Fantasy: How It Works

A fascinating and approachable exploration of the fantasy genre. It explores how fantasy can reflect contemporary experiences and convey our fears and desires more effectively than any representation of the merely real, addressing two central questions: how can it be meaningful if it doesn't claim to represent things as they are, and what kind of change can it bring to the world? It demonstrates how fantasy enables writers to explore new modes of understanding and interaction, rethinking political institutions, social practices, and models of reality.

Format: Hardback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 28 July 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

A captivating and approachable exploration of the fantasy genre, which has emerged as one of the most prevalent modes of storytelling in the twenty-first century. Fantasy possesses the remarkable ability to mirror contemporary experiences and effectively convey our deepest fears, desires, and aspirations, surpassing any representation of the merely real. It is through this imaginative realm that the truth becomes manifest. This book delves into two fundamental inquiries concerning fantastic storytelling: firstly, how can it hold meaning if it does not purport to represent things as they are? Secondly, what kind of transformative impact can it have on the world? How can a form of storytelling that alters physical laws and challenges established facts be simultaneously a source of profound insight into human nature and the workings of the universe? What role does fantasy play in shaping the social, political, cultural, and intellectual landscape—the world experienced by the reader, rather than the characters within the narrative? By examining various aspects of classic and contemporary fantasy's world-building and storytelling techniques, from the utilization of symbolic structures to the way in which new stories incorporate fragments of significance from earlier texts, this book demonstrates how fantasy empowers writers like Michael Cunningham, Hans Christian Andersen, Helene Wecker, C. S. Lewis, Ursula K. Le Guin, Nnedi Okorafor, Nalo Hopkinson, George MacDonald, Aliette deBodard, and Patricia Wrightson to explore new modes of understanding and interaction, ultimately reimagining political institutions, social practices, and models of reality.

Weight: 372g
Dimension: 145 x 221 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192856234