Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2008 H.P. Lovecraft nda the Modernist Grotesque Sean Elliot Martin Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Martin, S. (2008). H.P. Lovecraft nda the Modernist Grotesque (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/881 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. H.P. LOVECRAFT AND THE MODERNIST GROTESQUE A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Sean Elliot Martin December 2008 Copyright by Sean Elliot Martin 2008 H.P. LOVECRAFT AND THE MODERNIST GROTESQUE By Sean Elliot Martin Approved November 21, 2008 ________________________________ ________________________________ Anne Brannen Laura Callanan Associate Professor of English Assistant Professor of English (Committee Chair) (Committee Member) ________________________________ ________________________________ Linda Kinnahan Professor of English (Committee Member) ________________________________ ________________________________ Albert Labriola Magali Michael Dean, McAnulty College and Graduate Chair, English Department School of Liberal Arts Professor of English Professor of English iii ABSTRACT H.P. LOVECRAFT AND THE MODERNIST GROTESQUE By Sean Elliot Martin December, 2008 Dissertation supervised by Dr. Anne Brannen This study serves to bring Lovecraft into a new and more significant literary context, and to highlight the relationships between modernist and grotesque literature. Various authors are mentioned with reference to both modernist and grotesque literary tendencies, and Lovecraft’s “modernist grotesque” characteristics are analyzed in their connection to the three concepts that are prominent in both modernism and the grotesque: alienation, subjectivity, and absurdity. Biographical information about Lovecraft is used minimally in this study, which focuses on textual analysis of many elements of Lovecraft’s writing that seem to have been previously overlooked, including religious satire, scrutiny of scientific practices, and the modernist concept of “literary difficulty.” This dissertation serves to establish a new place for Lovecraft in the larger context of English literature, and to establish a new way of thinking about modernism with iv reference to its possible roots in the experimental and “diagnostic” impulses of the literary grotesque. v DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this project to my parents, Jeanie and John Martin, who always challenged me to challenge myself. I would also like to dedicate this project to the Great H.P. Lovecraft, without whom this (and countless other creations) would not have been possible. Finally, I would like to dedicate this project to Elizabeth Pallack, multi-talented artist, co-creator, inspiration, and life companion. Her influence on my life is so great that it defies the invention of an appropriate title. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is only appropriate to acknowledge a few individuals among the legions of Lovecraft enthusiasts and dear friends who inspired me to figure out just what kind of writer could have such a hold over his readership. Among them, Timothy Juka, Jon Richard, Mike Monaco, the late Christopher Strom, and world-renowned sword- swallower Dai Andrews distinguished themselves by providing friendship, energy, and hours of late night conversation that invigorated my ideas and their communication. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract.............................................................................................................................. iv Dedication.......................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................ vii An Introduction................................................................................................................... 1 Lovecraft and “Weird Fiction”........................................................................................ 2 The Curse of “Horror” — Guilt by Association.............................................................. 4 The Insufficiency of Certain Literary Labels .................................................................. 5 Lovecraft Studies: Identifying the Challenges ................................................................ 7 Lovecraft and Academia.................................................................................................. 8 Establishing Criteria for Evaluating Lovecraft.............................................................. 10 Lovecraft’s Originality and Contributions .................................................................... 11 Development of Lovecraft’s “Fundamental Premise” of “Cosmic Disinterestism” ..... 12 The Modernist Grotesque .............................................................................................. 18 The Discussion to Come................................................................................................ 20 Chapter One: The Modernist Grotesque........................................................................... 22 A Brief Overview of the Study of the Grotesque .......................................................... 26 A Brief Overview of Modernist Studies........................................................................ 34 Connections Between the Grotesque and Modernism................................................... 42 Experimentation in Modernism and the Grotesque....................................................... 43 Grotesque Content in Modernist Literature................................................................... 46 Shared Concepts of Modernism and the Grotesque ...................................................... 47 viii Alienation in the Grotesque and Modernism................................................................. 48 Subjectivity in the Grotesque and Modernism .............................................................. 53 Subjectivity and the Occult............................................................................................ 57 Absurdity in the Grotesque and Modernism.................................................................. 59 Absurdity, Diagnosis, and Ugliness .............................................................................. 62 Lovecraft and the Modernist Grotesque ........................................................................ 65 Chapter Two: Alienation................................................................................................... 70 Alienation in and the Paradigm Crisis........................................................................... 70 Alienation and Lovecraft............................................................................................... 74 Alienating Documentation............................................................................................. 80 Alienating Documentation in “The Call of Cthulhu”.................................................... 84 Alienating Documentation in “The Whisperer in the Darkness” .................................. 90 Alienating Documentation in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward ................................. 95 Alienating Documentation in “The Shadow Out of Time” ........................................... 97 Alienating Documentation - Closing Comments......................................................... 101 Alienating Objects ....................................................................................................... 101 Alienating Objects in “The Colour Out of Space” ...................................................... 103 Alienating Objects in “The Call of Cthulhu” .............................................................. 104 Alienating Objects - Closing Comments..................................................................... 107 Alienating Places ......................................................................................................... 109 Alienating Places in “The Festival”............................................................................. 111 Alienating Places in “The Haunter of the Dark” ......................................................... 113 Alienating Places in “From Beyond” .......................................................................... 116 ix Alienating Places and “The Colour out of Space” ...................................................... 117 Alienating Places and “The Call of Cthulhu”.............................................................. 118 Alienating Places and At the Mountains of Madness .................................................. 121 Alienating Places and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath ................................... 125 Alienating Creatures.................................................................................................... 128 Alienating Creatures in “The Shadow Out of Time” .................................................. 129 Alienating Creatures in “The Festival” ......................................................................