I, the Uncanny: A Heideggerian Take on Visible Difference in the Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Heidegger spoke about the Uncanny or 'Unheimlich,' a nouned adjective which can be translated into English as 'unhomely.' But what is a home? For many it is a house, for others perhaps a family or community. Pondering whether the body might be considered our most basic home, I examine what happens when that home itself becomes uncanny, for example through disability. Taking into account my experiences as a gay disabled Romani person, I speak about what it feels like to be seen as uncanny in the eyes of mainstream society and how many people's uncomfortableness with facing up to their own mortality is visible not only through their reactions to people like me, but also to the COVID-19 pandemic.