L. Armitt, Fantasy Fiction. An Introduction

Lucie ARMITT, Fantasy Fiction. An Introduction

Continuum Publishing Group, Literary Genres, 2005, 256 p.

ISBN: 0826416853

This is a series of introductory books about different types of writing. One strand of the series will focus on genres such as Science Fiction, Horror, Romance, and Crime. The other strand will focus on movements or styles often associated with historical and cultural locations – Postcolonial, Native American, Scottish, Irish, American Gothic.

These introductions all share the same nine-part structure:

1. A broad definition of the genre and its essential elements
2. A timeline of historical developments
3. Critical concerns to bear in mind while reading
4. Detailed readings of several key texts
5. In-depth analysis of major themes and issues
6. Signposts for further study
7. A summary of the most important criticism in the field
8. A glossary of terms
9. An annotated, critical reading list

Writers covered in this book include:

Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mary Shelley, J.K. Rowling, H.G. Wells, Thomas More, Jonathan Swift, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Yann Martel, Jeanette Winterson, and William Gibson.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Chapter 1—What is Fantasy Writing?
Introduction
Beyond the Horizon
Epic Space

Chapter 2—Fantasy as Timeline
Introduction
The Origins of Modern Fantasy
Early Modern Fantasy
Tree versus Leaf: Reading the Present through the Past
Phantasm versus Fantasia

Chapter 3—How to Read Fantasy; Or, Dreams and Their Fictional Readers
Introduction
Reading Dreams
Medieval Dream Vision
The World in/of the Mirror

Chapter 4—The Best and Best Known
Introduction
Play and Nonsense: Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear
Cartographies and Geographies of Fantasy: Animal Farm and Gulliver's Travels
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein: Discourses of Monstrosity
The Monsters of Middle Earth
Adolescent Monsters: Harry Potter
H.G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon and The Time Machine
‘Other Desires': Homoeroticism and the Feminine
Mothers and Mirrors: Harry Potter

Chapter 5—The Utopia as an Underlying Feature of All Major Modes of Fantasy
Introduction
Thomas More, Utopia
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland
H. G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon and The Time Machine
Inter-Generic Texts: The Time Machine and A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court
Yann Martel, Life of Pi
George Orwell, Animal Farm
Technology Versus Magic: A Connecticut Yankee and Harry Potter
Jeanette Winterson, The PowerBook
William Gibson, Neuromancer

Chapter 6—One Key Question: Is There Life for Fantasy Beyond Genre?
Introduction
Ghosts and Their Readers
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens, ‘The Signalman'
Henry James, The Turn of the Screw
Edith Wharton, ‘The Eyes'

Chapter 7—Fantasy Criticism
Introduction
Interrogating the Boundaries of Fantasy: Todorov, Marin, and Tolkien
Determining Spaces: Tolkien, Bettelheim, and Zipes
Fantasy as (Dream-)Screen: Psychoanalytic Approaches
New Bodies/New Knowledge: Massey, Haraway, Botting

Chapter 8—A Glossary of Terms

Chapter 9—Selected Reading List

Index