Topic > Analysis of "Coraline" through Psychoanalytic Theories

Coraline was written in 2002 by an English author named Neil Gaiman. Although this story is a children's book, one cannot help but see a dark side of children's literature and therefore one can explore a psychological approach to this story and arouse interest in the postmodern gothic genre, and start researching the aspects that make this book so "disturbing". The particular affinity between these disciplines and children's literature owes much to the ancient tradition of using stories to help children understand themselves and those around them. Psychoanalytic stories that can engage with children's fears, anxieties, angry reactions, and "meanness," but can also offer advice on how to manage them, can help the reader with psychoanalysis. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "There was nothing here to scare her. These things – even the one in the cellar – were illusions, things made by the other mother in a frightening parody of real people and real things across the hall. She couldn't really do anything, Coraline decided. She could only distort, copy, and distort things that already existed. This implies that the other world Coraline sees through the portal is not a reality; it is just a "horrific parody" or disturbing replica of the real world. The concept of the uncanny has been studied by many notable names, most notably Sigmund Freud The 'uncanny': in terms of Freudian terminology, this concept comes from a German word, 'unheimlich', which literally translates to '. scary, disturbing or unsettling'. So, to clarify, when you recognize the setting but have a feeling of something unusual and unfamiliar, you are experiencing the feeling. unsettling". If we think about the literal translation of 'unheimlich', the 'uncanny' should refer to things that are scary because they are unfamiliar to us. Freud, on the other hand, divides the meaning of the uncanny into two courses, "on the one hand it means that which is familiar and congenial, and on the other that which is hidden and kept away from sight." Therefore, the meaning of 'heimlich' slowly presents an uncertainty which then changes the meaning to the opposite, unheimlich. In response to this, both paths end up leading to the same result: "the 'uncanny' is that class of the terrifying that leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar." In Freud's The Uncanny and his reading of ETA Hoffman's The Sandman (1816), the focus is on the eyes. He states that the loss of one's eyes is the biggest contributing factor to a story appearing "disturbing" as one's eyes represent one's identity. Freud then goes further and introduces the idea of ​​doppelgänger, of having a double of yourself. However, when we are confronted with our double, as adults, this double arouses a disturbing sensation. However, the feeling of “uncanny” evoked by the doppelgänger may also be due to extreme self-esteem, a “superego,” an idea that Freud explored thoroughly. A "superego" symbolizes the most idealistic, unrealistic and utopian dreams and wildest fantasies, and for this reason the idea of ​​having one's double becomes unacceptable as it hurts the ego. Therefore, the "uncanny" is anything that one experiences as an adult that remotely resembles one of one's previous psychic stages, in terms of castration and the double. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The book Coraline encompasses all of these ideas. With the2