The Terror, the uncanny, and the dionysian

aesthetic connections between Hoffmann, Freud, and Nietzsche

Abstract

The modern period in philosophy comprises a historical section that spans from the 17th to the 20th centuries. In its later period, one of its characteristics was the questioning of strict rationality as a way of knowing, which led to the emergence of aesthetics as a philosophical discipline. This movement took place in 19th-century Germany and initially had as its motto the authors of Romanticism, among whom Hoffmann stands out. This movement influenced the philosophy of the same period and, through the recovery of Greek tragedy as poetics, gave rise to the tragic within philosophy, of which Nietzsche recognizes himself as a participant. At the end of the 19th century, Freud inaugurated psychoanalysis and proposed a clinical praxis theorized through numerous references to Greek mythology and German Romanticism. The present work aims to investigate possible correlations between attributes discussed by the three authors, suggesting an interlocution among them based on this historical, philosophical, and aesthetic context. Terror, the uncanny, and the Dionysian appear as elements of a new subjectivity, marked by the tragic and by the overcoming of a classical ideal grounded in the good, the beautiful, the true, and the conscious. Based on the analysis of the works The Devil’s Elixirs, The Birth of Tragedy, and The Uncanny, the study will seek connections and possible divergences among the three authors.