Title
Alien: The Pre-oedipal Horror of (m)Other
Abstract
The uncanny horror germinating from the Pre-Oedipal stage of human development is at the core of Ridley Scott's film "Alien." Given the director's broad intuitional talents, it is of little wonder that the film taps into this primal horror and that the maternal semiotic manifests itself so strongly in all the aspects of the collaborative effort from Geiger's design elements to the casting of Sigourney Weaver as Ripley. Moreover, given its overwhelming connections to the pre-lingual human condition, it is of little wonder that the film has struck a deep chord with mainstream audiences. My article examines how Scott's film draws from the repressed experience of the primal separation of matter that is birth and the subsequent murder of (m)Other. Further, the film does more than exploit the unspeakable horror"”it also offers insight into the influence of the maternal semiotic always already conjoined to the hegemonic structure that is the Symbolic order.
Department(s)
Media, Journalism, and Film
Document Type
Article
Keywords
Maternal Semiotic, Pre-lingual Stage, Ridley Scott's "Alien", Symbolic Order, Law of the Father, Kristeva
Publication Date
2013
Recommended Citation
Bihlmeyer, Jaime. "Alien: The Pre-oedipal Horror of (m)Other." The International Journal of Literary Humanities 10, no. 4 (2013): 43-55.
Journal Title
The International Journal of Literary Humanities
