv o collecting them and bringing them orward.
It mav be true that the uncannv |vvbeivticb| is something which is secretlv amiliar |beivticbbeivi.cb|. which
has undergone repression and then returned rom it. and that eervthing that is uncannv ulils this
condition. But the selection o material on this basis does not enable us to sole the problem o the
uncannv. lor our proposition is clearlv not conertible. Not eervthing that ulils this condition - not
eervthing that recalls repressed desires and surmounted modes o thinking belonging to the prehistorv o
the indiidual and o the race - is on that account uncannv.
Nor shall we conceal the act that or almost eerv example adduced in support o our hvpothesis one mav
be ound which rebuts it. 1he storv o the seered hand in lau`s airv tale |p. 244| certainlv has an
uncannv eect. and we hae traced that eect back to the castration complex: but most readers will
probablv agree with me in judging that no trace o uncanniness is prooked bv lerodotus`s storv o the
treasure o Phampsinitus. in which the master-thie. whom the princess tries to hold ast bv the hand.
leaes his brother`s seered hand behind with her instead. Again. the prompt ulilment o the wishes o
Polvcrates |p. 239| undoubtedlv aects us in the same uncannv wav as it did the king o Lgvpt: vet our own
airv stories are crammed with instantaneous wish-ulilments which produce no uncannv eect whateer.
In the storv o 1he 1hree \ishes`. the woman is tempted bv the saourv smell o a sausage to wish that
she might hae one too. and in an instant it lies on a plate beore her. In his annovance at her hastiness her
husband wishes it mav hang on her nose. And there it is. dangling rom her nose. All this is erv striking
but not in the least uncannv. lairv tales quite ranklv adopt the animistic standpoint o the omnipotence o
thoughts and wishes. and vet I cannot think o anv genuine airv storv which has anvthing uncannv about
it. \e hae heard that it is in the highest degree uncannv when an inanimate object - a picture or a doll
- comes to lie: neertheless in lans Andersen`s stories the household utensils. urniture and tin soldiers
are alie. vet nothing could well be more remote rom the uncannv. And we should hardlv call it uncannv
when Pvgmalion`s beautiul statue comes to lie.
Apparent death and the re-animation o the dead hae been represented as most uncannv themes. But
things o this sort too are erv common in airv stories. \ho would be so bold as to call it uncannv. or
instance. when Snow-\hite opens her eves once more And the resuscitation o the dead in accounts o
miracles. as in the New 1estament. elicits eelings quite unrelated to the uncannv. 1hen. too. the theme
that achiees such an indubitablv uncannv eect. the unintended recurrence o the same thing. seres other
and quite dierent purposes in another class o cases. \e hae alreadv come across one example |p 23| in
which it is emploved to call up a eeling o the comic: and we could multiplv instances o this kind. Or
again. it works as a means o emphasis. and so on. And once more: what is the origin o the uncannv eect
o silence. darkness and solitude

Do not these actors point to the part plaved bv danger in the genesis o what is uncannv. notwithstanding
that in children these same actors are the most requent determinants o the expression o ear |rather
than o the uncannv| And are we ater all justiied in entirelv ignoring intellectual uncertaintv as a actor.
seeing that we hae admitted its importance in relation to death |p. 242|
It is eident thereore. that we must be prepared to admit that there are other elements besides those which
we hae so ar laid down as determining the production o uncannv eelings. \e might sav that these
preliminarv results hae satisied p.ycboavatytic interest in the problem o the uncannv. and that what
remains probablv calls or an ae.tbetic enquirv. But that would be to open the door to doubts about what
exactlv is the alue o our general contention that the uncannv proceeds rom something amiliar which
has been repressed.
\e hae noticed one point which mav help us to resole these uncertainties: nearlv all the instances that
contradict our hvpothesis are taken rom the realm o iction. o imaginatie writing. 1his suggests that we
should dierentiate between the uncannv that we actuallv experience and the uncannv that we merelv
picture or read about.
\hat is eperievcea as uncannv is much more simplv conditioned but comprises ar ewer instances. \e
shall ind. I think. that it its in perectlv with our attempt at a solution. and can be traced back without
exception to something amiliar that has been repressed. But here. too. we must make a certain important
and psvchologicallv signiicant dierentiation in our material. which is best illustrated bv turning to suitable
examples.
Let us take the uncannv associated with the omnipotence o thoughts. with the prompt ulilment o
wishes. with secret injurious powers and with the return o the dead. 1he condition under which the
eeling o uncanniness arises here is unmistakable. \e - or our primitie oreathers - once belieed
that these possibilities were realities. and were coninced that thev actuallv happened. Nowadavs we no
longer beliee in them. we hae .vrvovvtea these modes o thought: but we do not eel quite sure o our
new belies. and the old ones still exist within us readv to seize upon anv conirmation. As soon as
something actvatty bappev. in our lies which seems to conirm the old. discarded belies we get a eeling o
the uncannv: it is as though we were making a judgement something like this: So. ater all. it is trve that one
can kill a person bv the mere wish!` or. So the dead ao lie on and appear on the scene o their ormer
actiities!` and so on. (onerselv. anvone who has completelv and inallv rid himsel o animistic belies
will be insensible to this tvpe o the uncannv. 1he most remarkable coincidences o wish and ulilment.
the most mvsterious repetition o similar experiences in a particular place or on a particular date. the most
deceptie sights and suspicious noises - none o these things will disconcert him or raise the kind o ear
which can be described as a ear o something uncannv`. 1he whole thing is purelv an aair o realitv-
testing`. a question o the material realitv o the phenomena.
1he state o aairs is dierent when the uncannv proceeds rom repressed inantile complexes. rom the
castration complex. womb-phantasies. etc.` but experiences which arouse this kind o uncannv eeling are
not o erv requent occurrence in real lie. 1he uncannv which proceeds rom actual experience belongs
or the most part to the irst group |the group dealt with in the preious paragraph|. Neertheless the
distinction between the two is theoreticallv erv important. \here the uncannv comes rom inantile
complexes the question o material realitv does not arise: its place is taken bv psvchical realitv. \hat is
inoled is an actual repression o some content o thought and a return o this repressed content. not a
cessation o betiet iv tbe reatity o such a content. \e might sav that in the one case what had been repressed
is a particular ideational content. and in the other the belie in its material, realitv. But this last phrase no
doubt extends the term repression` bevond its legitimate meaning. It would be more correct to take into
account a psvchological distinction which can be detected here. and to sav that the animistic belies o
ciilized people are in a state o haing been to a greater or lesser extent, .vrvovvtea |rather than
repressed|. Our conclusion could then be stated thus: an uncannv experience occurs either when inantile
complexes which hae been repressed are once more reied bv some impression. or when primitie
belies which hae been surmounted seem once more to be conirmed. linallv. we must not let our
predilection or smooth solutions and lucid exposition blind us to the act that these two classes o
uncannv experience are not alwavs sharplv distinguishable. \hen we consider that primitie belies are
most intimatelv connected with inantile complexes. and are. in act. based on them. we shall not be greatlv
astonished to ind that the distinction is oten a hazv one.
1he uncannv as it is depicted in titeratvre. in stories and imaginatie productions. merits in truth a separate
discussion. Aboe all. it is a much more ertile proince than the uncannv in real lie. or it contains the
whole o the latter and something more besides. something that cannot be ound in real lie. 1he contrast
between what has been repressed and what has been surmounted cannot be transposed on to the uncannv
in iction without proound modiication: or the realm o phantasv depends or its eect on the act that
its content is not submitted to realitv-testing. 1he somewhat paradoxical result is that iv tbe tir.t ptace a great
aeat tbat i. vot vvcavvy iv tictiov rovta be .o it it bappevea iv reat tite: ava iv tbe .ecova ptace tbat tbere are vavy vore
veav. ot creativg vvcavvy ettect. iv tictiov tbav tbere are iv reat tite.
1he imaginatie writer has this licence among manv others. that he can select his world o representation
so that it either coincides with the realities we are amiliar with or departs rom them in what particulars he
pleases. \e accept his ruling in eerv case. In airv tales. or instance. the world o realitv is let behind
rom the erv start. and the animistic svstem o belies is ranklv adopted. \ish-ulilments. secret powers.
omnipotence o thoughts. animation o inanimate objects. all the elements so common in airv stories. can
exert no uncannv inluence here: or. as we hae learnt. that eeling cannot arise unless there is a conlict o
judgement as to whether things which hae been 'surmounted' and are regarded as incredible mav not.
ater all. be possible: and this problem is eliminated rom the outset bv the postulates o the world o airv
tales. 1hus we see that airv stories. which hae urnished us with most o the contradictions to our
hvpothesis o the uncannv. conirm the irst part o our proposition - that in the realm o iction manv
things are not uncannv which would be so i thev happened in real lie. In the case o these stories there are
other contributorv actors. which we shall brielv touch upon later.
1he creatie writer can also choose a setting which though less imaginarv than the world o airv tales. does
vet dier rom the real world bv admitting superior spiritual beings such as daemonic spirits or ghosts o
the dead. So long as thev remain within their setting o poetic realitv. such igures lose anv uncanniness
which thev might possess. 1he souls in Dante's vtervo. or the supernatural apparitions in Shakespeare`s
avtet. Macbetb or vtiv. Cae.ar. mav be gloomv and terrible enough. but thev are no more reallv uncannv
than lomer`s joial world o gods. \e adapt our judgement to the imaginarv realitv imposed on us bv the
writer. and regard souls. spirits and ghosts as though their existence had the same aliditv as our own has in
material realitv. In this case too we aoid all trace o the uncannv.
1he situation is altered as soon as the writer pretends to moe in the world o common realitv. In this case
he accepts as well all the conditions operating to produce uncannv eelings in real lie: and eervthing that
would hae an uncannv eect in realitv has it in his storv. But in this case he can een increase his eect
and multiplv it ar bevond what could happen in realitv. bv bringing about eents which neer or erv
rarelv happen in act. In doing this he is in a sense betraving us to the superstitiousness which we hae
ostensiblv surmounted: he deceies us bv promising to gie us the sober truth. and then ater all
oerstepping it. \e react to his inentions as we would hae reacted to real experiences: bv the time we
hae seen through his trick it is alreadv too late and the author has achieed his object. But it must be
added that his success is not unalloved. \e retain a eeling o dissatisaction. a kind o grudge against the
attempted deceit. I hae noticed this particularlv ater reading Schnitzler's Die !ei..agvvg |)be Propbecy| and
similar stories which lirt with the supernatural. loweer. the writer has one more means which he can use
in order to aoid our recalcitrance and at the same time to improe his chances o success. le can keep us
in the dark or a long time about the precise nature o the presuppositions on which the world he writes
about is based. or he can cunninglv and ingeniouslv aoid anv deinite inormation on the point to the last.
Speaking generallv. howeer. we ind a conirmation o the second part o our proposition - that iction
presents more opportunities or creating uncannv eelings than are possible in real lie.
Strictlv speaking. all these complications relate onlv to that class o the uncannv which proceeds rom
orms o thought that hae been surmounted. 1he class which proceeds rom repressed complexes is more
resistant and remains as powerul in iction as in real experience. subject to one exception |see p. 252|. 1he
uncannv belonging to the irst class - that proceeding rom orms o thought that hae been surmounted
- retains its character not onlv in experience but in iction as well. so long as the setting is one o material
realitv: but where it is gien an arbitrarv and artiicial setting in iction. it is apt to lose that character.
\e hae clearlv not exhausted the possibilities o poetic licence and the priileges enjoved bv storv-writers
in eoking or in excluding an uncannv eeling. In the main we adopt an unarving passie attitude towards
real experience and are subject to the inluence o our phvsical enironment. But the storv-teller has a
pecvtiarty directie power oer us: bv means o the moods he can put us into. he is able to guide the current
o our emotions. to dam it up in one direction and make it low in another. and he oten obtains a great
arietv o eects rom the same material. All this is nothing new. and has doubtless long since been ullv
taken into account bv students o aesthetics. \e hae drited into this ield o research hal inoluntarilv.
through the temptation to explain certain instances which contradicted our theorv o the causes o the
uncannv. Accordinglv we will now return to the examination o a ew o those instances.
\e hae alreadv asked |p. 246| whv it is that the seered hand in the storv o the treasure o Rhampsinitus
has no uncannv eect in the wav that the seered hand has in lau`s storv. 1he question seems to hae
gained in importance now that we hae recognized that the class o the uncannv which proceeds rom
repressed complexes is the more resistant o the two. 1he answer is easv. In the lerodotus storv our
thoughts are concentrated much more on the superior cunning o the master-thie than on the eelings o
the princess. 1he princess mav erv well hae had an uncannv eeling. indeed she erv probablv ell into a
swoon: but re hae no such sensations. or we put ourseles in the thie's place. not in hers. In Nestrov's
arce. Der Zerri..eve |)be )orv Mav|. another means is used to aoid anv impression o the uncannv in the
scene in which the leeing man. coninced that he is a murderer. lits up one trap-door ater another and
each time sees what he takes to be the ghost o his ictim rising up out o it. le calls out in despair. 'But
I'e onlv killed ove man. \hv this ghastlv multiplication' \e know what went beore this scene and do not
share his error. so what must be uncannv to him has an irresistiblv comic eect on us. Len a 'real' ghost.
as in Oscar \ilde's Cavterritte Cbo.t. loses all power o at least arousing grve.ove eelings in us as soon as the
author begins to amuse himsel bv being ironical about it and allows liberties to be taken with it. 1hus we
see how independent emotional eects can be o the actual subject-matter in the world o iction. In airv
stories eelings o ear - including thereore uncannv eelings - are ruled out altogether. \e understand
this. and that is whv we ignore anv opportunities we ind in them or deeloping such eelings.
(oncerning the actors o silence. solitude and darkness |pp. 246-|. we can onlv sav that thev are actuallv
elements in the production o the inantile anxietv rom which the majoritv o human beings hae neer
become quite ree. 1his problem has been discussed rom a psvcho-analvtic point o iew elsewhere.
credits: 1his translation was originallv made aailable or Mark 1avlor's course on the Psvchologv o
Religion |http:www.williams.edugoReligioncoursesRel301readingtextuncannv.html|