Doubt and Uncertainty in Jentsch's and Freud's Examinations of the Uncanny

Romantic artists such as Coleridge, Radcliffe or Lewis discovered their interest in using settings, characters and plots which caused their readers to experience a cold shudder and haunt their minds long after they had put the book aside. Uncanny novels and poems are still very popular, and many attempts have been made at defining what creates this specific sensation.

Ernst Jentsch and Sigmund Freud tried to answer this question as well and have come up with their very own explanations in their essays “On the Psychology of the Uncanny” (Jentsch, 1906) and “The ‘Uncanny’” (Freud, 1919). Doubt and uncertainty play a role in both investigations into the topic. However, the impact doubt and uncertainty have on the reader or someone who finds him- or herself in an uncanny situation is viewed differently in these works.