H. P. Lovercraft and the anatomy of the nothingness: The Cthulhu Mythos

Abstract

The so-called Cthulhu Mythos represents the most relevant contribution given to weird fiction by the American writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890–1937). His cycle of mythical tales had a starting point, according to most critics, with the tale ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ (1926), that signals a turning moment toward the rendering in fiction of the most significant lovecraftian philosophical principle: the cosmicism, i.e. the author’s concern on mankind’s position in the cosmos, the state of civilization, the role of humanity in universal history, aimed at revealing the meaninglessness and nothingness of our existence, always threatened by the fulfillment of a superior, though not supernatural, design on a cosmic scale. ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ is also considered a remarkable step in Lovecraft’s grasp of the technical requirements of the novelette form, a real watershed between Lovecraft’s early and mature writings. My analysis will be conducted privileging the three following ‘islands of meaning’: 1. Style and techniques (about ‘The Call of Cthulhu’) 2. Symbols for Outsideness (about ‘The Call of Cthulhu’) 3. The Lovecraft mythos Lovecraft composed ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ between August and September 1926, a few months after the writer’s return to his beloved hometown, Providence, Rhode Island, after an unhappy interlude in New York. His return to Providence left important signs on the tale: he includes numerous hints to local historical figures 1 and places. The composition was inspired by two main facts: a dream Lovecraft had in 1920 and the earthquake that shook New England during the night between February 28 and March 1, 1925. The tale was published in the February 1928 issue of Weird Tales.