Kyriakos
07-01-2010, 05:19 PM
The Doppelganger is a german word, which should mean the "double" (i have read various translations that present different meanings) but it is used to signify a double identity, and moreover that seperate second identity being in the spitirual realm, or at least distinctly seperate from the person.
It has been used, either consciously or unconsciously as a thematology in literature. A good example is De Maupassant's "The Horla", at least in its first two variations (there exist three variations of that story, and the last makes the Horla a clearly supernatural being, which however does not appear to be part of the narrator in any way).
Another, even earlier, doppelganger story of sorts is Gogol's "The nose", where a person loses his nose, and later on finds out that this part of his body has taken a life of its own, and now actively antagonises him. But this appears to be a more humorous story, and perhaps not that deeply in the dark realm that the doppelganger theme is ussually associated with.
Another story i have read, by a contemporary author (you wouldnt know him because currently he only publishes in maganizes of the genre) is one where an artist's creation takes a life of its own, and finally kills the creator, after first removing parts of him to use as his own.
I have been meaning to write a doppelganger story myself :) In fact i have an experience, which obviously was a hallucination one night when i was very tired and entirely sunk in my world of thoughts. After hours of trying to write a story (this was back when i was still a student of philosophy and literature) i finally gave up. First i had my eyes closed for a while, although i didnt mean to imagine anything else.
I was living, at the time, in an apartment in central London. It had nothing special, apart from the fact that above the towering door there stood a window, which was eternally closed. This had made an impression on me, since in my homeland such windows above doors are not ussual, but i gathered that it was there so as to allow air to reach the house, and it was so high up so that thieves could not make use of it.
So that night, without any reason, after opening my eyes, while still sitting in front of my writing table, i glanced at that window. At first i couldnt udnerstand why, but i felt fear. It took some seconds for me to realise why this was happening, since behind the window there was a face. It was familiar in a way, but terrifying none the less, it was my own face, but altered, with a fixed demonic look, and it was staring at me.
I decided to close my eyes again, and move as far away from thinking about that accursed sight as i could. Luckily i managed to achieve this, and when i looked again nothing was there :)
But i still remember that occurence. I do remember that i thought, while still staring at the apparition, that if it was to stand up and be seen from there, it should possess a nighmarishly long body. For a reason which i havent examined yet, this seemed to be the scariest thought at that moment :)
It has been used, either consciously or unconsciously as a thematology in literature. A good example is De Maupassant's "The Horla", at least in its first two variations (there exist three variations of that story, and the last makes the Horla a clearly supernatural being, which however does not appear to be part of the narrator in any way).
Another, even earlier, doppelganger story of sorts is Gogol's "The nose", where a person loses his nose, and later on finds out that this part of his body has taken a life of its own, and now actively antagonises him. But this appears to be a more humorous story, and perhaps not that deeply in the dark realm that the doppelganger theme is ussually associated with.
Another story i have read, by a contemporary author (you wouldnt know him because currently he only publishes in maganizes of the genre) is one where an artist's creation takes a life of its own, and finally kills the creator, after first removing parts of him to use as his own.
I have been meaning to write a doppelganger story myself :) In fact i have an experience, which obviously was a hallucination one night when i was very tired and entirely sunk in my world of thoughts. After hours of trying to write a story (this was back when i was still a student of philosophy and literature) i finally gave up. First i had my eyes closed for a while, although i didnt mean to imagine anything else.
I was living, at the time, in an apartment in central London. It had nothing special, apart from the fact that above the towering door there stood a window, which was eternally closed. This had made an impression on me, since in my homeland such windows above doors are not ussual, but i gathered that it was there so as to allow air to reach the house, and it was so high up so that thieves could not make use of it.
So that night, without any reason, after opening my eyes, while still sitting in front of my writing table, i glanced at that window. At first i couldnt udnerstand why, but i felt fear. It took some seconds for me to realise why this was happening, since behind the window there was a face. It was familiar in a way, but terrifying none the less, it was my own face, but altered, with a fixed demonic look, and it was staring at me.
I decided to close my eyes again, and move as far away from thinking about that accursed sight as i could. Luckily i managed to achieve this, and when i looked again nothing was there :)
But i still remember that occurence. I do remember that i thought, while still staring at the apparition, that if it was to stand up and be seen from there, it should possess a nighmarishly long body. For a reason which i havent examined yet, this seemed to be the scariest thought at that moment :)