Uncanny Doubles

An original and innovative study of how the intersection of the Doppelgänger and the Gothic configures a way not only to reveal something about what has been repressed in the singular or collective past, but can be used as a way of investigating both ourselves and the historical moment we live in. The idea of the doppelgänger has recently had something of a resurgence, with films and series such as The Haunting of Bly Manor, Curon, Living With Yourself, Two/One, Gemini Man, Doctor Sleep, Us, Annihilation, Look Away, Cam, Dark. These and many others feature doubles, twins or clones. These narratives see the world that was once familiar and known suddenly become uncanny and threatening; a place of shadows, anxiety and danger creating a gothicised environment that seems intent on our destruction. More importantly, the dark doubles or doppelgängers living in such a world all have evil intentions to replace, or do away with the original, self-constructing a space where friends and family can instantly become strangers that do not have our welfare in mind. In many senses, these deep and sudden divides between ourselves and the world, and ultimately within our own selves, reflect the combative, partisan nature of the early 21st century. Such cognitive and ideological fracturings are literally life-endangering, creating a doppelgänger world that threatens our very existence. Doppelgänger Gothic explores how such fears are expressed through popular culture, and, in particular, through the figure of the twin, clone or doppelgänger to show how we are living in truly Gothic times.