論及不可論述者: 霍華.菲利浦.洛夫卡夫特的短篇故事中之恐怖與不滿

Abstract

My thesis aims at exploring how the unknown and the horrible—the two underlying elements of H. P. Lovecraft’s fiction—work together in an enigmatic way that lures the hero into action and at the same time promises no gratification in the end. The discussion is based on the structure of a quest-journey that Lovecraft’s hero is bound to undertake, and divided into three parts in accordance with each chapter: the beginning, the middle, and the end. The discussion of each chapter is to be related to a more specific topic pertinent to the overarching argument in general. The first chapter deals with how Lovecraft’s monstrous beings can be horrifying and attractive at the same time, pushing the protagonist to make the first move. This topic is discussed with reference to the concept of the gaze in Jacques Lacan’s The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis. The following chapter deals with the quest-journey as a whole, covering the development of the hero in his quest and the motif of cycle influential to plot arrangement. I argue that the formulaic characterization and structural repetition common in Lovecraft’s fiction are less a stylistic defect than an intended way to demonstrate author’s genuine interest in the fantastic phenomena of transgression. The last chapter focuses entirely on Lovecraft’s unknown entities with which characters confront at the end of their quest. I study their nature in light of how they are conceived, approached, and interpreted with regard to the concept of the real, and in the process propose an interpretation that Lovecraft’s story is actually a story about human psyche.