Adrift in an Unfamiliar Place: Exploring the Architectural Uncanny in Rachel Cusk´s Outline Trilogy

Abstract

This essay explores the uncanny as an overarching element of Rachel Cuk´s Outline trilogy. This is done within the theoretical framework of Freud´s uncanny, the architectural interpretations of the concept, as well as with the help of Lacan´s extimacy, a concept that will be defended as closely related to Freud´s. The results of this research suggest that the uncanny is present in the themes of the different stories of the novels, the literal and metaphorical dimension of architectural spaces, as well as in the narration. All these elements form an interconnected network of uncanny and extimate realities that allows the consideration of the novel as an architectural object and the questioning of the subject-object relationship