Messianic Nihilism in Gothic Horror: Walter Benjamin with Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe
This essay considers Walter Benjamin’s model of messianic time alongside the powers of horror in the Gothic tradition, here represented by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd” (1840). This configuration illustrates a messianic nihilism; a profane relation i...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Monash University
2018-12-01
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Series: | Colloquy: Text, Theory, Critique |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.26180/5c11d5e25b25a |
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author | Ursula de Leeuw |
author_facet | Ursula de Leeuw |
author_sort | Ursula de Leeuw |
collection | DOAJ |
description | This essay considers Walter Benjamin’s model of messianic time alongside the powers of horror in the Gothic tradition, here represented by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd” (1840). This configuration illustrates a messianic nihilism; a profane relation in which teleological meaning is eternally derailed. Benjamin’s messianic time counters the notion of history-as-progress, instead proposing the perpetual destruction of present conditions in the pursuit of unknown possibilities. In the Gothic, the messianic takes form in the dialectical image of horror; an image that at once contains and subverts history, thus emerging as unnameable. In Frankenstein, the monster embodies and enacts a messianic rhythm as a symptom of his alienation. In “The Man of the Crowd,” an unnameable figure disrupts the historical typology of the modern city, while simultaneously resurrecting the radical possibilities of the past. Ultimately, Gothic messianism evokes a profane illumination that promotes annihilation as a means to the infinite possibilities of the new. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-13T22:30:10Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-d9e67d7ed91c4a9e81c207875957c0ee |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1447-0950 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-13T22:30:10Z |
publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
publisher | Monash University |
record_format | Article |
series | Colloquy: Text, Theory, Critique |
spelling | doaj.art-d9e67d7ed91c4a9e81c207875957c0ee2022-12-22T02:26:57ZengMonash UniversityColloquy: Text, Theory, Critique1447-09502018-12-0135/3612714410.26180/5c11d5e25b25aMessianic Nihilism in Gothic Horror: Walter Benjamin with Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan PoeUrsula de Leeuw0Monash UniversityThis essay considers Walter Benjamin’s model of messianic time alongside the powers of horror in the Gothic tradition, here represented by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd” (1840). This configuration illustrates a messianic nihilism; a profane relation in which teleological meaning is eternally derailed. Benjamin’s messianic time counters the notion of history-as-progress, instead proposing the perpetual destruction of present conditions in the pursuit of unknown possibilities. In the Gothic, the messianic takes form in the dialectical image of horror; an image that at once contains and subverts history, thus emerging as unnameable. In Frankenstein, the monster embodies and enacts a messianic rhythm as a symptom of his alienation. In “The Man of the Crowd,” an unnameable figure disrupts the historical typology of the modern city, while simultaneously resurrecting the radical possibilities of the past. Ultimately, Gothic messianism evokes a profane illumination that promotes annihilation as a means to the infinite possibilities of the new.https://doi.org/10.26180/5c11d5e25b25aWalter Benjaminmessianic timegothicnihilismmodernismFrankensteinMary ShelleyEdgar Allan Poeabjectiondeath drive |
spellingShingle | Ursula de Leeuw Messianic Nihilism in Gothic Horror: Walter Benjamin with Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe Colloquy: Text, Theory, Critique Walter Benjamin messianic time gothic nihilism modernism Frankenstein Mary Shelley Edgar Allan Poe abjection death drive |
title | Messianic Nihilism in Gothic Horror: Walter Benjamin with Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe |
title_full | Messianic Nihilism in Gothic Horror: Walter Benjamin with Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe |
title_fullStr | Messianic Nihilism in Gothic Horror: Walter Benjamin with Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe |
title_full_unstemmed | Messianic Nihilism in Gothic Horror: Walter Benjamin with Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe |
title_short | Messianic Nihilism in Gothic Horror: Walter Benjamin with Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe |
title_sort | messianic nihilism in gothic horror walter benjamin with mary shelley and edgar allan poe |
topic | Walter Benjamin messianic time gothic nihilism modernism Frankenstein Mary Shelley Edgar Allan Poe abjection death drive |
url | https://doi.org/10.26180/5c11d5e25b25a |
work_keys_str_mv | AT ursuladeleeuw messianicnihilismingothichorrorwalterbenjaminwithmaryshelleyandedgarallanpoe |