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Beschreibung

What is horror? Setting aside the implausible circumstances typical of the horror genre, Capra investigates what he terms "ordinary horror"—the horror that haunts our world, and that we may encounter firsthand. Drawing from ordinary language philosophy and phenomenology, he reframes horror as a common human experience tied to a sense of forced powerlessness—the shattering moment when our control over a given situation, and our very sense of reality, unravels. By tracing this experience across texts beyond the horror genre, Capra reveals its significance for our time.

Centering on modern Italian literature, Ordinary Horror shows a tradition not typically associated with horror to be rife with it. To this end, Capra emphasizes the centrality of the experience in canonical authors, as seen, for instance, in Giacomo Leopardi's pages on existential suffering, Primo Levi's writings on Auschwitz, and Elena Ferrante's descriptions of sexual violence. Literature, Capra argues, can convey horror's experiential magnitude through what he calls the "aesthetics of deformation"—scenes when otherwise realistic texts depart from verisimilitude and embrace a more disquieting style. Weaving together aesthetics and phenomenology, Capra shows that just as horror may rupture the fabric of everyday life, so too may it rupture the fabric of a literary text.

What is horror? Setting aside the implausible circumstances typical of the horror genre, Capra investigates what he terms "ordinary horror"—the horror that haunts our world, and that we may encounter firsthand. Drawing from ordinary language philosophy and phenomenology, he reframes horror as a common human experience tied to a sense of forced powerlessness—the shattering moment when our control over a given situation, and our very sense of reality, unravels. By tracing this experience across texts beyond the horror genre, Capra reveals its significance for our time.

Centering on modern Italian literature, Ordinary Horror shows a tradition not typically associated with horror to be rife with it. To this end, Capra emphasizes the centrality of the experience in canonical authors, as seen, for instance, in Giacomo Leopardi's pages on existential suffering, Primo Levi's writings on Auschwitz, and Elena Ferrante's descriptions of sexual violence. Literature, Capra argues, can convey horror's experiential magnitude through what he calls the "aesthetics of deformation"—scenes when otherwise realistic texts depart from verisimilitude and embrace a more disquieting style. Weaving together aesthetics and phenomenology, Capra shows that just as horror may rupture the fabric of everyday life, so too may it rupture the fabric of a literary text.

Über den Autor
Andrea Capra is Assistant Professor of Italian Studies at NYU.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Horror beyond Horror
1. The Sublime Roots of Horror: Giacomo Leopardi
2. Not in Control: Carlo Michelstaedter and Luigi Pirandello
3. Structural Horror: Curzio Malaparte and Primo Levi
4. The Banality of Horror: Anna Maria Ortese and Giuseppe Berto
5. To Make Horror Concrete: Elena Ferrante
Coda: Are Horror Stories Real
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Details
Erscheinungsjahr: 2026
Genre: Importe, Romane & Erzählungen
Rubrik: Belletristik
Medium: Taschenbuch
Inhalt: Einband - flex.(Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781503648142
ISBN-10: 1503648141
Sprache: Englisch
Einband: Kartoniert / Broschiert
Autor: Capra, Andrea
Hersteller: Stanford University Press
Verantwortliche Person für die EU: Mare Nostrum Group B.V., Doelen 72, ?-4831 GR Breda, gpsr@mare-nostrum.co.uk
Maße: 150 x 229 x 19 mm
Von/Mit: Andrea Capra
Erscheinungsdatum: 01.09.2026
Gewicht: 0,45 kg
Artikel-ID: 136051941

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