Hauntology examines how what happened in the past—and what didn't—informs the present
The spooky is a hugely popular phenomenon in British culture, demonstrated in what now seems like a month-long Halloween celebration, a rich tradition of horror cinema and a growing interest in the uncanny. But there are other manifestations of haunting.
Hauntology, a concept introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida, examines how the past continues to shape contemporary culture, despite its absence. This research group at York St John University explores this phenomenon across various disciplines, such as literature, film, media, healthcare, and sociology. They focus on how traces of what seems to have disappeared remain present in subtle and unexpected ways.
The group is particularly interested in questions of memory, place, and identity, and how they influence the way landscapes, buildings, and cultural forms evoke feelings of presence and absence. They also investigate how communities remember what has been lost and how those memories continue to shape collective identities. The idea of hauntology, along with its related concept of spectrality, has gained significant traction over the past two decades, with scholars applying these ideas to a wide range of subjects.
This trend is evident in public interest in nostalgia, memory, folklore, and cultural loss, as well as in the resurgence of interest in themes like folk horror and forgotten histories. The study of hauntology and spectrality provides a valuable framework for understanding the encounters between different times and histories, especially in a country like Britain with a rich and layered history.
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