Cult M: Theories of the Uncanny

The title of our seminar functions as camouflage, concealing and revealing its promise by turns. On the one hand, claiming, or naming, as “theory” suggests that the work has already been done; we have arrived at a framework (or even several) for thinking the “unthinkable”—which is a way of describing “uncanniness.” Etymologically, the word “uncanny” derives from the Anglo-saxon root ken or kennen, “to know.”  Thus, we will be practicing unknowing, in order, perhaps, to “know” more profoundly—or perhaps not. What we envision is to pursue together forms of knowing rooted in mystery and uncertainty—the arcane, the unauthorized, the magical, the obscure, tarot and magic, flirtation, and things of the “spirit” (that stubbornly protean and elusive notion)—thus, all the things that resist theorizing, in principle. One of the notions around which these preoccupations have been organized is “witchcraft,” which in the West has historically been associated with women and “the female” (broadly conceived). To guide us in our explorations, we will draw from such areas of research as affect theory; fiction (I Tituba: Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé); feminist scholarship (Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici); and poetry and poets (W. B. Yeats’ poetry and essay “Magic”), among others.