Fantasy : how it works / Brian Attebery.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Attebery, Brian, 1951- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fantasy fiction--History and criticism.

Fantasy fiction.

Fantasy fiction--Themes, motives.

Storytelling--Philosophy.

Storytelling.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

198 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2022.

Summary:

An exciting and accessible study of the genre of fantasy.One of the dominant modes of storytelling in the twenty-first century, fantasy can mirror contemporary experiences and convey our anxieties and longings better than any representation of the merely real. It is the lie that speaks truth. This book addresses two central questions about fantastic storytelling: first, how can it be meaningful if it doesn't claim to represent things as they are, and second, what kind of change can it make in the world? How can a form of storytelling that altersphysical laws and denies facts about the past be at the same time a source of insight into human nature and the workings of the world? What kind of social, political, cultural, intellectual work does fantasy perform in the world--the world of the reader, that is, not that of the characters? Focusing on various aspects of fantastic world-building and story creation in classic and contemporary fantasy, from the use of symbolic structures to the way new stories incorporate bits of significance from earlier texts, this book shows how fantasy allows writers such as Michael Cunningham, Hans Christian Anderson, Helene Wecker, C. S. Lewis, Ursula K. Le Guin, Nnedi Okorafor, Nalo Hopkinson, George MacDonald, Aliette deBodard, and Patricia Wrightson to test new modes of understanding andinteraction and thus to rethink political institutions, social practices, and models of reality.

Contents:

Introduction : speaking of fantasy

How fantasy means : the shape of truth

Realism and the structures of fantasy : the family story

Neighbors, myths, and fantasy

If not conflict, then what? metaphors for narrative interest

A mitochondrial theory of literature : fantasy and intertextuality

Young adult dystopias and yin adult utopias

Gender and fantasy : employing fairy tales

The politics of fantasy

Timor mortis conturbat me : fantasy and fear

How fantasy means and what it does : some propositions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-190) and index.

ISBN:

0192856235

9780192856234

OCLC:

1301901052