Cosmic horror and liminal nature: A narratological, rhetorical, and psychological reading of the willows by algernon blackwood
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Date
2024
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Volume Title
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Universidad de Playa Ancha Ciencias de la Educación
Abstract
This study explores the representation of cosmic horror in Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows through the description of natural and terrestrial elements that act as sinister and eerie liminal spaces between dimensions. Adopting an interdisciplinary framework, the study combines rhetorical analysis—examining isotopies, chronography, and topography—with narratological perspectives focused on narrative voice, focalization, and the threshold chronotope. A psychological approach is also employed to investigate how these natural elements affect the characters’ perception and emotional experience. By analyzing the symbolic and affective dimensions of the text, this work proposes a new interpretative approach that diverges from previous readings. Ultimately, it aims to demonstrate how The Willows destabilizes the boundary between the human and the non-human, confronting the reader with an indifferent universe where the familiar becomes a source of existential dread.
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Keywords
AMERICAN STORIES, SCIENCE FICTION, FICTION LITERATURE, PROSE