The thesis Blood Ties is a novel in the epic fantasy tradition. It is intended to be the first of The Castings Trilogy. A synopsis of the second and third books of the trilogy is also included. The exegesis, “‘Kings. What a good idea.’: Monarchy in epic fantasy fiction”, examines some of the reasons writers from democratic countries may choose to use monarchical political structures in epic fantasy novels. It considers evidence from folktale research, primate behavioural studies, literary traditions, both ancient and modern, and the effect of religious doctrine and history on the symbolic role of the monarch. Folktales are found to have had very little effect on the role of kings in epic fantasy, which has been influenced by a combination of literary traditions, including the Arthurian saga and the historical romances of Sir Walter Scott. More profoundly, the meaning of the king’s role has been influenced by the Christian mythos in two ways: the king is a Christ surrogate who sacrifices his own safety for the good of the body politic and, in being successful against evil, restores a version of Paradise/Eden for his people.

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¡§Consumer fantasy¡¨ is defined as consumers consume something for the sake of getting closer to or fulfilling his/her fantasies. Researchers focused on discussing specific products or services with this topic, most of them applied qualitative methods to understand the contents of fantasies and its causers. Albeit behaviorists proved that fantasies induce positive feelings and the direction of individuals¡¦ fantasies would be caused by the contents fantasies per se, literally few empirical studies have addressed on such topics. Thus, this thesis served two experiments as the discussion basis. Different texts (fantastic and informational) are used as the dependent variable, service types (enjoyable and utility) as the moderator and its effects on positive emotions and willingness of purchase are discussed as well. The outcomes of this research indicate that in utility service (car rental service) industries, positive emotions bred were not enormous. Yet in enjoyable service (travelling services) industries, fantastic information caused significantly more positive emotion than informational information. In the second experiment, the study discussed the relation between how information was provided, positive emotion and purchasing willingness with individual fantasy tendency as the moderator. Results indicate that for low fantasy tendency consumers, texts caused the least positive emotions, close results are documented in picture only and picture with texts. For high fantasy tendency consumers, significant positive emotions are recorded in both picture only and texts only. Thus consumers with different fantasy tendency will respond differently to different forms of information. In addition, this study also proved the significant relation between fantasy caused positive emotions and purchase willingness. According to the results of this thesis, it is suggested that firms manipulate consumer fantasy via advertisements for the sake of promoting consumption. Meanwhile, firms should understand fantasy tendencies of customers in order to plan effective marketing strategies.

My project here is to look at how uncovering those unconscious and phantasmatic identifications in the social field can lead to the possibility of altering subjectivity or, at the very least, tracing how subjects are formed through structure and how they are psychically linked to ideological structure. This thesis suggests that subjection is never total or complete and that when viewed from an awry or skewed perspective, particular discourses and modes of subjection are revealed to be neither permanent, true nor necessary—we can always open up new spaces of subjectivity and discourse and through the practice of ‘tracing’ structure we can discern how we are determined and at which points structure constrains or enables us. My work is an effort to supplement theories of discourse analysis/ideology critique with psychoanalytic concepts, and more specifically, the psychoanalytic category of fantasy to discuss the ways in which discourses are provided with coherence and how subjects are tethered/binded to discursive fields. In my discussion of the non-discursive, I will be drawing from the Freudian concept of unheimlich, or the uncanny, to discuss the ways in which discursive fields become disrupted by repressed or “foreign” elements. I contend that the subject always exceeds structure, and for this reason, there is always room for resistance within discursive fields. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2008-01-30 10:31:51.525

An examination of the Rocky Horror Picture Show illustrates the various ways in which the cinema is closely linked to religious experience. The audience participates in the narrative of the film on both conscious and unconscious levels in the same way as the ancients participated in their myths during ritual ceremonies. Moreover, the audience shifts its mode of cognition in order to appreciate as truth the fantastic events which occur both on and off the screen. Finally, I argue that cult films function as parable in dominant cultures and therefore as primary manifestations of the "counter-civil religion". In this way secular films have more profound religious implications than is at first apparent.

Evidence that an instrument measures what it purports to measure is essential to empirically study the given construct. Despite this fact, little attention has been made to investigate the validity of the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (ICMI) and the Creative Experiences Questionnaires (CEQ) - instruments that purport to measure the fantasy proneness construct. In assessing the validity of fantasy proneness measures, the aim of the current study was unique, in that, no known study had conducted a factor analysis of scores on the ICMI, CEQ and Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) separately and simultaneously in the same study. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 223) from a large New Zealand University completed six questionnaires measuring fantasy proneness, imagery, dissociation, personality and desirable responding. Separate factor analysis results suggested a three factor solution for ICMI scores accounting for 22.60% of the total variance, a six factor solution for CEQ scores accounting for 42.93% of the total variance, and a three factor solution for DES scores accounting for 81.31% of the total variance. Simultaneous factor analysis results on factor scores of the ICMI, CEQ and DES revealed that dimensions of fantasy proneness loaded on two factors, whereas dimensions of dissociation loaded distinctively on a separate factor. The findings from this study suggest that there is less dimensional overlap between fantasy proneness and dissociation than has been suggested in the recent literature. Findings of this study also suggest that conclusions based on the overall scales of fantasy proneness may be limited and potentially misleading.

No description available.

The thesis Blood Ties is a novel in the epic fantasy tradition. It is intended to be the first of The Castings Trilogy. A synopsis of the second and third books of the trilogy is also included. The exegesis, “‘Kings. What a good idea.’: Monarchy in epic fantasy fiction”, examines some of the reasons writers from democratic countries may choose to use monarchical political structures in epic fantasy novels. It considers evidence from folktale research, primate behavioural studies, literary traditions, both ancient and modern, and the effect of religious doctrine and history on the symbolic role of the monarch. Folktales are found to have had very little effect on the role of kings in epic fantasy, which has been influenced by a combination of literary traditions, including the Arthurian saga and the historical romances of Sir Walter Scott. More profoundly, the meaning of the king’s role has been influenced by the Christian mythos in two ways: the king is a Christ surrogate who sacrifices his own safety for the good of the body politic and, in being successful against evil, restores a version of Paradise/Eden for his people.

The exegesis will elaborate on the research process undertaken this year to write a fictional draft novel. The creative work is a young adult fantasy novel, and is part one of what will eventually be a three part series. At this stage, its working title is Phaze One. The introduction of the exegesis discusses what may possibly be the attraction of the fantasy genre to many writers; especially in light of what some critics refer to as the ‘light-weight genre’, and why fantasy has attracted me. There is an overview of Phaze One and why I have chosen to write part one of a three part series. The landscape of contemporary young adult fantasy, as well as, the categories of science fiction and fantasy literature and how they overlap will be discussed, with reference to academic literature. I will also discuss the relevance of mythic conventions and archetypes common in fantasy, and how these conventions have been adapted to the novel. Thus, positioning the creative work within its wider context. The exegesis includes reference to various writers who were relevant to the creative process; however, significant reference will be to the young adult fantasy writer Garth Nix and his ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ series. Various fantasy elements within the work will be discussed, as well as, the ideas for some settings, and the integration of Campbell’s ‘Heroes Journey’ in the novel.

The exegesis will elaborate on the research process undertaken this year to write a fictional draft novel. The creative work is a young adult fantasy novel, and is part one of what will eventually be a three part series. At this stage, its working title is Phaze One. The introduction of the exegesis discusses what may possibly be the attraction of the fantasy genre to many writers; especially in light of what some critics refer to as the ‘light-weight genre’, and why fantasy has attracted me. There is an overview of Phaze One and why I have chosen to write part one of a three part series. The landscape of contemporary young adult fantasy, as well as, the categories of science fiction and fantasy literature and how they overlap will be discussed, with reference to academic literature. I will also discuss the relevance of mythic conventions and archetypes common in fantasy, and how these conventions have been adapted to the novel. Thus, positioning the creative work within its wider context. The exegesis includes reference to various writers who were relevant to the creative process; however, significant reference will be to the young adult fantasy writer Garth Nix and his ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ series. Various fantasy elements within the work will be discussed, as well as, the ideas for some settings, and the integration of Campbell’s ‘Heroes Journey’ in the novel.