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Title:H. P. Lovecraft's Symbols of Indifference: A Combined Critical Approach
Authors:ID Hadalin, Štefan (Author)
ID Kennedy, Victor (Mentor) More about this mentor... New window
Files:.pdf MAG_Hadalin_Stefan_2021.pdf (1,27 MB)
MD5: 674144F253FD2A732FC1EB7D226C7993
PID: 20.500.12556/dkum/c9da18fd-d253-4c93-812d-096d18f65cc5
 
Language:English
Work type:Master's thesis/paper
Typology:2.09 - Master's Thesis
Organization:FF - Faculty of Arts
Abstract:H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) is an author who has in the decades since his death survived in the minds of millions of readers, mostly due to the power of his works of weird fiction and the resulting emergence of what he dubbed Cosmic Horror, conveyed through the symbolism and philosophy found in his Cthulhu Mythos. His antiquated style of writing that has since inspired many is at the same time a treasure trove of symbols, which have been interpreted and re-interpreted many times, but mostly as a whole aspect of his writing, with individual symbols not given the attention they deserve. The concepts and themes they convey are largely intertwined in a pattern of meanings and partial overlaps, making them hard to be differentiated fully from one another. However, outside of that, the meanings of the symbols can be established relatively clearly, with some of the main thematic connections between theme and meaning of an individual symbol standing out clearly above other thematic connections. Since the interpretation of the meaning of a symbol is partially based on the approach used, a combined approach that examines the symbols from the points of view of classic Lovecraftian scholars like S.T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, C.G. Jung’s theories of archetypes and the unconscious, Campbell’s monomyth, and a dose of reader-response style criticism is possible, with the intention of determining the effect of different critical approaches on the meaning of symbols and the thematic connections that are in this process established between both groups. The connections that are established are as interconnected as the themes themselves, but a differentiation between stronger and weaker connections, determining the main thematic connection to the symbol’s meaning is possible. “The Call of Cthulhu” is as the first great story of Lovecraft’s later writing period a useful text, that can be reduced to symbols, a number of which can be used for the purposes of determining the nature of the aforementioned connections. Lovecraft’s symbols considered as individual elements with a variety of aspects and the interplay between themes and meaning is then another way to study the meanings of the texts as a whole, through the lens of associated meanings determined through differing approaches. The main themes of knowledge and cosmic indifference always shine through, but the meanings of the symbols are built in various ways through various approaches, still arriving at roughly the same thematic connections, which can through the study of this process lead to a different appreciation for the masterful manipulation of stylistic, symbolic and atmospheric elements Lovecraft’s tales represent.
Keywords:H.P. Lovecraft, Call of Cthulhu, Symbols, Reader-Response, Combined Approach
Place of publishing:Maribor
Publisher:[Š. Hadalin]
Year of publishing:2021
PID:20.500.12556/DKUM-78922 New window
UDC:821.111.09(043.2)
COBISS.SI-ID:71373315 New window
Publication date in DKUM:09.08.2021
Views:5375
Downloads:132
Metadata:XML DC-XML DC-RDF
Categories:FF
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Licences

License:CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Link:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Description:The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.
Licensing start date:30.03.2021

Secondary language

Language:Slovenian
Title:H. P. Lovecraftovi simboli indiference: kombiniran kritiški pristop
Abstract:H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) je desetletja po svoji smrti buril domišljijo bralcev s svojimi kratkimi zgodbami iz žanra grozljivk. Njegov podžanr, kozmična grozljivka, je preko simbolov in svojevrstnega stila pisanja širil filozofijo kozmicizma. Neutrudno je pisal, a zaradi perfekcionizma njegov literarni opus ni zelo obsežen.. V njegovih delih najdemo več različnih bitij, ki spadajo pod Cthulhujevsko mitologijo. Lovecraftovi »bogovi« so pravzaprav tako označeni le zaradi svoje nerazumljivosti za človeško pomanjkljivo znanje in zaznave, koncept, skrit za njimi, je daleč od mitološkega. Gre za vesoljska bitja, ki so označena za »bogove« le zaradi svoje nerazumljivosti, s čimer je Lovecraft stremel k prikazu (kozmičnega) Drugega. Na Lovecrafta so močno vplivali avtorji iz 18. in 19. stoletja, med njimi predvsem Edgar Allan Poe. Od tod izhaja njegov arhaični slog pisanja. Poleg sloga je potrebno poudariti tudi simboliko, posebej pa še posamezne simbole. A le redko so jih izpostavili posamično ali obravnavali izven konteksta Lovecraftovega opusa, večina literarne kritike je bila namreč usmerjena na samega avtorja. Koncepti in teme, ki jih najdemo v njegovih delih, so med seboj tesno povezani in se prepletajo v zmes idej in pomenov, ki jih je med seboj težko ločiti, saj se te povezave prepletajo v mreži, ki ji ni videti začetka in konca. Pomen simbolov se z različnimi kritičnimi pristopi spreminja, kar nam lahko razkrije nekatere povezave med temami in razlagami simbolov. V ta namen je smiselno uporabiti kombiniran kritični pristop za razlago posameznih simbolnih enot v besedilih. Prvi sestavni del uporabljenega pristopa predstavlja biografska metoda, ki temelji na delih pomembnejših raziskovalcev Lovecraftovega opusa. Ti so se podrobno ukvarjali z avtorjevim življenjem in izkustvom. Drugi sestavni del vključuje poglavitne dele C. G. Jungovih psihoanalitičnih teorij arhetipov in podzavesti, ter sanj, ki so odigrale pomembno vlogo v avtorjevem življenju in njegovih delih. Predzadnji del sestavlja Campbellov svetovni mit (monomit), arhetipna analiza junakovega potovanja skozi zgodbo. Lovecraft je skozi svoj opus namenoma ustvarjal enodimenzionalne in brezosebne like, ki bi jih težko označili za heroje. A ta aspekt avtorjevega dela je tudi priložnost za delno dekonstrukcijo Campbellovih arhetipnih struktur in opazovanje avtorjeve subverzije le-teh. Ti trije pristopi so povezani z ohlapnim okvirjem teorije bralčevega razumevanja, kar omogoča različne fokuse. Učinek spreminjajoče se razlage simbola skozi lečo posameznega pristopa je tako možno opazovati ter analizirati skozi opažene razlike. Kljub temu, da so tvorjene pomenske povezave pomešane in pogosto (krožno) temeljijo druga na drugi, je možno najti močnejše in šibkejše smernice ter ugotoviti, katera od njih je bistvena za posamezni simbol in njegov pomen. Tema v osrčju Lovecraftovega dela je prepovedano vedenje oz. vednost ali prekletstvo takšne vednosti. Vednost o individuumu ali samozavedanje in zunanje vedenje ter zavedanje kozmičnosti vesolja in človekove nepomembnosti v njem se stapljajo. Ta osrednja tematika je grajena iz manjših enot, sekundarnih tem, kot so sanje, portali, iluzionarna realnost, degeneracija, kozmična brezbrižnost do človeka, samotnost, odtujenost in nenaravno preživetje oz. invazija preteklosti v sedanjost. Analiziran je izbor petih pomembnejših simbolov iz kratke zgodbe »Cthulhujev klic«, ki predstavlja prvo avtorjevo delo iz njegovega poznega obdobja ustvarjanja. Lovecraftovi simboli nevarnosti vedenja in kozmične indiference se združujejo v enotno monolitno tvorbo, ki jo je težko razčleniti in racionalno označiti. Z vsakim branjem in kritičnim pristopom se vozlišča dodatno rahljajo ali zategujejo, zato je pomembno, da se jim posebej posvečamo in jih analiziramo iz različnih zornih kotov. Razkrije se, da se na videz podobne teme in motivi povezujejo in umeščajo v filozofijo kozmosa kot kaotične indiferentne tvorbe.
Keywords:H.P. Lovecraft, Cthulhujev klic, Simboli, Recepcijska estetika, Kombinirana kritika


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