The Grotesque - Valerie Fliss

Flannery O'Connor, who was a participant in the Southern Gothic literature tradition, believed that the Gothic or the grotesque is what demonstrated the Divine best. And when you look at great Gothic cathedrals, with their rather horrid gargoyles and imposing spires, there is a great sense of fear and awe that comes over you. The tremulous awe that one gets from gazing at the grotesque is that same awe that, according Otto, one should experience from looking at art. Grotesque art might be one of the fastest ways to this experience of awe because it does make us step back in fear and horror.


Now, there is a difference between extreme horror and that awe that one gets - reading H.P. Lovecraft's stories about giant squid-headed gods that rise up from under the sea and destroy humanity is only going to give you nightmares if you take it too seriously. But that jolt that one gets from seeing something like a Gothic cathedral, or a picture of a monster in a storybook, or one of the characters from O'Connor's short stories, is going to take you out of your comfort zone for a minute, and make you see the world in a new light. It is going to make you a little frightened, but you will also be fascinated by it - this is how art can affect humanity, and bring it closer to the truth behind the world. Awe and fear is tied to fascination, and with fascination can come desire and longing, and desire and longing, if we listen to C.S. Lewis, are one step away from reaching the truth.