The A to Z of Fantasy Literature PDF Download
Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download The A to Z of Fantasy Literature PDF full book. Access full book title The A to Z of Fantasy Literature by Brian Stableford. Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.
Author: Brian Stableford
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810863456
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 568
Get Book Here
Book Description
Once upon a time all literature was fantasy, set in a mythical past when magic existed, animals talked, and the gods took an active hand in earthly affairs. As the mythical past was displaced in Western estimation by the historical past and novelists became increasingly preoccupied with the present, fantasy was temporarily marginalized until the late 20th century, when it enjoyed a spectacular resurgence in every stratum of the literary marketplace. Stableford provides an invaluable guide to this sequence of events and to the current state of the field. The chronology tracks the evolution of fantasy from the origins of literature to the 21st century. The introduction explains the nature of the impulses creating and shaping fantasy literature, the problems of its definition and the reasons for its changing historical fortunes. The dictionary includes cross-referenced entries on more than 700 authors, ranging across the entire historical spectrum, while more than 200 other entries describe the fantasy subgenres, key images in fantasy literature, technical terms used in fantasy criticism, and the intimately convoluted relationship between literary fantasies, scholarly fantasies, and lifestyle fantasies. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography that ranges from general textbooks and specialized accounts of the history and scholarship of fantasy literature, through bibliographies and accounts of the fantasy literature of different nations, to individual author studies and useful websites.
Author: Brian Stableford
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810863456
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 568
Get Book Here
Book Description
Once upon a time all literature was fantasy, set in a mythical past when magic existed, animals talked, and the gods took an active hand in earthly affairs. As the mythical past was displaced in Western estimation by the historical past and novelists became increasingly preoccupied with the present, fantasy was temporarily marginalized until the late 20th century, when it enjoyed a spectacular resurgence in every stratum of the literary marketplace. Stableford provides an invaluable guide to this sequence of events and to the current state of the field. The chronology tracks the evolution of fantasy from the origins of literature to the 21st century. The introduction explains the nature of the impulses creating and shaping fantasy literature, the problems of its definition and the reasons for its changing historical fortunes. The dictionary includes cross-referenced entries on more than 700 authors, ranging across the entire historical spectrum, while more than 200 other entries describe the fantasy subgenres, key images in fantasy literature, technical terms used in fantasy criticism, and the intimately convoluted relationship between literary fantasies, scholarly fantasies, and lifestyle fantasies. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography that ranges from general textbooks and specialized accounts of the history and scholarship of fantasy literature, through bibliographies and accounts of the fantasy literature of different nations, to individual author studies and useful websites.
Author: Dr Rosemary Jackson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134974027
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 134
Get Book Here
Book Description
This study argues against vague interpretations of fantasy as mere escapism and seeks to define it as a distinct kind of narrative. A general theoretical section introduces recent work on fantasy, notably Tzventan Todorov's The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre (1973). Dr Jackson, however, extends Todorov's ideas to include aspects of psychoanalytical theory. Seeing fantasy as primarily an expression of unconscious drives, she stresses the importance of the writings of Freud and subsequent theorists when analysing recurrent themes, such as doubling or multiplying selves, mirror images, metamorphosis and bodily disintegration.^l Gothic fiction, classic Victorian fantasies, the 'fantastic realism' of Dickens and Dostoevsky, tales by Mary Shelley, James Hogg, E.T.A. Hoffmann, George Eliot, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, R.L. Stevenson, Franz Kafka, Mervyn Peake and Thomas Pynchon are among the texts covered. Through a reading of these frequently disquieting works, Dr Jackson moves towards a definition of fantasy expressing cultural unease. These issues are discussed in relation to a wide range of fantasies with varying images of desire and disenchantment.
Author: Edward James
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107493730
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 297
Get Book Here
Book Description
Fantasy is a creation of the Enlightenment, and the recognition that excitement and wonder can be found in imagining impossible things. From the ghost stories of the Gothic to the zombies and vampires of twenty-first-century popular literature, from Mrs Radcliffe to Ms Rowling, the fantastic has been popular with readers. Since Tolkien and his many imitators, however, it has become a major publishing phenomenon. In this volume, critics and authors of fantasy look at its history since the Enlightenment, introduce readers to some of the different codes for the reading and understanding of fantasy, and examine some of the many varieties and subgenres of fantasy; from magical realism at the more literary end of the genre, to paranormal romance at the more popular end. The book is edited by the same pair who produced The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (winner of a Hugo Award in 2005).
Author: Helen Young
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317532171
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book illuminates the racialized nature of twenty-first century Western popular culture by exploring how discourses of race circulate in the Fantasy genre. It examines not only major texts in the genre, but also the impact of franchises, industry, editorial and authorial practices, and fan engagements on race and representation. Approaching Fantasy as a significant element of popular culture, it visits the struggles over race, racism, and white privilege that are enacted within creative works across media and the communities which revolve around them. While scholars of Science Fiction have explored the genre’s racialized constructs of possible futures, this book is the first examination of Fantasy to take up the topic of race in depth. The book’s interdisciplinary approach, drawing on Literary, Cultural, Fan, and Whiteness Studies, offers a cultural history of the anxieties which haunt Western popular culture in a century eager to declare itself post-race. The beginnings of the Fantasy genre’s habits of whiteness in the twentieth century are examined, with an exploration of the continuing impact of older problematic works through franchising, adaptation, and imitation. Young also discusses the major twenty-first century sub-genres which both re-use and subvert Fantasy conventions. The final chapter explores debates and anti-racist praxis in authorial and fan communities. With its multi-pronged approach and innovative methodology, this book is an important and original contribution to studies of race, Fantasy, and twenty-first century popular culture.
Author: Lykke Guanio-Uluru
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137469692
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 254
Get Book Here
Book Description
Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature: Tolkien, Rowling and Meyer by Lykke Guanio-Uluru examines formal and ethical aspects of The Lord of the Rings , Harry Potter and the Twilight series in order to discover what best-selling fantasy texts can tell us about the values of contemporary Western culture.
Author: Guy Gavriel Kay
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062230301
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 530
Get Book Here
Book Description
Award-wining author Guy Gavriel’s sixth novel, hauntingly evocative of medieval Spain, is both a brilliant adventure and a moving story of love, divided loyalties, and what happens to men and women when hardening beliefs begin to remake -- or destroy -- a world. The ruling Asharites have come from the desert sands, worshipping the stars, their warrior blood fierce and pure. But over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, that stern piety has eroded. The Asharies empire has splintered into decadent city-states lead by warring petty kinds. King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, adding city after city to his realm, even though Cartada is threatened by forces both within and without. Almalik is aided by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan -- poet, diplomat, soldier -- until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever. Meanwhile, in the north, the Jaddite’s most celebrated -- and feared -- military leader, Rodrigo Belmonte, is driven into exile in the wake of events following the death of the king he loved. Rodrigo leads his mercenary company south, to the dangerous lands of Al-Rassan. In the exquisite lakeside city of Ragosa, Rodrigo Belmonte and Ammar ibn Kharian meet and serve -- for a time -- the same master. Sharing the interwoven fate of these two men from different worlds -- and increasingly torn in her feelings -- is Jehane, the beautiful, accomplished court physician, whose own skills play an increasing role as Al-Rassan is swept to the brink of holy war, and beyond.
Author: Pamela S. Gates
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 9780810846371
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 180
Get Book Here
Book Description
Fantasy conjures up images of witches, fairies, dark woods, magic wands and spells, time travel, ghosts, and dragons. Each of us defines fantasy in a personal way, based on our life stories, experiences, hopes, dreams, and fears. Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults, helps teachers and students of literature to develop their own understandings of this broad genre in order to evaluate and promote the joy of fantasy in their classrooms. An excellent teaching tool, the discussions are organized around three categories of fantasy literature, including fairy/folktale; mixed fantasy (which includes journey, transformation, talking animal, and magic); and heroic-ethical; and they are supported by well-chosen examples of representative authors, critics, and theorists. With the assumption that the reader has no special knowledge of fantasy literature but has some previous exposure to the study of literature for children and young adults, this book focuses on reviewing texts that illustrate particular types of fantasy literature. The authors have an extensive knowledge of both classic and contemporary children's and YA titles, and they offer many insightful observations and details that make a book a particularly good classroom choice. Literature allows us to discuss controversial issues without making judgments; it allows us the opportunity to "experience" another time and space by providing a new lens through which to view; and it offers us a multitude of ways to come to appreciate and embrace the world of fantasy. Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults will help teachers and other readers to deepen their knowledge, appreciation, and pedagogical understandings of fantasy literature.
Author: T. A. Shippey
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192803825
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 499
Get Book Here
Book Description
'So you won't sell me your soul?' said the Devil. 'Thank you,' replied the student, 'I had rather keep it myself, if it's all the same to you.' So begins this rich and intriguing collection of fantasy stories. Figures such as the devil, trolls and werewolves, sorcerers and dragons have long been part of the human psyche, and the authors of these marvellous tales draw upon this deep well of images, characters, and landscapes with great imagination and subtlety. With thirty-one tales by writers as diverse as John Buchan and Mervyn Peake, Angela Carter and Terry Pratchett, this is an anthology for the newcomer and dedicated fan alike.
Author: Barbara Hambly
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1453216863
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Get Book Here
Book Description
DIVDIVAn idealistic young prince convinces an aging warrior and a struggling witch to help him kill the dragon that is terrorizing his kingdom/divDIV /divDIVAs a vicious dragon stalks the Southlands, Crown Prince Gareth ventures to the forbidding North in search of the only man who can kill it. He is Lord Aversin, the Dragonsbane, whose dragon-slaying days have won him renown across the land. But when Gareth finds Lord Aversin, he discovers the mighty hero is squat and bespectacled, the ruler of a mud-village who admits that he killed the dragon not with a lance, but with ignoble poison. Still, he’ll have to do./divDIV /divDIVGareth and Aversin set off in company with Jenny Waynest, a witch with great ambitions but disappointingly puny powers—a ragtag crew destined to become legendary, or die in the attempt./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Barbara Hambly, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection./div /div
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 946300758X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Get Book Here
Book Description
Fantasy literature, often derided as superficial and escapist, is one of the most popular and enduring genres of fiction worldwide. It is also—perhaps surprisingly—thought-provoking, structurally complex, and relevant to contemporary society, as the essays in this volume attest. The scholars, teachers, and authors represented here offer their perspectives on this engaging genre. Within these pages, a reader will find a wealth of ideas to help teachers use these texts in the classroom, challenging students to read fantasy with a critical eye. They employ interdisciplinary, philosophical, and religious lenses, as well as Marxist and feminist critical theory, to help students unlock texts. The books discussed include epic fantasy by such authors as Tolkien and Le Guin, children’s fantasy by Beatrix Potter and Saint-Exupéry, modern fantasy by Rowling and Martin, and even fairy tales and comic books. The contributors offer provocations, questioning the texts and pushing the boundaries of meaning within the fantasy genre. And in doing so, they challenge readers themselves to ponder these tales more deeply. But through each of these chapters runs a profound love of the genre and a respect for those who produce such beautiful and moving stories. Furthermore, as with all the books in this series, this volume is informed by the tenets of critical pedagogy, and is focused on re-envisioning fantasy literature through the lens of social justice and empowerment. Prepare to be challenged and inspired as you read these explorations of a much-loved genre.
