SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 2:14PM
REPOST: We Live in Lovecraftian Times.
(This was my second blog post ever on my OS blog, first published March 3, 2010. With Laura Miller's article on racism and H.P. Lovecraft on Salon.com - excellent and I fully agree with her - I thought it would be a good time to repost it.)
**************************************************
"The general tension was horrible. To a season of political and social upheaval was added a strange and brooding apprehension of hideous physical danger; a danger widespread and all-embracing, such a danger as may be imagined in only the most terrible phantasms of the night."
- H.P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep"
I thought of making Haute Cthure a semi-regular feature in this blog to discuss everyone's favorite anxiety-ridden horror master, H.P. Lovecraft. The idea is to pair an item or an article of Lovecraft inspired clothing with one of his works, or an adaptation/spin-off thereof.
Lovecraft, a virulent hater of other races, immigrants, poor white trash and seafood, has had a cyclopean impact not just on the horror and sci-fi genre, but on pop culture and the subconscious. Hence, 'Haute Cthure': there is a large amount of Lovecraft inspired apparel and memorabilia out there. It's geek kitsch to be sure, but I think there's something else going on.
First, the clothing item: the satirical election t-shirt, as seen above, available on Zazzle. These t-shirts embody for me what makes Lovecraft's work so viable today. Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, any one of his unpronounceable, vaguely described and horrific creations make powerful symbols for anyone to use. He classifies them not simply as monsters, but "Gods", and yet they're further removed from humanity than any deity ever conceived of by humans. They're purposeless, nihilistic, evil, powerful and weirdly wonderful in their own way. You can project your fears onto them, or use them for protest purposes. Many a merry prankster has used them to satirize evangelical Christianity or make political statements. In a triumph of complex carbohydrates over seafood, some atheists have invented the "Flying Spaghetti Monster," a derivative tentacled enitity.
Now the Lovecraft work of fiction: I have to confess, the story was chosen through sheer laziness. I have a very tough time getting through the author's florid and dense prose and undynamic plots. I decided to try Librivox.org, the free public domain audio books site, and at a blessedly short 9 minutes, I downloaded "Nyarlathotep," first published in the November 1920 issue of The United Amateur, as narrated by Librivox voice volunteer Peter Piazza.
Mr. Piazza did an excellent job. He voiced the story with an over-the-top, highly dramatic paranoid intonation that was perfect for the material. He felt all that teeming dread and he made sure his listeners did too!
And the way that the story codifies Lovecraft's anxieties offers some uncomfortable modern day parallel to today's American anxieties. Nyarlathotep, in this iteration (he appears in other works later), is nothing more than a "swarthy" "lean" resurrected Pharaoh from the Middle East:
(As an aside, it strikes me that Lovecraft's monsters rarely do anything to anyone - and readers, correct me if I'm wrong because I haven't read the entirety of his work. Just their mere presence, the hint of their existence, causes a complete and total mental breakdown. I love that! That's more badass than Jigsaw or Freddy Krueger. Imagine what that would imply for the torture-porn genre?)
But back to my point: now, part of me wishes I hadn't made these horrible connections. Our political discourse has been railroaded by a fevered delirium of intangible fears:
Eastern origins of birth? Check.
Sinister ideologies? Check.
False prophets? Check, though to be fair, that's a story as old as time.
If he were around today, H.P. Lovecraft could very well have whispered his mad tales into a megaphone to a highly receptive audience that would take his visions for fact.
**************************************************
"The general tension was horrible. To a season of political and social upheaval was added a strange and brooding apprehension of hideous physical danger; a danger widespread and all-embracing, such a danger as may be imagined in only the most terrible phantasms of the night."
- H.P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep"
I thought of making Haute Cthure a semi-regular feature in this blog to discuss everyone's favorite anxiety-ridden horror master, H.P. Lovecraft. The idea is to pair an item or an article of Lovecraft inspired clothing with one of his works, or an adaptation/spin-off thereof.
Lovecraft, a virulent hater of other races, immigrants, poor white trash and seafood, has had a cyclopean impact not just on the horror and sci-fi genre, but on pop culture and the subconscious. Hence, 'Haute Cthure': there is a large amount of Lovecraft inspired apparel and memorabilia out there. It's geek kitsch to be sure, but I think there's something else going on.
First, the clothing item: the satirical election t-shirt, as seen above, available on Zazzle. These t-shirts embody for me what makes Lovecraft's work so viable today. Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, any one of his unpronounceable, vaguely described and horrific creations make powerful symbols for anyone to use. He classifies them not simply as monsters, but "Gods", and yet they're further removed from humanity than any deity ever conceived of by humans. They're purposeless, nihilistic, evil, powerful and weirdly wonderful in their own way. You can project your fears onto them, or use them for protest purposes. Many a merry prankster has used them to satirize evangelical Christianity or make political statements. In a triumph of complex carbohydrates over seafood, some atheists have invented the "Flying Spaghetti Monster," a derivative tentacled enitity.
Now the Lovecraft work of fiction: I have to confess, the story was chosen through sheer laziness. I have a very tough time getting through the author's florid and dense prose and undynamic plots. I decided to try Librivox.org, the free public domain audio books site, and at a blessedly short 9 minutes, I downloaded "Nyarlathotep," first published in the November 1920 issue of The United Amateur, as narrated by Librivox voice volunteer Peter Piazza.
Mr. Piazza did an excellent job. He voiced the story with an over-the-top, highly dramatic paranoid intonation that was perfect for the material. He felt all that teeming dread and he made sure his listeners did too!
And the way that the story codifies Lovecraft's anxieties offers some uncomfortable modern day parallel to today's American anxieties. Nyarlathotep, in this iteration (he appears in other works later), is nothing more than a "swarthy" "lean" resurrected Pharaoh from the Middle East:
And it was
then that Nyarlathotep came out of Egypt. Who he was, none could tell,
but he was of the old native blood and looked like a Pharaoh. The fellahin knelt when they saw him, yet could not say why.
He wanders
unnamed cities to spread "science" and preach the word of The Great Old
Ones. Everyone he encounters becomes nervous, afraid and insane - some
disappear mysteriously - and entire civilzations collapse after he
passes through. There's a "daemoniac alteration in the sequence of the seasons." These fears, this nightmare, sound vaguely familiar , no?(As an aside, it strikes me that Lovecraft's monsters rarely do anything to anyone - and readers, correct me if I'm wrong because I haven't read the entirety of his work. Just their mere presence, the hint of their existence, causes a complete and total mental breakdown. I love that! That's more badass than Jigsaw or Freddy Krueger. Imagine what that would imply for the torture-porn genre?)
But back to my point: now, part of me wishes I hadn't made these horrible connections. Our political discourse has been railroaded by a fevered delirium of intangible fears:
Eastern origins of birth? Check.
Sinister ideologies? Check.
False prophets? Check, though to be fair, that's a story as old as time.
If he were around today, H.P. Lovecraft could very well have whispered his mad tales into a megaphone to a highly receptive audience that would take his visions for fact.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
Comments
R&R ;-)
I saw the Laura Miller
piece, too, and I made me recall how much I liked Lovecraft in my
younger years, how fascinating I found the mythology he created, and how
the "cosmic horror" of it all turns human beings into jibber-jabbering
idiots. But several years back picked him up again, and found the
stuff too floridly overwritten--just didn't have the patience for it.
However, I still find his long essay on horror fiction magnificent.
r.
Jerry - yep,
absolutely. It's tough to get through. But as more modern writers make
use of what he's established (not sure how much of it is in the public
domain or not) they're developing and using it in outstanding ways.
I'll stick with The LoveBoat and Fantasy Island. "Boss. Da plane. Da plane!"
For me, when looking at
the personal politics at work from artists from bygone eras, I have to
take the context of the times into account. Not that I am exactly
excusing reprehensible texts, music or images, but more feel that the
context of life at a given time has to be taken into account when making
those assessments, even though I never think that uncomfortable
elements should simply be swept under the rug either.
Gotta tell you
littlewillie - there were quite a few episodes of Fantasy Island that
didn't let me sleep later that night! I would love to have seen a
Lovecraft themed episode....!
VA, I absolutely agree
with what you've said, and I'd add that you have to acknowledge it,
acknowledge the context, and think about today's times. I would never
censor it or sweep it under the rug, just as I couldn't ask an
african-american reader not to take Lovecraft's writings personally.
For that reason, when Laura Miller suggests that the HP Lovecraft bust
award should be changed, I think she's probably right.
I personally do not
think Lovecraft's prose is that hard to read. It all depends on the
version you got it from. The versions I read were the corrected
versions S.T. Joshi did for Arkham House. Not sure why other publishers
insist on older versions that were mostly magazine publications. As
for Lovecraft's reprehensible character, it's beyond any doubt that he's
xenophobic and racist. Like someone said, one should consider the
context of the times. Plus you will find plenty of writers seriously
flawed. Like Celan, an excellent prose stylist, and yet a very vicious
antisemite. This one is just an example. One shouldn't dismiss their
work just on that basis. However, giving an African-American writer an
award with a Lovecraft bust? Not sure that's a hot idea.
Hi Schopen. I didn't
realize ST Joshi did "corrected" versions (what does that mean anyhow).
He's currently at the center of the Salon controversy on HPL. And
again, I agree with context and with separating the art from the artist,
but there also have to be frank discussions about it. And the award
can certainly be a more worthy piece than HPL's dour looking mug.
The corrected versions
were manuscripts he got a hold of, as well as magazine versions he had
as well, not just for comparisons. They were corrected for mistakes. I
would refer you to Joshi's intro in each of Lovecraft's five books from
Arkham House. Joshi's already admitted Lovecraft's "contemptible
racism." And he said this many times.
No comments:
Post a Comment