Austen's Northanger Abbey and Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner. In order to discuss the literature on uncanny, we must first be able to define “uncanny,” and trying to fully understand the term “uncanny” is problematic; since, as accepted reference works such as the Oxford English Dictionary seep into popular culture, the meaning subtly changes, or becomes drawn towards a single aspect of what was originally a much broader definition . To illustrate this, the Oxford Complete Wordfinder, Reader's Digest (1999), defines: “strange adj. apparently supernatural; mysterious *see EERIE” and my word processor contributes: meanings of “strange”: bizarre; “Of a mysteriously strange and generally frightening nature” (Thesaurus Word 2002, purportedly adapted from the Oxford Thesaurus and Roget's 2nd: The New Thesaurus.) The OED, the source from which these two definitions ultimately derive, pushes its associations a little further. , and there are marked connotations of perilous and mystical: "mischievous, malicious... not to be trusted... associated with supernatural arts or powers... dangerous, dangerous" (course notes), but even considering this, it is difficult to arrive at a decisive and comprehensive definition of what constitutes "strange literature", because to be interested in the unknown, the subject must, by its very nature, be imprecise. What is suggested becomes much more important than what is actually said. An excellent illustration of this is the work of that master of the cosmic afterlife, HP Lovecraft. (Typical e-text excerpt from his short story, The Outsider: "I saw with full and frightening vividness the inconceivable, the indescribable...... middle of paper ...... a possible engagement with the text, it is also an invitation, because much of the value of the text lies in presenting a disturbing and subtle variation on a known theme or situation Mastery of literary genre depends on knowledge. clear not only of the recurring themes and styles of the genre (which exist to perpetuate itself in an ever-changing way, much more so than in other genres), but of human nature and the psychological triggers that create in readers a spirit of curiosity One might think that such a device was inherent in any form of writing of any quality, and while this is true, there is a much more marked difference between classical weirdness and fiction. gothic than that of other genres. Works Cited Confessions of a Justified Sinner, James Hogg, Everyman, 1998. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen, Oxford World Classics, 1998.

Essay / Austen's Northanger Abbey and Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner. In order to discuss the literature on uncanny, we must first be able to define “uncanny,” and trying to fully understand the term “uncanny” is problematic; since, as accepted reference works such as the Oxford English Dictionary seep into popular culture, the meaning subtly changes, or becomes drawn towards a single aspect of what was originally a much broader definition . To illustrate this, the Oxford Complete Wordfinder, Reader's Digest (1999), defines: “strange adj. apparently supernatural; mysterious *see EERIE” and my word processor contributes: meanings of “strange”: bizarre; “Of a mysteriously strange and generally frightening nature” (Thesaurus Word 2002, purportedly adapted from the Oxford Thesaurus and Roget's 2nd: The New Thesaurus.) The OED, the source from which these two definitions ultimately derive, pushes its associations a little further. , and there are marked connotations of perilous and mystical: "mischievous, malicious... not to be trusted... associated with supernatural arts or powers... dangerous, dangerous" (course notes), but even considering this, it is difficult to arrive at a decisive and comprehensive definition of what constitutes "strange literature", because to be interested in the unknown, the subject must, by its very nature, be imprecise. What is suggested becomes much more important than what is actually said. An excellent illustration of this is the work of that master of the cosmic afterlife, HP Lovecraft. (Typical e-text excerpt from his short story, The Outsider: "I saw with full and frightening vividness the inconceivable, the indescribable...... middle of paper ...... a possible engagement with the text, it is also an invitation, because much of the value of the text lies in presenting a disturbing and subtle variation on a known theme or situation Mastery of literary genre depends on knowledge. clear not only of the recurring themes and styles of the genre (which exist to perpetuate itself in an ever-changing way, much more so than in other genres), but of human nature and the psychological triggers that create in readers a spirit of curiosity One might think that such a device was inherent in any form of writing of any quality, and while this is true, there is a much more marked difference between classical weirdness and fiction. gothic than that of other genres. Works Cited Confessions of a Justified Sinner, James Hogg, Everyman, 1998. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen, Oxford World Classics, 1998.

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