Skip to content
1981
Volume 14, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2040-3275
  • E-ISSN: 2040-3283

Abstract

With its awkward generic shifts, odd repetitions, confusing spatial dislocations, unstable characters and inconclusive supernatural horrors, I here argue, bilingual Danish author Isak Dinesen’s weirds our experience of living in a familiar, predictable and rule-governed universe. In my analysis, I especially foreground Dinesen’s use of West Indian voodoo, which is a prominent weirding device largely overlooked by the novel’s relatively few critics. Dinesen, I argue, wrote her novel amidst a widespread international voodoo and zombie vogue, tapping into popular representations of Caribbean witchcraft in nonfiction, pulp fiction and film. In , I argue, Dinesen appropriates voodoo themes and characters, to conjure the presence of ominous agencies that trouble enlightened reason’s ability to explain and master the world.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/host_00060_1
2023-05-24
2026-04-16

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Agger, G.. ( 1988;), ‘ Genskrivningens veje – Karen Blixen og massekulturens skabeloner. ’, in H. J. Nielsen. (ed.), Kultur, Identitet og Kommunikation, Aalborg:: Aalborg Universitetsforlag;, pp. 7190.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Alder, E.. ( 2020), Weird Fiction and Science at the Fin de Siècle, London:: Palgrave;.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bedford-Jones, H.. ( 1932), Drums of Damballa, Chicago, IL:: Covici-Friede;.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bleiler, E. F.. ( 1983), The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, Kent:: Kent State University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Blix, H.. ( 1949), Karen Blixens Eventyr, Copenhagen:: Gyldendal;.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Brontë, J.. ( [1847] 2019), Jane Eyre, London:: Penguin;.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Carroll, N.. ( 1990), The Philosophy of Horror, or, Paradoxes of the Heart, New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Clark, N.. ( 2014;), ‘ Geo-politics and the disaster of the Anthropocene. ’, The Sociological Review, 62:1, pp. 1937.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Clute, J.. ( 2006), The Darkening Garden: A Short Lexicon of Horror, London:: Payseur and Schmidt;.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Dinesen, I.. ( 1934a), Seven Gothic Tales, New York:: Random House;.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Dinesen, I.. ( 1934b), Syv fantastiske fortællinger, Copenhagen:: Gyldendal;.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Dinesen, I.. ( 1934c), Sju romantiska berättelser, Stockholm:: Bonniers;.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Dinesen, I.. ( 1946), The Angelic Avengers, Chicago, IL:: University of Chicago Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Dinesen, I.. ( 1984), Shadows on the Grass, London:: Penguin;.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Du Maurier, D.. ( 1936), Jamaica Inn, London:: Victor Gollancz;.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Edmundson, M.. (ed.) ( 2019), Women’s Weird: Strange Stories by Women, 1890–1940, London:: Handheld Classics;.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Esteven, J.. ( 1930), Voodoo: A Murder Mystery, Garden City, NY:: Doubleday;.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Fisher, M.. ( 2016), The Weird and the Eerie, London:: Repeater;.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Freeland, C.. ( 2004;), ‘ Horror and art-dread. ’, in S. Prince. (ed.), The Horror Film, Piscataway, NJ:: Rutgers University Press;, pp. 189205.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Freud, S.. ( [1919] 2003), The Uncanny, New York:: Penguin;.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Friedman, T.. ( 2010;), ‘ Gloal weirding is here. ’, New York Times, 17 February, www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/opinion/17friedman.html. Accessed 28 June 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Ghosh, A.. ( 2017), The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, Chicago, IL:: University of Chicago Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Glienke, B.. ( 1977;), ‘ Karen Blixens Schauerroman: Gengældelsens Veje im Kontext. ’, Skandinavistik, 7, pp. 2843.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Halperin, W.. ( 1932), White Zombie, USA:: United Artists Corporation;.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Hannah, D.. ( 1971), Isak Dinesen and Karen Blixen: The Mask and the Reality, London:: Putnam;.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Harman, G.. ( 2012), Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy, Arlesford:: Zero Books;.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Heede, D.. ( 2001), Det umenneskelige: Analyser af seksualitet, køn og identitet hos Karen Blixen, Odense:: Odense University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Howard, R.. ( 2014;), ‘ Pigeons from hell. ’, in J. Shanks. (ed.), Zombies from the Pulps!: Twenty Classic Stories of the Walking Dead, n.p.:: Skelos Press;, pp. 26995.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Jay, M.. ( 1994), Downcast Eyes: The Denigration of Vision in Twentieth-Century French Thought, Berkeley, CA:: University of California Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Joshi, S. T.. ( 1990), The Weird Tale, Austin, TX:: University of Texas Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Kastbjerg, K. M.. ( 2014;), ‘ Reading the surface: The Danish Gothic of B. S. Ingemann, H. C. Andersen, Karen Blixen and beyond. ’, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Seattle, WA:: University of Washington.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. King, S.. ( 1991), Danse Macabre, New York:: Warner Books;.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Lovecraft, H. P.. ( 2004), Literary Criticism, New York:: Hippocampus Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Luckhurst, R.. ( 2015;), ‘ American weird. ’, in G. Canavan, and E. C. Link. (eds), The Cambridge Companion to American Science Fiction, Cambridge:: Cambridge University Press;, pp. 194205.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Luckhurst, R.. ( 2017;), ‘ The weird: A dis/orientation. ’, Textual Practice, 31:6, pp. 104161.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Machin, J.. ( 2018), Weird Fiction in Britain, 1880–1939, London:: Palgrave;.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. McGee, A. M.. ( 2012;), ‘ Haitian Vodou and voodoo: Imagined religion and popular culture. ’, Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, 41:2, pp. 23156.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. McKibben, B.. ( 2011), Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, New York:: St. Martin’s;.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Miéville, C.. ( 2008;), ‘ M. R. James and the quantum vampire. ’, Collapse, IV, pp. 10528.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Miéville, C.. ( 2009;), ‘ Weird fiction. ’, in M. Bould,, A. Butler,, A. Roberts, and S. Vint. (eds), The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction, London:: Routledge;, pp. 51015.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Newell, J.. ( 2020), A Century of Weird Fiction, 1832–1937: Disgust, Metaphysics, and the Aesthetics of Cosmic Horror, Cardiff:: University of Wales Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Nietzsche, F.. ( 1974), The Gay Science, New York:: Vintage Books;.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Possendorf, H.. ( 1935), Damballa ruft! Ein Roman aus Haiti, Leipzig:: Otto Janke;.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Quinn, S.. ( 1930;), ‘ The drums of Damballah. ’, Weird Tales, 15:3, pp. 30225, 426–29 .
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Radcliffe, A.. ( [1794] 2008), The Mysteries of Udolpho, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Rostbøll, G.. ( 2013;), ‘ Kommentar og efterskrift. ’, in I. Dinesen. (ed.), Gengældelsens veje, Copenhagen:: Gyldendal;, pp. 31573.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Schyberg, F.. ( [1937] 1980;), ‘ Review of I. Dinesen’s Seven Gothic Tales, Berlingske Tidende, 25 September 1935. ’, in H. Andersen, and F. Lasson. (eds), Blixeniana 1980, Copenhagen:: Karen Blixen Selskabet;, pp. 22531.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Seabrook, W. B.. ( 1929), The Magic Island, New York:: The Literary Guild of America;.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Shanks, J.. (ed.) ( 2014), Zombies from the Pulps!: Twenty Classic Stories of the Walking Dead, n.p.:: Skelos Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Shelley, M.. ( [1818] 2012), Frankenstein, New York:: Norton;.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Tabas, B.. ( 2015;), ‘ Dark places: Ecology, place, and the metaphysics of horror fiction. ’, Miranda, 11, pp. 121.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Terwilliger, G.. ( 1936), Ouanga, USA:: J. H. Hoffberg Company;.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Tesio-Ryan, B.. ( 2019;), ‘ Reassessing Karen Blixen’s Gengældelsens Veje/The Angelic Avengers: A novel challenging gender, totalitarianism and colonial practices. ’, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Edinburgh:: University of Edinburgh.
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Thurman, J.. ( 1982), Isak Dinesen: The Life of Karen Blixen, London:: Weidenfeld and Nicolson;.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Tourneur, G.. ( 1943), I Walked with a Zombie, USA:: RKO Pictures;.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Vandermeer, A., and Vandermeer, J.. ( 2012) (eds), The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories, New York:: Tor;.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Venezia, T.. ( 2010;), ‘ Weird fiction: Dandelion meets China Miéville. ’, Dandelion: Postgraduate Arts Journal and Research Network, 1:1, https://doi.org/10.16995/ddl.221.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Walter, E.. ( 1956;), ‘ Isak Dinesen. ’, Paris Review, 14, www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4911/the-art-of-fiction-no-14-isak-dinesen. Accessed 28 June 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Weinstock, J. A.. ( 2014;), ‘ Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation (2014): Gothic and the new weird. ’, in S. Bacon. (ed.), The Gothic: A Reader, Oxford:: Peter Lang;, pp. 21116.
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Weinstock, J. A.. ( 2016;), ‘ The new weird. ’, in K. Gelder. (ed.), New Directions in Popular Fiction: Genre, Distribution, Reproduction, London:: Palgrave;, pp. 17799.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Whissen, T. R.. ( 1989), The Devil’s Advocates: Decadence in Modern Literature, London:: Greenwood;.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Wivel, O.. ( 1987), Karen Blixen: Et uafsluttet selvopgør, Copenhagen:: Lindhardt og Ringhof;.
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Mortensen, Peter. ( 2023;), ‘ Isak Dinesen’s weird voodoo novel. ’, Horror Studies, 14:1, pp. 2945, https://doi.org/10.1386/host_00060_1
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/host_00060_1
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test