Talk:Uncanny

Latest comment: 10 months ago by Schazjmd in topic Maupassant

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I need a sentence using the word uncanny. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.108.6.153 (talk) 23:29, 30 September 2008 (UTC)Reply

A quote from The Art of Lawn Tennis by William Tatem Tilden (1893-1953):
"There is no need to dwell on Brookes' shots, his marvellous mechanical perfection, his peculiar volleying style, his uncanny anticipation. All these are too well known to need my feeble description. They are but the expression of that wonderful brain and dominant personality that lie behind that sphinx-like face we know as Brookes."
Hope that helps? Hebrides (talk) 11:40, 18 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

Etymology

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The etymology section on this page doesn't make any sense. what can "the word itself does not convey its actual meaning" possibly mean. Perhaps the author was trying to get at the differences between the English word "uncanny" and the German word "unheimlich", I don't know. Could anyone more familiar with German please revise this section? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.135.226.236 (talk) 01:51, 17 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

Scope?

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The scope of this page seems unclear. There is an apparent mismatch between the (post-)Freudian scope and definition of the lead and the content of the main text, which currently starts with 19th-century German idealism (ie [1]/[2] (?) vs [3]). Suggestions? 86.181.64.64 (talk) 14:58, 12 February 2015 (UTC)Reply

The Super-ego

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Isn't the super-ego the introjected parental figure that threatens castration? This part of the article seems wrong: "Such uncanny elements are perceived as threatening by our super-ego ridden with oedipal guilt as it fears symbolic castration by punishment for deviating from societal norms." Doughboy1234 (talk) 22:57, 4 March 2016 (UTC)Reply

Meaning of "Unheimlich"

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The text puts emphasis twice on the fact that the german word means un-secret, with un being the negation and "heimlich" being the word for secret. That is only the modern meaning of these words. [1] Shows that the old meaning of "heimlich" was indeed homely, and only evolved into secret. But "unheimlich" most likely still developed at a stage where "heimlich" did not mean secret.

The german dictionary also directly cites "not homely" as source [2].

Therefore "un-secret" is a reinterpretation of the meaning, but not its original one. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.131.67.165 (talk) 13:21, 23 August 2016 (UTC)Reply

References

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First sentence: "The uncanny is the psychological experience of something as strangely familiar,..."
Last sentence: "Thus the uncanny is something outside one's familiar knowledge or perceptions."
-This doesn't actually make things a whole lot clearer. Manannan67 (talk) 18:54, 22 June 2021 (UTC)Reply

Hypothesized emotional response

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The picture representing a theory perpetuates ableism by measuring a response to a "healthy human".. compared to others that may be affected by illness or intellectual/mental disabilities (and may also be healthy). What I want is for people with disabilities to not be subjected to some idea of disabled people being "less human" in any way, including not performing actions like a person without said disabilities would. What can be done about that? 2600:4040:A034:A300:38CD:A1D9:DC04:1A8F (talk) 02:56, 23 November 2022 (UTC)Reply

Maupassant

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Here is a passage I take issue with:

"For example, and as a paradigm, Guy de Maupassant, in his story "Le Horla", describes a man who suddenly may see his own back in the mirror. His back is there, but it is deprived of the gaze of the subject. It appears to be a strange object, until he feels it is his own."

I was interested in this, but upon reading The Horla myself, I found that this doesn't actually occur in the story, I mean the part about the protagonist seeing his own back in the mirror. The word "may" in the quoted paragraph is annoyingly ambiguous as to whether or not the man seeing his own back in the mirror actually happens in the story (it doesn't). 126.72.80.141 (talk) 10:25, 12 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Having read the story, I agree that this description misrepresents it and also includes original analysis by the editor who added it. I've removed it. Schazjmd (talk) 14:07, 12 January 2024 (UTC)Reply