Metamorphoses of the Uncanny in the Short-Story “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl

Abstract

This study analyzes several metamorphoses of the uncanny that the short-story “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl thematizes. The Freudian notion of the uncanny is connected with the definitions of the fantastic according to Tzevtan Todorov and of the maternal Other by Jacques Lacan. The commentary seeks to define moments in the short-story when the uncanny fractures the diegesis along with the displacements of a death-wish. The image of a demonic mother undermines the becoming-gothic of the short-story in favour of a humorous dimension.

Keywords

• the uncanny
• metamorphoses
• death instinct
• the fantastic
• infantile desire and anxiety
• maternal desire