Freud's ‘The “Uncanny”’ and Deconstructive Criticism: Intellectual Uncertainty and Delicacy of Perception

Abstract

Freud's ‘The “Uncanny”’ (1919) has been the object of a singular growth of interest, though mainly outside the realm of psychoanalysis. The article owes its present prominence in the humanities to its reception and appropriation by readers associated with deconstruction, starting with Jacques Derrida, and continuing with the influential interpretations of Hélène Cixous (1972), Samuel Weber (1973) and Neil Hertz (1985). The present article discusses some characteristics of the deconstructive reception of ‘The “Uncanny”’, and points out the limitations it puts on the understanding of Freud's text.