Romantic Legacy: Exploration of the Human Psyche in Early Silent Horror Films (2012)

Undergraduate: Virginia Hansen

Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Bauer
Department: Art

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Through the use of “uncanny” or disturbing imagery in silent horror films produced in post-WWI Germany, such as "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919), "The Golem" (1920), and "Nosferatu" (1922), a link may be found between German Romanticism (late 18th – early 19th c.) and Expressionism (early 20th c.) that shows a uniquely German interest in exploration of the human mind. These films combine Romantic ideas of subjectivity with the popular expressionistic style of the early twentieth century, and reflect the interest raised in the Romantic period for using disturbing imagery and motifs to explore states of the human psyche, such as sleeping, dreaming, hallucinations, and insanity. These were ideal periods in which to explore the human mind because of the burgeoning interest in psychology and the human mind in Romanticism, and the huge developments being made in the field of psychology during the early 1900s. Romanticism and Expressionism also both occurred in times of social upheaval – the former during the Age of Revolution, revolving around the French Revolution, and the latter in the aftermath of World War I (1914-1918). Uncanny imagery had the effect of visualizing and concretizing popular anxieties felt by an audience in the aftermath of extreme violence and upheaval.