Lost Futures: A Mark Fisher Podcast
Lost Futures: S3E1: The Weird and the Eerie (Beyond the Unheimlich)
Sep 30, 2024
This season dives into the intriguing concepts of the weird and the eerie, exploring their ties to horror and science fiction. The discussion highlights Freud's uncanny and its psychological complexities, particularly in sexuality and identity. Capitalism's eerie influences on identity and media landscapes are examined, along with cultural symbols like those in the zombie genre. The episode also analyzes the themes of trauma and memory in D.M. Thomas's The White Hotel, setting the groundwork for deeper literary explorations.
37:59
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Quick takeaways
- Mark Fisher separates the weird and the eerie by defining the weird as alien interruptions in familiar contexts, revealing discomfort through unexpected juxtapositions.
- The eerie is framed as a sense of absence in familiar environments, often reflecting societal themes where post-apocalyptic imagery symbolizes a void left by humanity.
Deep dives
Defining the Weird and the Eerie
The concepts of the weird and the eerie are explored through Mark Fisher's analysis of their distinct characteristics. Fisher distinguishes these modes from traditional genres, linking them to cultural phenomena often associated with horror and science fiction. He emphasizes that these two modes reflect an engagement with modernity, where the weird pertains to the alien and unrecognizable intruding into the familiar, while the eerie relates to the absence of what should inherently be present. The speaker discusses how Freud’s concept of the Unheimlich has historically dominated analysis in these areas, yet Fisher seeks to present a new framework for understanding the feelings and responses provoked by these modes.
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