Dark epiphany: The Lovecraftian in twentieth-century existential literature

This article explores a convergence between H. P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror fiction and twentieth-century existentialist literature. The point of convergence, we argue, is a moment in the narrative marked by the realization of human insignificance and purposelessness before an overwhelming ‘cosmic’, often resulting in unconditional surrender and incessant despair within the characters – we call it the ‘dark epiphany’. Our article, divided into two parts, will begin with an investigation of the aforementioned epiphanic moments in Lovecraft’s short stories, carefully tracing a gradual progression in their intensity and impact. The second half of the article will discuss the seminal works of Franz Kafka, Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre to ascertain the unmistakable presence of a progressively increasing dark epiphany in these narratives. In the process, we attempt to draw parallels between the two strands of fiction, discuss their ideological overlaps and raise pertinent questions concerning the ‘cosmic’ and the ‘existential’.