Description
As Moore has pointed out, the search for “alternative knowledge claims” prompted by the aesthetic turn in IR theory has often looked to the form and production of literature as an example of the kind of works which approach familiar topics with unique methodological or epistemological frameworks. Despite this interest in narrative fiction, one author remains curiously understudied in IR aesthetic inquiries, namely horror author Howard Philip Lovecraft (1890-1937). Besides having written an enduringly popular and influential corpus of short stories, Lovecraft’s life and work mirror much of the context surrounding the origin of IR as a discipline during the early 20th century. A curious mix of 19th century romanticism, a fascination with the implications of modern science, New England settings at a high tide of immigration and inveterate xenophobic racism, Lovecraft’s work offers a rich vein of cultural commentary both on and as a product of enduring theoretical questions surrounding reason, race and politics. Framed by Fischer’s notion of the weird and Shapiro’s arguments about textual approaches to politics, this paper will attempt to cohere these themes in one of Lovecraft’s more famous works, “The Call of Cthulhu,” into a concrete IR analysis.