Fantasy as Antifantasy 2 (5) The Ridiculous and Fraud: Aspiration for the Eternal in Antifantasy (original) (raw)
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Translation of the 6th chapter of my comprehensive study on The Last Unicorn, published in 2009, in Japan. This chapter discussed the numinous aspect of The Last Unicorn by applying various notions gained from the cosmological construction of Post Quantum Mechanics, the system structure of which is supposed to be able to irradiate the implication of traditional notions such as imagination, inspiration and synchronicity. Especially in The Last Unicorn those ideas are integrated in its speculative design through the word “magic,” which seems to affect everything as a signal extending to both material and immaterial, conscious being and non-conscious matters, like pilot wave generating resonance in everything. Perhaps, without the reinforcements of these key notions, I’m afraid, Peter S. Beagle’s masterpiece will be unnoticed without gaining due comprehension by those who are truly capable of grasping its virtue. I hope many scholars will take note of this masterpiece and give support to my poor attainment in my research of high aspiration.
In Peter and Wendy, the essential theme of fantasy literature was summarized in a highly deconstructive manner, and the subject of “division and reintegration of the ego,” which used to form the central theme of fantasy literature, was caricatured as a hidden backstory. In this respect, Peter and Wendy can be said to be a parody of fantasy literature, or a bitter criticism of its intrinsic subject.
The Dreadful Credibility of Absurd Things: A Tendency in Fantasy Theory
Historical Materialism, 2002
In Britain it has been estimated that 10% of all books sold are fantasy. And of that fantasy, 10% is written by Terry Pratchett. So, do the sums: 1% of all books sold in Britain are written by Terry Pratchett. Coo. 2 Although it is unclear whether, by 'fantasy', Butler intends a narrow de nition (generic fantasy, i.e., imitation Tolkien heroic or epic fantasy and sword 'n' sorcery) or a broad de nition (the fantastic genres, i.e., generic fantasy, sf (science ction), horror, supernatural gothic, magic realism, etc.), such statistics nonethless make the need for a Marxist theory-or preferably, Marxist theories-of the fantastic selfevident. The last twenty or thirty years have witnessed a remarkable expansion in the study of fantastic texts and genres. Literary studies has embraced the gothic, fairy tales and sf, and screen studies has developed a complex critique of horror and is now beginning
Fantasy as Antifantasy 2 (4) Fabulous Hero in Antifantasy
The Last Unicorn features a typical "hero" who plays a central role in the romance universe. Of course, it's Prince Lír, who offers a chivalrous courtship to Lady Amalthea, who's true identity is the unicorn. As a brave knight, Lír embarks on various adventures, defeating ferocious monsters and withstanding heavy ordeals. However, in this story of anti-fantasy, which subtly reverses the conventional perspective of fantasy, even if a hero is one of the important characters who serves as a brave knight, he can never be a true protagonist who is the centripetal presence in the story world. Prince Lír inherits his cursed kingdom after the dramatic destruction of his father King Haggard, and as a result of his coronation, he becomes "King Lír." But in this work, which has many allusions to Shakespeare's plays, the comical aspect shown by the hero who is forced to bear the outstanding nomenclature of "Prince Lír," brilliantly illuminates anti-fantasy or anti-romance traits that are the basis of this story. Through a detailed examination of the depiction of his actions, let us review some of the unique narrative strategies based on a ridiculous and satirist descriptive methodology, which has won a striking contrast with typical chivalric romance and typological fantasy. Prince Lír first appears in the story shortly after the unicorn's journey was joined by the wizard Schmendrick and the outlaw mistress Molly. It is in a small episode that is added to the main plot of the story, temporarily set up for the closing scene of the chapter. At this time, he showed up as a nameless figure, in front of the unicorn's party.
First chapter of my comprehensive study of Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn. This is an introductory part of the discussion of the influence of quantum mechanics on the generation of fantasy literature. This is included in "Fantasy as Antifantasy 2; A Study of The Last Unicorn", published in the year 2009, in Japan. Together with the concluding part of it, "Supernatural System Theory and Antifantasy: Space-Time Equivalence Principle and Persona Shifts", my argument on the implication of fictionality as space-time mind continuum is completed. I introduced the index "antifantasy" in my study of fantasy literature, in order to fully discuss the peculiarity of several speculative works. In the precursor of this study "Fantasy as Fantasy", this idea is applied to the study of another antifantasy "Peter and Wendy", written by James M. Barrie.
Journal of Language and Politics, 2021
Many scholars have drawn attention to the affective power that aspects of discourse and practice exert in our social and political life. Fantasy is a concept that, like structures of feeling, rhetoric, myth, metaphor, and utopia, has generated illuminating explanatory and interpretive insights with which to better understand the operation of this power. In this piece I argue that there are distinctive virtues in affirming the value of the category of fantasy, from a theoretical point of view. Importantly, however, I also argue that the qualification 'critical' in Critical Fantasy Studies captures something about how such studies can draw out the normative, ideological, and politico-strategic implications of psychoanalytic insights and observations, and thus become part of a broader enterprise in critical theoretical and empirical research.
The Fantastic Is Not Fantastic: On the Relationship Between Fantasy and Reality
Lars Schmeink, H.-H. Müller: Fremde Welten. Wege und Räume der Fantasie im 21. Jahrhundert. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012
The paper examines to what extent fantastic literature, movies and other art can actually be termed "fantastic" in the sense of dealing with or telling of impossible events. The argument of the paper is that fantastic art rather deals foremost with real life, only applying a fantastic "disguise" to the real-life stories it tells. The paper claims that the fantastic is a specific mode of storytelling which is used to enhance certain aspects of real life by clothing it in unlikely garb in order to emphasize the underlying meaning, as do metaphors in other circumstances also. Thus, the paper concludes, the fantastic in general is able to reach the same level of applicability and meaning that all other art does. This in turn also means that artists of the fantastic should be aware of a certain kind of responsibility for their works, especially as the fantastic is a very successful genre holding great appeal to a younger audience.