“The Uncanny in Language, Literature and Culture” International Conference

The uncanny captures the unsettling and the eerie—a feeling that defies boundaries between the familiar and the strange. Rooted in Freud’s exploration, the uncanny reveals how what is known and intimate can suddenly become alien, evoking dread and unease. Everyday objects, spaces, and experiences that once offered comfort transform into symbols of danger, disrupting not only our external environments but also the landscapes of our inner selves. Freud identified the uncanny as an uneasiness that arises when the familiar becomes uncomfortably unfamiliar—when the sense of “home” is rendered strange, unsafe, or unrecognizable. This disquiet is not confined to physical spaces; it penetrates the psyche, creating fractures in our sense of identity and belonging. As architecture mirrors psychology, the uncanny embodies a crisis of self-certainty, triggered by trauma, loss, or the collapse of the boundaries we rely on to make sense of the world.

The uncanny captures the unsettling and the eerie—a feeling that defies boundaries between the familiar and the strange. Rooted in Freud’s exploration, the uncanny reveals how what is known and intimate can suddenly become alien, evoking dread and unease. Everyday objects, spaces, and experiences that once offered comfort transform into symbols of danger, disrupting not only our external environments but also the landscapes of our inner selves. Freud identified the uncanny as an uneasiness that arises when the familiar becomes uncomfortably unfamiliar—when the sense of “home” is rendered strange, unsafe, or unrecognizable. This disquiet is not confined to physical spaces; it penetrates the psyche, creating fractures in our sense of identity and belonging. As architecture mirrors psychology, the uncanny embodies a crisis of self-certainty, triggered by trauma, loss, or the collapse of the boundaries we rely on to make sense of the world.