Fear from a Gothic dungeon. From the archetype in folklore to ghost stories about the dead returning from beyond the grave Cover Image

Lęk z gotyckiego lochu. Od archetypu w folklorze ku opowieściom niesamowitym o powracających zza grobu
Fear from a Gothic dungeon. From the archetype in folklore to ghost stories about the dead returning from beyond the grave

Author(s): Zbigniew Wałaszewski
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydział Polonistyki Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: gotycyzm; groza; archetyp; wampir; Gothicism; terror; archetype; vampire

Summary/Abstract: The fear of the dead visiting the living from beyond the grave is common in many cultures of the world. Originally, it can be found in folklore, but it does not disappear in developed forms of social life, becoming the topic of popular literary (ghost stories) and cultural works (horror movies). The author, using as a point of departure the assumption that the fear of the dead is psychologically motivated, draws a clear line showing the development from dreams about the dead (Freudian psychoanalysis), through dreams told, to tales of horror as a literary genre. The paper focuses on phantasms associated with the return of the dead in popular imagination: the touch of a dead hand, a dead person opening their eyes and looking, rising from the coffin, walking around in search of the living in order to touch them and thus leave a mark of death.

  • Issue Year: 2010
  • Issue No: 59
  • Page Range: 215-238
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: Polish