Concluding on Julia Kristeva's Powers of Horror (1980) and focusing here on H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928). Does Lovecraft's presentation of nameless terror capture (or improve upon) what Kristeva means by "abjection"? For the full Cthulhu experience, listen to the Phi Fic discussion of the story. If you're really hardcore, we recommend you listen to the H.P. Continue Reading …
Ep. 203: Kristeva vs. Lovecraft on Horror and Abjection (Part One)
More on Julia Kristeva's Powers of Horror (1980) plus H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928). What is the object of fear? In our last episode, we outlined Kristeva's view that it's ultimately the disintegration of self. Our purpose in this further episode (featuring Mark, Seth, and Dylan, who couldn't attend last time) was to clarify her account of how self-integrity Continue Reading …
Ep. 202: Julia Kristeva on Disgust, Fear and the Self (Part One)
On Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980), chapters 1 and 2. What is horror? Kristeva's book is about a process she calls "abjection," where we violently reject things like corpses, bodily wastes and other fluids, and the Lovecraftian unnameable that lurks at the edge of our awareness, hideously inhuman and indifferent to our suffering. The book is also all about Continue Reading …
Ep. 202: Julia Kristeva on Disgust, Fear and the Self (Citizen Edition)
On Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980), chapters 1 and 2. What is horror? Kristeva's book is about a process she calls "abjection," where we violently reject things like corpses, bodily wastes and other fluids, and the Lovecraftian unnameable that lurks at the edge of our awareness, hideously inhuman and indifferent to our suffering. The book is also all about Continue Reading …