Marija Dalbello Reading Interests of Adults Fantasy Rutgers School of Communication and Information...
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Transcript of Marija Dalbello Reading Interests of Adults Fantasy Rutgers School of Communication and Information...
Marija Dalbello
Reading Interests of Adults
Fantasy
RutgersSchool of Communication and [email protected]
Image credit: Victor GAD
Overview _______________________________________
Introduction
What is Fantasy?
Genre characteristics and appeal
“The Formula”
• REVIEW: Fantasy as genre of Speculative fiction
History and types of fantasy
Storytelling in focus: concepts, elements, narration
Conclusion
What is fantasy? _______________________________________ Speculative fiction: genre of nostalgia
Most ancient of genres: tales of magic combined with adventure
Iconography: magical elements and the magical escape (dwarves, elves, unicorns, ferns, and humans - medieval)
The genre specializing in storytelling
Truths told in archetypal terms; collective myths revisited; moral intention
Inclusive in appeal, multicultural, transnational publishing phenomena
Audiences crossing boundaries of age, gender
Genre characteristics and appeal _______________________________________
Use of story
Use of common characters
Evocation of another world
Conflict of good and evil
Use of a quest
• Resolution
Perhaps in a story such as this …
REVIEW: Comparing fantasy and science fiction The literature of WHAT IF … ? _______________________________________
FantasyAn allegorical springboard for nostalgic leaps to the past or into alternative worlds
The Difficult truths can sometimes only be told through the
medium of fantasy. (Herald 2000, 267)
Science fiction• Imagination provides access to experience and
social experiment“Access to understanding and experiencing our past,present, and future in terms of an imagined future”
(Cramer 1994)• Argument for an imagined world-order
Science fiction is any story that argues the case for a changed world that has not yet come into being. (Herald 2006, 313)
REVIEW: Comparing science fiction and fantasyWorld-building as subcreation
_______________________________________
Tolkien’s definition of the fantasy genre elements (from: On Fairy-Stories):
Creation of an internally consistent secondary world (the Subcreation)
The use of Faerie (the use of magic and enchantment)
Storytelling: world is accessed by the narrative skill of the author and the imaginative willingness of the reader
REVIEW: Comparing fantasy and science fiction World-building
_______________________________________
Evocative fiction - Fantasy
• Another world is presented as clean and whole• Another world is the place where the reader lives
in for the length of the reading• We learn not only about an alternative world but
also an entire and parallel world history, with myths and values, villains and heroes
• Extrapolative fiction - Science fiction
Abrupt transition from our world to the fantasy worldTransitions initiated by scientific mechanisms that transport us from our world to the fantasy world
Historical development _______________________________________ Precursors and foundational works
Myth and epic Babylonian: Gilgamesh European: The Odyssey, Beowulf
• European fairy tales (collectors) Charles Perrault - 17th century Chapbooks - Bibliothèque bleue (17th-mid-19th
cent.) Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm - 19th century
Modern-day fantasy• J.R.R. Tolkien (“Inklings” group at Oxford) - 1930s• Paperbacks started appearing - 1960s and 1970s • The Science Fiction Writers of America - fantasy added in the title (speculative fiction) - 1990s
The New Wave of fantasy (from 2000) The Harry Potter phenomenon re-launches fantasy Recent trend: divergence between adventure tale
(hero quest, sagas) and literary tale (magic realism and mainstream fiction)
EXERCISEStorytelling: concepts, elements, narration
Pacing_______________________________________ Paragraph, sentence and chapter length
Development of narration elements, paratexts Dialog / Description
Level of background detail Is focus on dialog or description
Pattern and pacing• Dramatic action • Slowly evolving or immediate
Characters / plot Revealed quickly or slowly unveiled Multiple flashbacks Complicated or straight-forward plot Emphasis on what characters do, or emphasis on
how they react Ending: is it open ended or complete
Slide based on handout developed by Bonnie Kunzell
EXERCISE Storytelling: concepts, elements, narration
Characterization_______________________________________ Characters
Quickly and readily identifiable or slowly developed Single or multiple characters Protagonist(s) - antagonist(s) types
(including Proppian types and forms) Is character or story most important Series characters (are they reappearing in a
body of work) Secondary characters - what are their roles?
Point of view Whose points of view are represented Multiple narrations - perspectives, or unified
perspective (I-form, or omniscient narrator) What does a reader know - is reader taken into
character’s mind Slide based on handout developed by Bonnie Kunzell
EXERCISE Storytelling: concepts, elements, narration
Story line_______________________________________
Story line intention How is genre realized in the story line Intention: soap opera, serious drama, comedy
or satire, serious look at moral or social issues
Psychological or action oriented• Is the focus on how characters think - internal• Is the focus on activities of characters - external
Slide based on handout developed by Bonnie Kunzell
EXERCISE Storytelling: concepts, elements, narration
Frame_______________________________________ Setting
Location could involve time or geographical place Is there a specific place or time invoked?
Atmosphere or background Compare across genres and works you know - is
it reminiscent, evocative? Memorable elements
• Tone• Bleak, suspenseful, light, romantic, humorous, upbeat dark
• Special interests Medieval life, gardening, cooking, etc. Other incidental information and is there much
incidental information
Slide based on handout developed by Bonnie Kunzell