A Matter of Liminality: Unraveling the Uncanny in the Miniatures of Hereditary
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51427/com.est.2024.03.01.0008Keywords:
Ari Aster, Hereditary, Liminality, Miniatures, UncannyAbstract
When delving into the exploration of any given topic through the lens of the uncanny, it is frequently instinctive to immediately associate it with Sigmund Freud’s interpretation, often disregarding the original formulation by Ernst Jentsch. Despite Freud’s more detailed analysis, Jentsch highlights a crucial aspect of what truly defines something as uncanny: its liminality—its ability to be simultaneously subject and object. Miniatures serve as a perfect illustration of this liminality. This study, drawing from Jentsch’s concept of the uncanny, demonstrates how these objects epitomize ambiguity through their materiality combined with an implied subjectivity. Using concepts such as Bill Brown’s ‘thing theory’ and Judith Butler’s ‘sense of self’, I showcase how these small objects have the potential to evoke the uncanny, and how this sense of uncanniness is artistically manifested through an examination of the miniatures in Ari Aster’s film Hereditary (2018).
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