Nature as the source of Mysterium Tremendum: An essay on the poetic works of Blackwood, Smith and Campbell

This paper is an attempt to analyze three horror classics - Algernon Blackwood’s “The Willows” (1907), Clark Ashton Smith’s “Genius Loci” (1936) and Ramsey Campbell’s “The Voice of the Beach” (1977) - in which the landscape is envisioned as the abode of supernatural power. The common thr...

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Main Author: Pišev Marko
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, Belgrade 2023-01-01
Series:Filozofija i Društvo
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0353-5738/2023/0353-57382303452P.pdf
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author Pišev Marko
author_facet Pišev Marko
author_sort Pišev Marko
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description This paper is an attempt to analyze three horror classics - Algernon Blackwood’s “The Willows” (1907), Clark Ashton Smith’s “Genius Loci” (1936) and Ramsey Campbell’s “The Voice of the Beach” (1977) - in which the landscape is envisioned as the abode of supernatural power. The common thread between these stories is the concept of natural scenery which merges and blends the real and unreal, the mind, flesh and the phenomenal world. As landscape is a major component of the plot, rather than mere background to the stories, the authors use it to formulate certain metaphysical ideas about existence and the nature of reality itself. My objective is to historically and epistemologically contextualize these ideas, clarify them and relate them to particular recent developments in philosophy and social theory. My second aim is to examine the semantics of space particular to each narrative, the association and partition of its structural elements, and the latent level of meaning arising from the organization of the stories’ mise-en-scène.
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spelling doaj.art-a31d7b8d3b58407d9f28686341e12cb22023-12-12T13:07:04ZdeuInstitute for Philosophy and Social Theory, BelgradeFilozofija i Društvo0353-57382334-85772023-01-0134345247310.2298/FID2303452P0353-57382303452PNature as the source of Mysterium Tremendum: An essay on the poetic works of Blackwood, Smith and CampbellPišev Marko0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6499-1232University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Ethnology and AnthropologyThis paper is an attempt to analyze three horror classics - Algernon Blackwood’s “The Willows” (1907), Clark Ashton Smith’s “Genius Loci” (1936) and Ramsey Campbell’s “The Voice of the Beach” (1977) - in which the landscape is envisioned as the abode of supernatural power. The common thread between these stories is the concept of natural scenery which merges and blends the real and unreal, the mind, flesh and the phenomenal world. As landscape is a major component of the plot, rather than mere background to the stories, the authors use it to formulate certain metaphysical ideas about existence and the nature of reality itself. My objective is to historically and epistemologically contextualize these ideas, clarify them and relate them to particular recent developments in philosophy and social theory. My second aim is to examine the semantics of space particular to each narrative, the association and partition of its structural elements, and the latent level of meaning arising from the organization of the stories’ mise-en-scène.https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0353-5738/2023/0353-57382303452P.pdflandscapesemioticsnaturehorrorenlightenmentromanticismalgernon blackwoodclark ashton smithramsey campbell
spellingShingle Pišev Marko
Nature as the source of Mysterium Tremendum: An essay on the poetic works of Blackwood, Smith and Campbell
Filozofija i Društvo
landscape
semiotics
nature
horror
enlightenment
romanticism
algernon blackwood
clark ashton smith
ramsey campbell
title Nature as the source of Mysterium Tremendum: An essay on the poetic works of Blackwood, Smith and Campbell
title_full Nature as the source of Mysterium Tremendum: An essay on the poetic works of Blackwood, Smith and Campbell
title_fullStr Nature as the source of Mysterium Tremendum: An essay on the poetic works of Blackwood, Smith and Campbell
title_full_unstemmed Nature as the source of Mysterium Tremendum: An essay on the poetic works of Blackwood, Smith and Campbell
title_short Nature as the source of Mysterium Tremendum: An essay on the poetic works of Blackwood, Smith and Campbell
title_sort nature as the source of mysterium tremendum an essay on the poetic works of blackwood smith and campbell
topic landscape
semiotics
nature
horror
enlightenment
romanticism
algernon blackwood
clark ashton smith
ramsey campbell
url https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0353-5738/2023/0353-57382303452P.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT pisevmarko natureasthesourceofmysteriumtremendumanessayonthepoeticworksofblackwoodsmithandcampbell