psychoanalysis
a therapeutic theory and practice which tries to get to the root of mental problems by investigating them as symptoms of unconscious aspects of the human mind.
uncanny
strange, disturbing, unsettling
aesthetics
A mode of philosophical inquiry that focuses on art and especially on the faculty of taste or the judgment of beauty
affective
of or relating to the emotions
nucleus
center or core
semantic
something that pertains to meaning in written, spoken, or pictured language
linguistic
of or relating to the study of language
heimlich
a German adjective that means "familiar, friendly, domestic," but also "hidden, dangerous, forbidding."
privy councillor
an advisor to a head of state, usually a monarch, prince, duke, count, etc.
inanimate
not moving, not alive.
epileptic
suffering from epilepsy, an illness whose symptoms include fits of involuntary motion
automaton
a machine that moves of its own volition, especially in imitation of a human being
ego
in psychoanalytic theory, the conscious mind. From the Latin word for "I"
narcissism
an excessive or obsessive focus on the self. In psychoanalysis, one of the main stages of infancy.
demons
malicious, inhuman entities or forces
doppelgänger
A German word for "double," a double of a living person. The word originates from the German author Jean Paul, a contemporary of E.T.A. Hoffmann's.
painted woman
a woman wearing makeup; euphemism for prostitute
omnipotence
unlimited, total power
animistic
The belief that inanimate objects have souls
repression
A psychic process of suppressing and forgetting a feeling and making it unconscious
psychic
Of or relating to the mind, as opposed to the physical
ideational
of or relating to the formation of ideas, images in the mind
surmounted
overcome, in Freud's usage roughly analogous to repression or burying something
paramount
most, primary, supreme
lex talionis
the law of retaliation; "an eye for an eye."
