The purpose of this essay is to show how elements of racism and xenophobia manifest themselves in H.P. Lovecraft’s 1931 novella The Shadow over Innsmouth. Through a close reading of the text, I show how these two matters contribute to creating fear and horror in the story. In addition to the analysis of the text I also relate the elements found in the text to letters and essays written by Lovecraft to show how several aspects of the novella contribute to the theme of racism and xenophobia. Throughout the essay I suggest how topics such as miscegenation, the vilification of another race of people and even the landscape itself mesh together to form the basis of the horror and the fear in the story. In the end, it is clear that Lovecraft’s own racism permeates the story.

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2006. / Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 174 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Mary Manjikian and other critics argue that post-911 apocalyptic Literature is anarchic, breaking away from the state through its destruction. This thesis challenges this claim, looking at the state through the abstract form presented by Deleuze and Guattari in A Thousand Plateaus to argue that while the state in its physical manifestation is indeed removed within the post-apocalyptic narrative, an internal desire for governance and a return to status-quo remains. Chapter 1 examines Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road in relation to this theory, particularly within the interactions between the father and son, showing that through the father, an argument can be made for the characters’ wish to return to a time where a physical state existed. Chapter 2 examines the relevance of the zombie narrative in relation to other “post-911 apocalyptic Literature” to examine both where these texts and media fit in relation to the state and contemporary culture – particularly in relation to politics. Through AMC’s “The Walking Dead”, the zombie narrative not only exhibits similar tendencies for a yearning of state power, but also expands the definition of a post-apocalyptic narrative, as when the state returns, not only is the narrative altered to one of dystopian fiction, the “other” becomes more ambiguous, as the zombies begin to pose little threat, leading to political tension amongst survivors. Chapter 3 and 4 examine the return to popularity of Lovecraft-esque fiction alongside the cultural infectiousness of the zombie. Beginning with Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” and moving to China Miéville’s novel Perdido Street Station, the thesis will conclude with an examination of eldritch horror as an alternative to the post-apocalyptic in terms of rethinking the relationship of the state in contemporary culture, and arguing that the political “other” is now viewed as monstrous and difficult to define in a manner which zombies are unable to fully represent.

Cette étude a pour objet d'analyser les liens entre conte et science-fiction. Nous analyserons un corpus de trois ensembles narratifs particulièrement représentatifs d'un imaginaire contemporain en pleine mutation, en Allemagne (avec les contes des frères Grimm), en Nouvelle-Angleterre (avec les nouvelles de Lovecraft) et en France (avec les récits de Gustave Le Rouge). Nos recherches valoriseront les approches littéraires et les héritages esthétiques qui s’opèrent entre la fin du XVIIIe siècle et le début du XXe siècle, accompagnant la transformation complète du statut de merveilleux dans une civilisation européenne en train de s’industrialiser. Dans cette optique, nous retournerons aux origines des contes et nous nous interrogerons sur la théorie littéraire, plus précisément sur la théorie des genres de la fiction narrative en prose, en diachronie historique. En les prenant pour hypothèses en vue d'analyser les liens entre littérature, influences et aspirations, voilà qui nous amènera à mettre l'accent sur les dispositifs de la mise en forme littéraire du texte de science-fiction, de ses thèmes et de son processus de légitimité littéraire / This study analyzes the links between storytelling and science fiction. We will analyze a corpus of three narrative sets that are particularly representative of a contemporary imagination undergoing radical change: in Germany with the Grimm brothers' tales, in New England with Lovecraft's tales, and in France with Le Rouge Gustave's stories. Our research focuses on the aesthetic legacies and the transformation of the wonder that take place between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th century

The present study conducted to investigate the different strategies applied by two Japanese translators translating H.P. Lovecraft's neologisms. The neologisms for the study were collected from Clore's (2009) lexicon and analysed based on Newmark's (1988) twelve types of neologisms. Each neologism was then compared to its Japanese equivalent found in the Japanese translations of Lovecraft's collective work. The neologisms were analysed and categorised based on Newmark's (1988) eleven proposed strategies. Seven of Newmark’s (1988) eleven strategies were found and "Naturalisation" was the most frequently applied strategy.

Due to their inclusion of characters or objects that are the result of scientific investigation or subject to scientific scrutiny, Frankenstein, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and “The Colour Out of Space” are works that may be classified as science fiction. However, despite these narratives’ engagement with scientific practice, at crucial moments when scientific description would be expected, it is prominently absent. This report investigates the effects of these absences within the narratives and suggests that such absences do not appear due to the author’s unfamiliarity with the science of her or his era, but rather serve the positive purpose of creating the effect of the sublime through horror, which is most effective when the reader is forced to confront the unknown or unreadable. To corroborate this hypothesis, this report also examines the treatment of certain hybrids within the three stories and the way that the terror they inspire seems to rely on the ways in which they mingle the known with the unknown and resist coherent description. Overall, this report seeks to illuminate the complex interaction of the known and the not yet known that has enabled a fruitful interaction between science fiction and horror as genres since the inception of science fiction as a definable genre. / text

Den här uppsatsen analyserar användandet av hybris som tema och motiv i tre olika skräckberättelser, Mary Shelleys Frankenstein (1818) och H.P. Lovecrafts två noveller ”The Other Gods” (1933) respektive ”From Beyond” (1934). De tre berättelserna använder alla hybris som tema och berättartekniskt verktyg för att på liknande vis gestalta karaktärer och skräck på ett sätt som blir mer specifikt för skräck som genre. Sett utifrån en klassisk syn på begreppet man kan finna i bland annat myten om Ikaros och Noël Carrolls mer moderna begrepp under namnet ”overreacher plot” som här kan länkas till hybris-begreppet, tillsammans med andra källor, lyfter uppsatsen exempel på hur hybris är en återkommande och viktig faktor för skräcken i berättelserna. Detta trots att ett sekel skiljer Shelleys och Lovecrafts verk åt.

Why is H.P. Lovecraft still relevant? That is the one the questions put forward by this thesis. Lovecraft is known for his creation of Lovecraftian horror, also known as cosmic horror. However, his bigoted view on race and class muddies this legacy. What this thesis seeks to explore is how Lovecraft’s work demonstrates the fears and anxieties central to the America psyche. The paranoid style can be found in American discourse throughout history but it can also be found in the works of Lovecraft himself. Lovecraft was a prejudiced and paranoid man, and his prejudices and paranoia are a major part of his works. The fear that Lovecraft felt and wrote, is the same fear that continues to guide and shape America itself. This work explores four of Lovecraft’s work “The Call of Cthulhu,” “The Dunwich Horror,” “The Shadow Over Innsmouth;” as well as a lesser-known poem by Lovecraft “Providence 2000 A.D.”

My essay is called “Alive but Insignificant: An Analysis of Cosmic Horror in H.P. Lovecraft’s Writing”. Howard Phillips Lovecraft has written many short stories surrounding the idea of “cosmic horror”. In this essay I seek to investigate how this cosmic horror works and what connections it has to occultism by analyzing six of his short stories: The Call of Cthulhu, The Colour Out of Space, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Haunter of The Dark, The Nameless City and Nyarlathotep. In the essay I use sources that show Lovecraft’s biography and letters to build an idea of how he might have been thinking when writing and in the theory segment I bring up the sublime to show what “cosmic horror” means when analyzing Lovecraft. I analyze the stories based on three categories: The Fear of Cosmos, The Fear of The Occult and The Fear of The Abyss.   In the second to last segment called discussion I got through everything that I have found through my analysis: Within The Fear of Cosmos, I analyze The Colour Out of Space, Nyarlathotep and The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath to find that the fear comes from the idea that there is a force somewhere out in space that can destroy humanity on a whim and humans have no way of stopping it. Within The Fear of The Occult, I analyze the Cthulhucult in The Call of Cthulhu by bringing up Lovecraft’s connections to occultism and potential connections to Helena Blavatsky. To enforce the connection between Lovecraft and Blavatsky I use a quote from Haunter of The Dark that presents a book that Blavatsky has ties to. There I find that the fear comes from the idea that a malevolent monster is whispering in the ears of people, encouraging them to commit horrific acts and to abandon their humanity in its name. In The Fear of The Abyss, I analyze The Nameless City and The Call of Cthulhu to find that the fear comes from the idea that there is a powerful and horrifying monster sleeping somewhere under the earth and the ocean, waiting for the right time to awaken and come out of hiding, all while humanity is unaware of it.   In the very last segment I go through some comments regarding the essay, where I share my biggest problems with Lovecraft and why certain parts of the essay was cut out.

While the strategy of lending a voice to the monstrous is a well known aspect of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's works, the female monster is a notable exception to this case. In this thesis, I excavate a theory of female monstrosity through a reading of some of Lovecraft's most read stories and the agency of female characters that appears within. Comparing these female registers of monstrosity to their masculine counterpart, I develop a concept of female monstrosity manifested through categories of class, race and gender with the help of Judith Halberstams theories of monstrosity. Rather than treating these women as active characters, I argue that Lovecraft's inability to handle these monsters forces him to literally put them away – in attics, cellars, or boxes. These are the marginalized positions from which these women elaborate a monstrous form that transcends the boundaries of sex, gender, class and race. Here lurks a female monster, powerful, independent and evil, Lovecraft's treatment of which reveals his fear of its unfettered emergence. Thus Lovecraft’s narrative technique is broken by his own creation. Indeed, these women, in their reproductive capabilities and the monstrous motherhood they represent, are the true monsters of the Lovecraftian universe.