Exploring the Enigmatic World of Cthulhu: Descriptions, Attraction, and Hyperobjects

Slide Note

Delve into the mysterious realm of Cthulhu through descriptions of its unfathomable form, the allure it holds over certain individuals, and its classification as a hyperobject by philosopher Timothy Morton. Discover the eerie and unsettling sensations evoked by encounters with Cthulhu and the profound impact it exerts on those who are drawn to its enigmatic presence.

tqui Follow

Uploaded on Sep 22, 2024 | 0 Views

Download Presentation

Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.

The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

Today: The Call of Cthulhu What do we know about Cthulhu? Descriptions & technique weird People attracted to Cthulhu & abjection Sense of vastness hyperobject

What do we know about Cthulhu? How do we know it? 140-141 146 148 Bottom 154-155 158 163 165 167 168

How do these passages point off the page in a Weird way? What feelings do these descriptions produce in the reader? Without knowing what futurism is like, Johansen achieved something very close to it when he spoke of the city; for instead of describing any definite structure or building, he dwells only on broad impressions of vast angles and stone surfaces surfaces too great to belong to any thing right or proper for this earth, and impious with horrible images and hieroglyphs. I mention his talk about angles because it suggests something Wilcox had told me of his awful dreams. He had said that the geometry of the dream-place he saw was abnormal, non-Euclidean, and loathsomely redolent of spheres and dimensions apart from ours. Now an unlettered seaman felt the same thing whilst gazing at the terrible reality (165). It represented a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind. This thing, which seemed instinct with a fearsome and unnatural malignancy, was of a somewhat bloated corpulence, and squatted evilly on a rectangular block or pedestal covered with undecipherable characters. The tips of the wings touched the back edge of the block, the seat occupied the centre, whilst the long, curved claws of the doubled-up, crouching hind legs gripped the front edge and extended a quarter of the way down toward the bottom of the pedestal. The cephalopod head was bent forward, so that the ends of the facial feelers brushed the backs of huge fore paws which clasped the croucher s elevated knees (148). The Thing cannot be described there is no language for such abysms of shrieking and immemorial lunacy, such eldritch contradictions of all matter, force, and cosmic order (167).

Types of people attracted to Cthulhu For your page, write down everything you can about the humans that are attracted to Cthulhu. 145 146 147 149 Bottom 15 151 153 Description Wilcox 157-158 What patterns do we discern among these descriptions?

Weird descriptions Cthulu The figure (148).

Hyperobjects The philosopher Timothy Morton posits that, contra the notion that humans have mastery over the world, there are things that exist that are vast in space and time but have real, unpredictable effects on humans. His examples include: All the petroleum that exists. All the nuclear radiation that exists. The Earth s climate. Black holes. Humans engage with these vast entities often without being aware of it. When we start our cars, for example, we are putting carbon into the air. At some point, humans thought this was no problem. But of late, the carbon in the air has started acting very Cthulu-like.