The Republic of Cthulhu: Lovecraft, the Weird Tale, and Conspiracy Theory

If parapolitics, a branch of radical criminology that studies the interactions between public entities and clandestine agencies, is to develop as an academic discipline, then it must develop a coherent theory of aesthetics in order to successfully perform its primary function: to render perceptible...

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Autor principal: Wilson, Eric
Format: Online
Idioma:anglès
Publicat: punctum books 2021
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Accés en línia:1004624
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author Wilson, Eric
author_browse Wilson, Eric
author_facet Wilson, Eric
author_sort Wilson, Eric
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description If parapolitics, a branch of radical criminology that studies the interactions between public entities and clandestine agencies, is to develop as an academic discipline, then it must develop a coherent theory of aesthetics in order to successfully perform its primary function: to render perceptible extra-judicial phenomena that have hitherto resisted formal classification. Wilson offers the work of H.P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) as an example of the relevance of subversive literature—in this case, cosmic horror and the weird tale—to the parapolitical criminologist. Cosmic horror is a form of writing that relies heavily upon the epistemological assumption of a radical and irreconcilable disjunction between appearance and reality, perception and truth. In many ways, the well-constructed weird tale strongly resembles the hard-boiled detective story or the noir thriller in that the resolution of the narrative hinges upon a dramatically shattering confrontation with an unspeakable reality. Apart from its obvious utilization of conspiracy theory, the primary attraction of the Lovecraftian text lies with its remarkably sophisticated utilization of two central tropes of classical aesthetic theory—the sublime and the grotesque. Not only does Lovecraft’s oeuvre represent a remarkable use of both of these motifs, but the raw literary power of the Lovecraftian weird tale serves as an outstanding exemplar for the parapolitical scholar to emulate in formulating an alternative mode of discourse, or poetics.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-299302025-07-21T15:57:48Z The Republic of Cthulhu: Lovecraft, the Weird Tale, and Conspiracy Theory Wilson, Eric H.P. Lovecraft parapolitics radical criminology horror conspiracy theory thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWG Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWG Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action If parapolitics, a branch of radical criminology that studies the interactions between public entities and clandestine agencies, is to develop as an academic discipline, then it must develop a coherent theory of aesthetics in order to successfully perform its primary function: to render perceptible extra-judicial phenomena that have hitherto resisted formal classification. Wilson offers the work of H.P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) as an example of the relevance of subversive literature—in this case, cosmic horror and the weird tale—to the parapolitical criminologist. Cosmic horror is a form of writing that relies heavily upon the epistemological assumption of a radical and irreconcilable disjunction between appearance and reality, perception and truth. In many ways, the well-constructed weird tale strongly resembles the hard-boiled detective story or the noir thriller in that the resolution of the narrative hinges upon a dramatically shattering confrontation with an unspeakable reality. Apart from its obvious utilization of conspiracy theory, the primary attraction of the Lovecraftian text lies with its remarkably sophisticated utilization of two central tropes of classical aesthetic theory—the sublime and the grotesque. Not only does Lovecraft’s oeuvre represent a remarkable use of both of these motifs, but the raw literary power of the Lovecraftian weird tale serves as an outstanding exemplar for the parapolitical scholar to emulate in formulating an alternative mode of discourse, or poetics. 2021-02-10T12:58:18Z 2019-03-26 23:55 2020-01-23 14:09:07 2020-04-01T10:40:36Z 2016 book 1004624 OCN: 1100528972 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/25471 9780998237565 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/29930 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/25471/1/1004624.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/25471/1/1004624.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/25471/1/1004624.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/25471/1/1004624.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/25471/1/1004624.pdf punctum books 10.21983/P3.0155.1.00 10.21983/P3.0155.1.00 12970da4-0116-4486-b8be-fc9756703ab1 9780998237565 ScholarLed 186 Brooklyn, NY open access
spellingShingle H.P. Lovecraft
parapolitics
radical criminology
horror
conspiracy theory
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWG Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWG Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action
Wilson, Eric
The Republic of Cthulhu: Lovecraft, the Weird Tale, and Conspiracy Theory
title The Republic of Cthulhu: Lovecraft, the Weird Tale, and Conspiracy Theory
title_full The Republic of Cthulhu: Lovecraft, the Weird Tale, and Conspiracy Theory
title_fullStr The Republic of Cthulhu: Lovecraft, the Weird Tale, and Conspiracy Theory
title_full_unstemmed The Republic of Cthulhu: Lovecraft, the Weird Tale, and Conspiracy Theory
title_short The Republic of Cthulhu: Lovecraft, the Weird Tale, and Conspiracy Theory
title_sort republic of cthulhu lovecraft the weird tale and conspiracy theory
topic H.P. Lovecraft
parapolitics
radical criminology
horror
conspiracy theory
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWG Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWG Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action
topic_facet H.P. Lovecraft
parapolitics
radical criminology
horror
conspiracy theory
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWG Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWG Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action
url 1004624
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