Optimus2g

I got a lot out of my oral presentation last class. I think that this was the case because I went into it with the idea of seeking advice from Prof. Tougaw and the class. As a result of this I feel MUCH better due to the following: I've formulated a research question to develop my project on, which is, "Why does this experience of Sleep Paralysis occur and what is so compelling about it? The answer for this would be because it evokes a feeling of TERROR, that resonates within us.

I'll also discuss the hallucinations that often accompany sleep paralysis and discuss different accounts of sleep paralysis as they occur cross-cullturally. Examples of some of the different names that the experience of sleep paralysis is knows as include "The Old Hag syndrome," in Newfoundland (see the picture below); "Kanashibari" in Japan; "subida del muerto," (the dead climbing on top) in Mexico; "karasbasan," (dark presser) in Turkey; and "Hexendrucken," (witch pressing) in Germany.

"The Old Hag"

I plan on tying together the scientific explanation of this phenomenon with personal accounts & cross-cultural explanations of sleep paralysis that all evoke a shared, common thread that is evocative of a sense of terror and displacement from reality. By using examples from literature including chapter 4 of Moby-Dick, by H. Melville; & E. Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro", as literary starting points, I plan to link together the terror and "otherworldliness" of this experience to the human psyche using examples from art and literature (see artist Henry Fuseli's 1781 painting titled "The Nightmare" also below) in order to demonstrate its resonance within people from all over the world who have documented it within their respectie cultures.