Urban fantasy Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Quattro chiacchere sull'urban fantasy con Luca Tarenzi e Aislinn Ovvero, come approfittare del lancio dell'antologia Terra Senza Cielo per chiacchierare di urban fantasy e del nostro modo di accettare il nuovo e il diverso L'anteprima di... more

Quattro chiacchere sull'urban fantasy con Luca Tarenzi e Aislinn Ovvero, come approfittare del lancio dell'antologia Terra Senza Cielo per chiacchierare di urban fantasy e del nostro modo di accettare il nuovo e il diverso L'anteprima di un nuovo libro è un'ottima scusa per incontrare due tra i maggiori autori del fantasy italiano, soprattutto se si tratta della preview di Terra senza Cielo, l'antologia che Luca Tarenzi e Aislinn hanno lanciato in anteprima al Lucca Comics and Games e che sarà disponibile in cartaceo da maggio 2019. Antologia a quattro mani o esperimento di metaletteratura dialogata? L'idea di un'opera a quattro mani, ci racconta Aislinn, nasce durante una chiacchierata davanti a un sushi. Un'antologia di racconti già pubblicati in altre antologie, ormai introvabili, con una sola regola: il numero di pagine a disposizione dei due autori deve essere la stessa; non importa la quantità dei racconti, ma lo spazio nell'antologia sarà perfettamente diviso a metà. E quindi, perché non aggiungere qualche racconto inedito? Una collezione di racconti che sia anche la fotografia dell'evoluzione dello stile e dei temi dei due scrittori, ma anche la storia della loro collaborazione: riprendere in mano vecchi testi, limarli, ma lasciare che raccontino il momento in cui sono stati scritti. Così scopriamo, per esempio, la storia di Lucifero, che lega tra loro i due Angelize (avete scovato la strizzata d'occhio ai romanzi in Né al Dio né al Diavolo?); ma anche un racconto su Azazel, rimasto nel cassetto per dieci anni, che prende forma proprio grazie alla collaborazione tra i due autori (e che troverete come bonus track solo nella versione cartacea dell'antologia). Terra senza Cielo è quindi un enorme puzzle del percorso narrativo di Luca Tarenzi e Aislinn, di cui ogni frammento viene raccontato nell'introduzione a ciascun racconto: non solo narrativa, quindi, ma una sorta di storia della storia, che procede con botte e risposte tra i due autori, fino a diventare un vero esperimento di metaletteratura dialogata. Un esperimento che culmina quindi in un mescolamento delle carte in gioco: ognuno dei due autori scrive un racconto che ha come protagonista il personaggio di un libro dell'altro. E quindi, ecco che Tom di Né al Dio né al Diavolo prende forma nelle mani di Luca Tarenzi, mentre Giacomo di Di Metallo e Stelle rivive nella penna di Aislinn. I due scrittori spiegano le difficoltà di questo lavoro: capire, profondamente, l'ambientazione dell'altro, attraverso appunti, mappe, discussioni, ma anche entrare nella storia e immaginarne sviluppi successivi che possano essere condivisi da chi ha partorito il personaggio nella sua mente. Ma…e l'urban fantasy? Come tradizione ormai consolidata per i due autori, il genere dell'antologia è l'urban fantasy ed è Luca Tarenzi, con la consueta passione (e competenza) a spiegarci il motivo della sua propensione per questo genere. Uno dei possibili presupposti della narrativa fantastica (di cui avevamo parlato anche con Fabio Guaglione e Maurizio Temporin, autori di IF, la Fondazione Immaginaria) è la presa di coscienza che la realtà in cui viviamo non ci soddisfa e questo ci porta a tre possibili reazioni: possiamo crearne una nuova (la strada del fantasy); possiamo portare la nostra alle sue estreme conseguenze (in una distopia o, più in generale, nella fantascienza); oppure, e questo è il

Urban Fantasy coalesced as a genre in the early 1980s born in reaction to the tumultuous musical subcultures that permeated urban society in America and England at the time. This paper reflects the way the early Urban Fantasy texts sought... more

Urban Fantasy coalesced as a genre in the early 1980s born in reaction to the tumultuous musical subcultures that permeated urban society in America and England at the time. This paper reflects the way the early Urban Fantasy texts sought through their magical narratives to help Western youth to navigate the shadows of the urban jungle and traverse a period of both societal and personal difficulties.

Fairies as dangerous and potentially deadly beings can be found across folklore, sometimes portrayed as inimical to humanity other times as ambiguous. In Scotland these specifically dangerous beings eventually came to be labelled as... more

Fairies as dangerous and potentially deadly beings can be found across folklore, sometimes portrayed as inimical to humanity other times as ambiguous. In Scotland these specifically dangerous beings eventually came to be labelled as Unseelie, a term and concept filled with nuances. The Unseelie appeared in contrast to the more benevolent Seelie fairies of folklore, creating a moral and philosophical dichotomy between the so-called good and bad fairies or "gude wichts" and "wicked wichts" as explained by F. Marian McNeil in her mid-20 th century Silver Bough text. Urban fantasy in the later 20 th and 21 st century would latch onto and quickly

The purpose of this 20 minute presentation is to examine the evidence of the concept of courts in the realm of Fairy, beginning with references in Scottish ballads and tracing their development through to modern urban fantasy. What began... more

The purpose of this 20 minute presentation is to examine the evidence of the concept of courts in the realm of Fairy, beginning with references in Scottish ballads and tracing their development through to modern urban fantasy. What began as a single euphemistic grouping has grown over the centuries into a multitude of different royal courts in fiction, each of which has its own character, but as the concept itself has diversified the understanding of who and what these groups are has lost cohesion. Influencing this the concept of the court in Fairy is often misunderstood in modern culture due to its roots in the Scots language where the word was more nuanced and this has influenced the way that current fiction interprets and envisions them. Evidence will be considered from Scottish sources as well as modern fiction to trace these changes and show the way that they both reflect wider cultural concepts of their time as well as the contemporary understanding of who and what fairies are within the literary context which in turn influences popular belief.

Among the many unexplored areas of urban fantasy is its relation to crime fiction. This article explores how features of the crime story are used to emphasize, reinforce, or introduce urban fantasy’s social commentary. It looks at the... more

Among the many unexplored areas of urban fantasy is its relation to crime fiction. This article explores how features of the crime story are used to emphasize, reinforce, or introduce urban fantasy’s social commentary. It looks at the genres’ relationship, analyzing three urban fantasies and their respective crime fiction elements.

In his novel Neverwhere Gaiman depicts the modern city of London - London Above, and his inverted fantastic counterpart - London Below. London Below is the reflection of London Above in a heterotopic mirror: a fantastic version of the... more

In his novel Neverwhere Gaiman depicts the modern city of London - London Above, and his inverted fantastic counterpart - London Below. London Below is the reflection of London Above in a heterotopic mirror: a fantastic version of the city, represented by its mythical identity. While London Above is “filled with colour”, and is “a city in which the very old and the awkwardly new jostled each other, not uncomfortably, but without respect”, London Below is “built of lost fragments of London Above: alleys and roads and corridors and sewers that had fallen through the cracks over the millennia, and entered the world of the lost and the forgotten”, and it is “inhabited by the people who fell through the cracks in the world”. This article aims to analyse the representation of London in terms of Lynch’s environmental image, Bakhtin’s study on chronotope and Foucault’s essay on heterotopias and heterochronies, and to examine Gaiman’s version of London in terms of myths and legends that forge the identity of the city.

This article analyzes the nature of urban fantasy by aggregating the claims, suggestions, and observations made by several different accounts of what urban fantasy is. These accounts comprise six scholarly sources and four sources... more

This article analyzes the nature of urban fantasy by aggregating the claims, suggestions, and observations made by several different accounts of what urban fantasy is. These accounts comprise six scholarly sources and four sources written by people who are producers and purveyors of urban fantasy. An eleventh "account" is made up of the impressions conveyed by a vast number of book covers identified through Google Image Search. These eleven accounts are analyzed with regard to their views on worlds and settings, cities and urbanity, central characters, and the sources of fantastic elements. Finally, the article presents how three major threads in the accounts reveal that urban fantasy has a central, thematic concern with the Unseen. This Unseen is largely related to a social Other that portrays unpleasant aspects of urban life, such as criminality, homelessness, addiction, prostitution, and physical and sexual abuse.

This paper offers a wide overview of the various inspirations, sources and roots that have inspired the development of the new subgenre of urban fantasy. Reaching as far back as ancient mythologies coming forward to the great shift in... more

This paper offers a wide overview of the various inspirations, sources and roots that have inspired the development of the new subgenre of urban fantasy. Reaching as far back as ancient mythologies coming forward to the great shift in fantasy literature that was Tolkien, the paper aims to suggest the deep roots of urban fantasy literature. With only a cursory connection to seminal and current texts, such as Emma Bull, Charles de Lint and Laurell K. Hamilton, the paper is a document interested in developing a framework for situating the growing subgenre.

Monografia Groza i postgroza, powstała pod wspólną redakcją Kseni Olkusz i Barbary Szymczak-Maciejczyk jest siódmym tomem serii „Perspektywy Ponowoczesności” i trzecim już — po Zombie w kulturze oraz Światach grozy — poświęconym studiom... more

Monografia Groza i postgroza, powstała pod wspólną redakcją Kseni Olkusz i Barbary Szymczak-Maciejczyk jest siódmym tomem serii „Perspektywy Ponowoczesności” i trzecim już — po Zombie w kulturze oraz Światach grozy — poświęconym studiom nad fantastyką grozy. Roz­działom polskich badaczy towarzyszą również po raz pierwszy w historii serii przekłady prac wybitnych światowych znawców problematyki: Grego­ry’ego Claeysa, Elany Gomel, Mathiasa Clasena oraz Leigh M. McLennon

Książka "Narracje fantastyczne" pod wspólną redakcją Kseni Olkusz i Krzysztofa M. Ma­ja jest piątym tomem serii „Perspektywy Ponowoczesności”, zbierającym na blis­ko siedmiuset stronach trzydzieści tekstów nau­kowych rozpatrujących... more

Książka "Narracje fantastyczne" pod wspólną redakcją Kseni Olkusz i Krzysztofa M. Ma­ja jest piątym tomem serii „Perspektywy Ponowoczesności”, zbierającym na blis­ko siedmiuset stronach trzydzieści tekstów nau­kowych rozpatrujących szeroko po­jętą fantastykę z perspektywy ponowoczesnej, trans­dyscyplinarnej i światocentrycz­nej zarazem *** Z recenzji prof. dr hab. Anny Łebkowskiej (Uniwersytet Jagielloński):
Tom "Narracje fantastyczne" to zbiór studiów poświęconych ważnym współczesnym zjawiskom obecnym w literaturze, filmie, grach komputerowych i szeroko rozumianym świecie kultury. Wśród jego wielu zalet wymienić należy na pierwszym miejscu opracowanie mocnych podstaw teore­tycznych. Autorzy podważają paradygmat tekstocentryczny i opisują zjawisko zwrotu światocen­trycznego, przekonująco je udokumentowując. Przedstawione w tomie studia pozwalają nie tylko usytuować współczesne narracje fantastyczne na tle przemian światopoglą­dowych, teorii filozofi­cznych i kulturowych, ale zarazem ukazać ich wyraźne powiązania z namy­słem nad ponowocze­snością. Książka zaleca się także – między innymi – ważnymi głosami na te­mat sporów wokół współczesnego kanonu fantastyki, rozważaniami poświęconymi figurze cybor­ga w świetle teorii posthumanistycznych czy zagadnieniu transfikcjonalności. Zgodnie z przyjętą ramą światocen­tryczną w osobnej części tomu znajdziemy studia na temat przestrzeni: głównie miasta i społe­czeństwa, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem problemu utopii, a także rozprawy, któ­rych autorzy skoncentrowali się na kwestiach temporalnych (tu m.in. historie alternatywne). Roz­ległe spektrum badanych problemów dopełnione zostało przez – poparte gruntownymi analizami – interpretacje zjawisk obecnych w wielu mediach. Należy z całym przekonaniem stwierdzić, że tom oddawany do rąk czytelnika stanowi cenną inicjatywę badawczą.

Neil Gaiman is a renowned British author of fantasy, science fiction novels, children's books and short stories. In Gaiman's works, time and space are major elements, playing a key-role in his narratives. " The intrinsic connectedness of... more

Neil Gaiman is a renowned British author of fantasy, science fiction novels, children's books and short stories. In Gaiman's works, time and space are major elements, playing a key-role in his narratives. " The intrinsic connectedness of temporal and spatial relationships that are artistically expressed in literature " was termed as chronotope by Bakhtin. The chronotope is an important literary element, having narrative, plot-generating, representational, and semantic significance, and providing the basis for distinguishing generic types (Bemong, Borghart 2010). However, the chronotope in fantasy fiction is a rather complex notion. Due to its magic and supernatural elements, fantastic literature employs multiple chronotopes, making a step from a single chronotope of reality (or rather of its representation) to those of alternate worlds or realms. This article aims to examine Gaiman's novels from a spatio-temporal point of view and to analyze the importance of space and time in " Stardust " , " Neverwhere " , and " American Gods " , by using Bakhtin's concept of chronotope, and Foucault's concepts of heterotopia and heterochronia.

Fairies as dangerous and potentially deadly beings can be found across folklore, sometimes portrayed as inimical to humanity other times as ambiguous. In Scotland these specifically dangerous beings eventually came to be labelled as... more

Fairies as dangerous and potentially deadly beings can be found across folklore, sometimes portrayed as inimical to humanity other times as ambiguous. In Scotland these specifically dangerous beings eventually came to be labelled as Unseelie, a term and concept filled with nuances. The Unseelie appeared in contrast to the more benevolent Seelie fairies of folklore, creating a moral and philosophical dichotomy between the so-called good and bad fairies or "gude wichts" and "wicked wichts" as explained by F. Marian McNeil in her mid-20 th century Silver Bough text. Urban fantasy in the later 20 th and 21 st century would latch onto and quickly modify these terms in new directions which shifted the fairies of fiction away from their folkoric predecessors and muddied the moral waters around both groups. The Seelie increasingly, although not universally, came to be depicted as the corrupt and cruel group while the Unseelie took on the role of the antiheroes, who were more honest and genuine than their Seelie counterparts and often featured as the main love interests of the protagonist. This shift has been both quick and compartmentalized, with the folklore remaining true to its older views while the fiction rapidly moves into new territory.

Storm Cursed (A Mercy Thompson Novel Book 11) +pdf

Wizards and magic have throughout history played a significant role within literature. While it is obvious that wizards can produce fantastic feats of power, their primary function is not always to conjure magic. The defining... more

Wizards and magic have throughout history played a significant role within literature. While it is obvious that wizards can produce fantastic feats of power, their primary function is not always to conjure magic. The defining characteristic of wizards is displayed through the use of intellectual gifts in order to achieve their goals. This thesis investigates
such differences of intellect found between two wizards of modern literature, Gandalf from Tolkien‘s The Lord of the Rings and Harry Dresden from Butcher‘s The Dresden Files.
Using information found in Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales as well as relevant passages from Butcher’s novels, this thesis provides explanations regarding the two wizards’ respective origin in order to establish how they came by their magical abilities, and moreover, investigates whether or not they can be considered fully, or at all, human.
It further explores the respective worlds in which the two wizards reside and will show that there is a significant difference in how morality is presented within their storylines. It posits that Middle-earth does not portray the prevalent moral ambiguity that is present within the Dresdenverse.
Finally, it addresses a popular culture trope known as “manpain” and establishes its relevance to the two wizards, using the pertinent characteristics of each wizard in order to analyze whether or not the characters can be said to be manpained.

With Urban Fantasy, the city becomes the new place of adventure and magic for modern knights and wizards. Although the development of the genre is relatively recent, Urban Fantasy is rooted in 19th century urban fiction and still uses... more

With Urban Fantasy, the city becomes the new place of adventure and magic for modern knights and wizards. Although the development of the genre is relatively recent, Urban Fantasy is rooted in 19th century urban fiction and still uses Gothic tropes so as to re-enchant modernity while developing a social critique of our contemporary world.

Imaginary worlds and how they are constructed are central to fiction. The term world-building, however, has been applied so broadly in scholarship that it has become ambiguous and difficult to use in critical discussions. Aiming to... more

Imaginary worlds and how they are constructed are central to fiction. The term world-building, however, has been applied so broadly in scholarship that it has become ambiguous and difficult to use in critical discussions. Aiming to contribute to greater clarity in the critical use of the term, this article introduces the concept of critical world-building. This is distinguished from other types of world-building, such as that performed by an author or reader, mainly by the fact that a critic analyses a world through a combination of their sequential presentation, as complete world, and with critical interpretation and theoretical filters in place, applying all three perspectives simultaneously. Two possible approaches to critical world-building are presented, based on the functions of a world's building-blocks and how to interpret those functions. The first approach focuses on a world's "architecture"-its structural and aesthetic system of places-and the form, func...

This is a paper delivered to the Literary London Society conference in 2013, which considers resistance to monstrous dangers in Robert Rankin's 'Brentford Trilogy'. By thwarting catastrophic threats to Brentford, Pooley and Omally... more

This is a paper delivered to the Literary London Society conference in 2013, which considers resistance to monstrous dangers in Robert Rankin's 'Brentford Trilogy'. By thwarting catastrophic threats to Brentford, Pooley and Omally represent the triumph of place over time which is at the heart of much London fiction.

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There are good reasons to call London the capital of urban fantasy. Like no other city it embodies an intertwinedness of enlightenment and modernity with notions of the occult, the mythical and the magical. The idea of an urban underworld... more

There are good reasons to call London the capital of urban fantasy. Like no other city it embodies an intertwinedness of enlightenment and modernity with notions of the occult, the mythical and the magical. The idea of an urban underworld that somehow is the dark mirror of the city is central for the depiction of a fantastic London. I will look into three examples of urban fantasy: Neil Gaiman's novel Neverwhere (1996), China Miéville's story «Reports of Certain Events in London» (2004), and Peter Ackroyd's novel Hawksmoor (1985) that portray London as a liminal space and a gothic heterotopia.

This conference paper explores medievalism in urban fantasy television through three series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Lost Girl; and Grimm. It suggests that Urban Fantasy is a genre deeply rooted in anxieties about place, history, and -... more

This conference paper explores medievalism in urban fantasy television through three series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Lost Girl; and Grimm. It suggests that Urban Fantasy is a genre deeply rooted in anxieties about place, history, and - in the cases of these three series - modern white identity in North America. The paper argues thatThe medievalism of Urban Fantasy exists as a foil to modernity, one which ‘proves’ the triumph of the present over the past.

Neil Gaiman is a highly acclaimed British author of novels, short fiction, film scripts, graphic novels, and radio plays. His first novel, Neverwhere, was his attempt to fill in the blanks left by the television series with the same name,... more

Neil Gaiman is a highly acclaimed British author of novels, short fiction, film scripts, graphic novels, and radio plays. His first novel, Neverwhere, was his attempt to fill in the blanks left by the television series with the same name, by writing down, everything that he could not fit into the restrictive television format. This paper analyses the novel through the lens of structuralism and poststructuralism, in order to reveal inherent social critique, artfully concealed in a game of complex urban imagery, chronotopic structures and intertextual references.

Fruit d’une collaboration franco-hongroise, ce numéro étudie la représentation de l’espace urbain (Paris, Budapest, Prague…) dans le roman populaire, entre autres le roman policier des XIXe et XXe siècles, la Fantasy urbaine ou la chick... more

Fruit d’une collaboration franco-hongroise, ce numéro étudie la représentation de l’espace urbain (Paris, Budapest, Prague…) dans le roman populaire, entre autres le roman policier des XIXe et XXe siècles, la Fantasy urbaine ou la chick lit. Il s’intéresse en particulier au genre des Mystères urbains.

Submissions are open for the 6th issue of Fantasy Art and Studies, which will deal with Norse myth in Fantasy fiction. We welcome papers on any Fantasy work (novel, short story, comics, film, TV series, video game) which includes Norse... more

Submissions are open for the 6th issue of Fantasy Art and Studies, which will deal with Norse myth in Fantasy fiction. We welcome papers on any Fantasy work (novel, short story, comics, film, TV series, video game) which includes Norse myth themes, motives and/or characters.

A discussion Literature of the Unseen—Visions and (Re)visions of Urban Fantasy collects theoretical reflections upon the subgenres of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, along with a brief commentary on the body of text representative... more

A discussion Literature of the Unseen—Visions and (Re)visions of Urban Fantasy collects theoretical reflections upon the subgenres of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, along with a brief commentary on the body of text representative for both conventions. Participants include „Creatio Fantastica” editors—Sylwia Borowska-Szerszun, Krzysztof M. Maj, and Barbara Szymczak-Maciejczyk—as well as renowned experts in the field of fantasy studies: Stefan Ekman, author of the first monograph of fantasy map-making, Here Be Dragons. Exploring Fantasy Maps & Settings (2013), and Audrey Taylor, author of Patricia A. McKillip and the Art of Fantasy World-building (2017). Literatura Niewidocznego. Wizje i rewizje urban fantasy 178 Krzysztof M. Maj: Wydawać by się mogło, że w rozmowie o fantastyce miejskiej w numerze poprzedzonym tak znaczną liczbą tekstów teoretycznoliterackich nie muszą być już poruszane kwestie natury genologicznej czy inne naukowe rozstrzygnięcia o podstawowym charakterze. A ...

Drawing on Paul Gilroy's discussion of postimperial melancholia and conviviality, this article aims to examine Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London as a voice in the discussion on British multiculture. Contextualised through a comparison to... more

Drawing on Paul Gilroy's discussion of postimperial melancholia and conviviality, this article aims to examine Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London as a voice in the discussion on British multiculture. Contextualised through a comparison to a popular culture spectacle and discussed within the theoretical framework of urban fantasy, the narrative is read as consciously challenging the "habits of Whiteness" (Young 2016) of fantasy fiction. The analysis focuses on the diversions from the white-centric paradigm by discussing the construction of the mixed-race protagonist, the juxtaposition of postimperial and convivial attitudes and the use of the fantastic to expose various approaches towards difference.

Since 2011, the genre of South African speculative fiction has seen a significant surfacing of new writers working within the genre. One of them is Charlie Human, the author of Apocalypse Now Now (2013) and Kill Baxter (2014). Our article... more

Since 2011, the genre of South African speculative fiction has seen a significant surfacing of new writers working within the genre. One of them is Charlie Human, the author of Apocalypse Now Now (2013) and Kill Baxter (2014). Our article analyses Human’s two novels in terms of overlapping mythological and historical lineages as well as spatial confluences and their influence on the conception and (re-)definition of South African whiteness. Using Sarah Nuttall’s concept of entanglement (a state of being intertwined or engaged with) in connection with Melissa Steyn’s observations of South African whiteness and its idiosyncratic position in relation to other postcolonial countries, we illustrate how Human’s novels (re-)negotiate South African whiteness by endowing it with a distinctly (Southern) African inflection. By way of conclusion, the paper proposes that speculative fiction gives an easier way to envisage possible solutions to the socio-political complexities at play in present South Africa, which are less difficult to swallow than what realist fiction might be (plausibly) able to offer.

A short postscript to the draft article 'London Stone: History and Myth'. Why, quite suddenly in the early 21st century, has London Stone, previously ignored by writers of fiction, taken on an important role in a number of London-based... more

A short postscript to the draft article 'London Stone: History and Myth'. Why, quite suddenly in the early 21st century, has London Stone, previously ignored by writers of fiction, taken on an important role in a number of London-based novels belonging to the so-called 'urban fantasy' genre? 4 June 2015 (minor updates to references 15 December 2020): now incorporated in 'London Stone; History and Myth'.

In fantasy and science fiction more than any other genres of fiction, mapping is an essential supplement, and often a precursor to, the standard creative process of character development and plotting. This chapter examines a particular... more

In fantasy and science fiction more than any other genres of fiction, mapping is an essential supplement, and often a precursor to, the standard creative process of character development and plotting. This chapter examines a particular kind of mapping, the particular kinds of spaces it maps, and the peculiar imaginary surrounding it: the urban transport system and its relationship to the contemporary sub-genre of urban fantasy with which it has emerged. The chapter considers a range of texts by writers including China Miéville, Neil Gaiman, Laurence Leonard, Michael de Larrabeiti, Neal Shusterman, Suzanne Collins, and Lauren Beuke. It concludes with a brief analysis Michael Moorcock’s Mother London (1988) and Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day (2006).

Theorising the basis of any sub-genre requires an understanding of the etymology of the terms. Urban Fantasy is a sub-genre built upon a mixed heritage of low fantasy and urban realism. This paper is an overview examination of the Oxford... more

Theorising the basis of any sub-genre requires an understanding of the etymology of the terms. Urban Fantasy is a sub-genre built upon a mixed heritage of low fantasy and urban realism. This paper is an overview examination of the Oxford English Dictionary's definitions of the key terms that form an understanding of the title of Urban Fantasy.

Abstract Urban fantasy (UF) as a sub-genre arose in the 1980s and presented an alternative view of the heroic female protagonist. As UF has developed, a new archetype has emerged – the urban hunter. Defined by its situation in the urban... more

Abstract
Urban fantasy (UF) as a sub-genre arose in the 1980s and presented an alternative view of the heroic female protagonist. As UF has developed, a new archetype has emerged – the urban hunter. Defined by its situation in the urban environment this archetype draws on elements of gendered bodies, hybridization, the other and narrative purpose to create a unique character. Present in a myriad of texts, including works by Emma Bull, Laurell K. Hamilton, Kelly Gay and Patricia Briggs, this archetype represents a changing understanding of what it means to be a hero. The urban hunter can be perceived as a complex reflection of an increasingly urbanized world, and of central importance to understanding UF’s resonance with contemporary readers.