Fantasy literature has a long history of including a wide array of non-human characters, each more fantastical than the other. But can these characters also be used to question anthropocentric beliefs or are their portrayal just a way to reinforce those ideas? Because fantasy literature, especially earlier examples in the fantasy canon, tend to include a lot of allusions to religion in general and Christianity in particular, is the question more complex than it first might seem. This thesis therefore aims to examine the portrayal of non-human characters in the works of one of the last 25 years most bestselling fantasy authors, Philip Pullman. It’s a well-known fact that Pullman isn’t a fan of organized religion, which sometimes is very noticeable in his trilogy His Dark Materials (1995-2000). The trilogy includes several kinds of non-human characters and one of the most central aims of the thesis is to examine how these portrayals relate to the undermining or reproduction of anthropocentric ideas. Because Pullmans alternative theology is so central to the trilogy’s narrative, it will also play a part in my examination. / Denna uppsats är en undersökning av de icke-mänskliga karaktärer som figurerar i Philip Pullmans fantasytrilogi His Dark Materials (1995–2000). Litteratur inom fantasygenren har en lång historia av att inkludera en stor mängd av icke-mänskliga karaktärer, den ena mer fantastisk än den andra. Kan dessa karaktärer användas för att problematisera den antropocentrism som genomsyrar det västerländska samhället eller är deras gestaltande endast exempel på hur dessa föreställningar reproduceras? Eftersom fantasy, speciellt äldre exempel, ofta har allusioner till religion i allmänhet och kristendom i synnerhet, är frågan mer komplex än den först verkar. Pullman är känd för sin kritik av organiserad religion och i His Dark Materials skriver han fram en alternativ teologi. Denna uppsats undersöker således inte bara gestaltningen av de icke-mänskliga karaktärerna och hur de relaterar till eventuell problematisering och/eller återskapande av antropocentriska normer, utan också den roll Pullmans teologi spelar i relation till detta. I slutändan är också förhoppningen att denna uppsats kan visa hur litteratur, och framför allt den som faller inom fantasygenren, kan vara ett verktyg för att diskutera och problematisera antropocentriska föreställningar.

This thesis examines the French translation of the 224 neologisms in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh book in J.K. Rowling’s fantasy series. By analyzing the original neologisms and their French equivalents, this research compares the word formation processes used by both the author and the translator, Jean-François Ménard. Additionally, to categorize Ménard’s translation techniques, this study adapts a framework designed by Jacqueline Henry to classify translations of word play. While Ménard uses the same types of word formation as Rowling to create his lexicon, this study reveals that he often chooses a different neological process or distinct lexemes to recreate the effect of the original neologism. To achieve this, Ménard relies on his own creativity and embraces the norms of the French language to give his audience a reading experience comparable to that offered to the readers of the original text. / Graduate

This Ph. D. thesis investigates the use of fantasy by British and Irish 'Decadent' authors and illustrators, including Oscar Wilde, Max Beerbohm, Aubrey Beardsley, 'Vernon Lee' (Violet Paget), Ernest Dowson, and Charles Ricketts. Furthermore, this study demonstrates why fantasy was an apposite form for literary Decadence, which is defined in this thesis as a supra-generic mode characterized by its anti-mimetic impulse, its view of language as autonomous and artificial, its frequent use of parody and pastiche, and its transgression of boundaries between art forms. Literary Decadence in the United Kingdom derives its view of autonomous language from Anglo-German Romantic philology and literature, consequently being distinguished from French Decadence by its resistance to realism and Naturalism, which assume language's power to signify the 'real world'. Understanding language to be inorganic, Decadent writers blithely countermand notions of linguistic fitness and employ devices such as catachresis, paradox, and tautology, which in turn emphasize the self-referentiality of Decadent texts. Fantasy furthers the Decadent argument about language because works of fantasy bear no specific relationship to 'reality'; they can express anything evocable within language, as J.R.R. Tolkien demonstrates with his example of "the green sun" (a phrase that can exist independent of the sun's actually being green). The thesis argues that fantasy's usefulness in underscoring arguments about linguistic autonomy explains its widespread presence in Decadent prose and visual art, especially in genres that had become associated with realism and Naturalism, such as the novel (Chapter 1), the short story (Chapter 3), drama (Chapter 4), and textual illustration (Chapter 2). The thesis also analyzes Decadents' use of a wholly non-realistic genre, the fairy tale (see Chapter 5), in order to delineate the consequences of their use of fantasy for the construction of character and gender within their texts.

Drawing especially on Donna Haraway's notion of the cyborg, this thesis argues that Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl novels, through their depiction of the cyborg and their use of metafiction, intertextuality, and irony, subvert binaries and hierarchies that cause social injustice. Chapter one argues that Colfer's characters disrupt the oppressive binary opposition between innocence and experience that characterizes children's literature. Chapter two argues that Colfer's fairy hierarchy satirizes the human hierarchy. Chapter three argues that Colfer's cyborg, by disrupting the boundary between machine and organism, breaches the wall around the pervasive garden hierarchy of childhood innocence. Chapter four argues against the traditional textual hierarchies which classify children's literature as inferior, and which give adult writers power over child readers.

Thesis (Ph.D. (English)) - Rhodes University, 2008

Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-17T16:51:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-08-11. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2016-05-17T16:54:56Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000864019.pdf: 1052012 bytes, checksum: 30868035736293f5c3dc2f8b6388e85b (MD5) / A presente dissertação de Mestrado tem como título Macário e La cruz del diablo: a caracterização da figura do diabo na literatura fantástica e discute a forma como a figura do diabo se estabelece nas duas obras fantásticas, de autoria de Álvares de Azevedo e de Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, respectivamente. Para estudar estas duas obras e estabelecer semelhanças e diferenças entre elas, será estudada a figura do diabo, criatura bastante utilizada em obras literárias, especialmente fantásticas; o gênero fantástico, pois ambas as obras possuem características que permitem inseri-las neste. Serão estudadas também algumas características do Romantismo, pois ambas as obras foram escritas durante este período. Outras teorias como as do conto, do teatro, da lenda e da literatura comparada serão brevemente incluídas quando necessárias para a análise das obras / This Masters dissertation called Macário e La cruz del diablo: the figure of the devil's characterization in fantastic literature, discourses about the way as the figure of the devil sets in two Álvares de Azevedo and Gustavo Adolfo Becker 's literary works, respectively. To study these two literay works and find similarities and differences between them, it will be study the figure of the devil, a creature widely used in literary works, especially in fantastic literay works; fantastic literary genre, because both literay works have features which allow insert them in fantastic literay genre. It will be also studied some features of Romanticism, whereas the two literary works studied here, were written during the romantic period. Other theories such as the tale, the theater, the legend and the comparative literature, will be briefly included when necessary, for the analysis of the literay works

Este trabalho busca analisar como Monteiro Lobato concretiza seu projeto de construção de uma literatura infantil brasileira, em obras constituintes da coleção do Sítio do Picapau Amarelo, especialmente através do livro Peter Pan, de 1930. A personagem homônima original do escocês James Matthew Barrie apareceu pela primeira vez em uma peça de teatro em 1910, em Londres, e tornou-se um clássico contemporâneo, largamente adaptado e traduzido, inclusive pelos estúdios de animação de Walt Disney. Lobato, que era tradutor, escolheu não apenas traduzir a obra de Barrie, mas apropriar-se dela no universo do Sítio; nos livros do brasileiro, a história do menino que não quer crescer é contada pela personagem Dona Benta a seus netos; a partir daí, diversas propriedades ficcionais do original britânico se manifestam em muitos momentos na obra infantil do paulista. Esse recurso é consoante com uma prática defendida pela geração de escritores do modernismo brasileiro de 1922: a antropofagia. Embora Lobato fosse dissidente do grupo, e apesar de sua prosa para adultos ter sido pouco modernista, sua literatura infantil se mostra extremamente similar àquilo que o grupo de Oswald de Andrade e Mário de Andrade defendia. Com base em Lajolo e Ceccantini (2008), Zilberman (1982), Vieira (2008) e White (2011), este trabalho busca mostrar como se dá o entrecruzamento antropofágico da obra de Barrie com a de Lobato, e como o paulista construiu sua literatura nacionalista para crianças. Em Peter Pan de Lobato, há dois universos mágicos e sobrenaturais que se sobrepõem: o Sítio e a Terra do Nunca; o escopo analítico deste trabalho passa, então, por teóricos do modo literário insólito / fantástico, como Todorov (2007), Roas (2014), García et al. (2007), e outros. Além disso, busca-se analisar a visão do Brasil que o escritor paulista conseguia vincular à sua literatura infantil, pensando em identidade regional, nacional e no contexto de globalização, com base em Hall (2005), Said (2011), e em considerações sobre região e nação. A conclusão é que Lobato era um tradutor cultural que conseguia trazer aos leitores do país, pioneiramente, histórias antigas e novas que eram produzidas no exterior, vestindo-as à brasileira, digerindo-as de maneira antropofágica, e que sua influência ficcional é visível até os dias de hoje, no que diz respeito à formação de uma identidade brasileira moderna. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-11-30T15:13:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Felipe Teixeira Zobaran.pdf: 2350229 bytes, checksum: e21ade58b573958d1a70ac720aabfacf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-30T15:13:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Felipe Teixeira Zobaran.pdf: 2350229 bytes, checksum: e21ade58b573958d1a70ac720aabfacf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-30 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq / This thesis aims at examining to what extend Brazilian writer Monteiro Lobato brings out his children's literature project in the books of the Sítio do Picapau Amarelo series, focusing especially on the novel Peter Pan, released in 1930. The original story by Scottish playwright James Matthew Barrie first appeared in a play in London in 1910, and became a contemporary classic, widely adapted and translated, including film versions by Walt Disney studios. Lobato, who was a famous translator, chose not only to translate the work of Barrie, but to absorb it into his own fiction; in the Brazilian books, the story of the boy who does not grow up is told by the character Dona Benta to her grandchildren; from there on, several fictional properties of the original British story manifest in many instances to the children of São Paulo. This feature is in line with Brazilian modernism writers of 1922, who defended Antropofagia (literary cannibalism), that is, a sharp reinforcement of the Brazilian identity in literature, by absorbing foreign aesthetics and transforming them into something original. Although Lobato was a dissident of that group, and even though his prose for adults was not very modernistic, his books for children are similar, in some ways, to what Oswald de Andrade and Mario de Andrade were producing in the early 1920’s. Based on Lajolo and Ceccantini (2008), Zilberman (1982), Vieira (2008) and White (2011), this paper shows the intertwining fiction of Barrie and Lobato, and how the Brazilian books get to defend a sort of nationalism. In Lobato’s Peter Pan, two supernatural worlds converge: Sítio do Picapau Amarelo and Neverland; thus, this paper analyses both fictional worlds based on fantasy literature theories, such as the works of Todorov (2007), Roas (2014) and García et al. (2007). Moreover, this analysis seeks to define Lobato’s view of Brazilian identity, based on Hall (2005), Said (2011) and theories of nationalism. The conclusion is that Lobato was a cultural translator, who could bring to the country's readers old and new stories that were produced abroad, making them very Brazilian, by digesting them in a cannibalistic way. His fictional influence is, actually, visible until today, as it helped in the formation of a modern Brazilian identity.

Este trabalho busca analisar como Monteiro Lobato concretiza seu projeto de construção de uma literatura infantil brasileira, em obras constituintes da coleção do Sítio do Picapau Amarelo, especialmente através do livro Peter Pan, de 1930. A personagem homônima original do escocês James Matthew Barrie apareceu pela primeira vez em uma peça de teatro em 1910, em Londres, e tornou-se um clássico contemporâneo, largamente adaptado e traduzido, inclusive pelos estúdios de animação de Walt Disney. Lobato, que era tradutor, escolheu não apenas traduzir a obra de Barrie, mas apropriar-se dela no universo do Sítio; nos livros do brasileiro, a história do menino que não quer crescer é contada pela personagem Dona Benta a seus netos; a partir daí, diversas propriedades ficcionais do original britânico se manifestam em muitos momentos na obra infantil do paulista. Esse recurso é consoante com uma prática defendida pela geração de escritores do modernismo brasileiro de 1922: a antropofagia. Embora Lobato fosse dissidente do grupo, e apesar de sua prosa para adultos ter sido pouco modernista, sua literatura infantil se mostra extremamente similar àquilo que o grupo de Oswald de Andrade e Mário de Andrade defendia. Com base em Lajolo e Ceccantini (2008), Zilberman (1982), Vieira (2008) e White (2011), este trabalho busca mostrar como se dá o entrecruzamento antropofágico da obra de Barrie com a de Lobato, e como o paulista construiu sua literatura nacionalista para crianças. Em Peter Pan de Lobato, há dois universos mágicos e sobrenaturais que se sobrepõem: o Sítio e a Terra do Nunca; o escopo analítico deste trabalho passa, então, por teóricos do modo literário insólito / fantástico, como Todorov (2007), Roas (2014), García et al. (2007), e outros. Além disso, busca-se analisar a visão do Brasil que o escritor paulista conseguia vincular à sua literatura infantil, pensando em identidade regional, nacional e no contexto de globalização, com base em Hall (2005), Said (2011), e em considerações sobre região e nação. A conclusão é que Lobato era um tradutor cultural que conseguia trazer aos leitores do país, pioneiramente, histórias antigas e novas que eram produzidas no exterior, vestindo-as à brasileira, digerindo-as de maneira antropofágica, e que sua influência ficcional é visível até os dias de hoje, no que diz respeito à formação de uma identidade brasileira moderna. / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq / This thesis aims at examining to what extend Brazilian writer Monteiro Lobato brings out his children's literature project in the books of the Sítio do Picapau Amarelo series, focusing especially on the novel Peter Pan, released in 1930. The original story by Scottish playwright James Matthew Barrie first appeared in a play in London in 1910, and became a contemporary classic, widely adapted and translated, including film versions by Walt Disney studios. Lobato, who was a famous translator, chose not only to translate the work of Barrie, but to absorb it into his own fiction; in the Brazilian books, the story of the boy who does not grow up is told by the character Dona Benta to her grandchildren; from there on, several fictional properties of the original British story manifest in many instances to the children of São Paulo. This feature is in line with Brazilian modernism writers of 1922, who defended Antropofagia (literary cannibalism), that is, a sharp reinforcement of the Brazilian identity in literature, by absorbing foreign aesthetics and transforming them into something original. Although Lobato was a dissident of that group, and even though his prose for adults was not very modernistic, his books for children are similar, in some ways, to what Oswald de Andrade and Mario de Andrade were producing in the early 1920’s. Based on Lajolo and Ceccantini (2008), Zilberman (1982), Vieira (2008) and White (2011), this paper shows the intertwining fiction of Barrie and Lobato, and how the Brazilian books get to defend a sort of nationalism. In Lobato’s Peter Pan, two supernatural worlds converge: Sítio do Picapau Amarelo and Neverland; thus, this paper analyses both fictional worlds based on fantasy literature theories, such as the works of Todorov (2007), Roas (2014) and García et al. (2007). Moreover, this analysis seeks to define Lobato’s view of Brazilian identity, based on Hall (2005), Said (2011) and theories of nationalism. The conclusion is that Lobato was a cultural translator, who could bring to the country's readers old and new stories that were produced abroad, making them very Brazilian, by digesting them in a cannibalistic way. His fictional influence is, actually, visible until today, as it helped in the formation of a modern Brazilian identity.

In this paper, Ursula K Le Guin’s 1968 fantasy novel, A Wizard of Earthsea will be investigated in two ways. First, through a thematic analysis of the primary antagonist through a deconstructive close-reading technique. Second, through a pedagogic analysis of the depiction of hegemonic masculinity in the novel. The thematic analysis reveals that Le Guin departs from the typical expectations of the fantasy genre to highlight the themes of accepting personal responsibility and acknowledging the consequences of one’s actions, values which are reflected in the Swedish national curriculum. The pedagogic analysis of Le Guin’s treatment of hegemonic masculinity in school culture has the further potential to be used in an EFL classroom setting as part of a teaching unit problematizing the performance of hegemonic masculinity in modern school culture. This is also reflected in the central content for the English Syllabus. / <p>Due to Covid-19 restrictions/precautions, the final presentation seminar took place over Zoom.</p>

The inquiry of this essay is to examine the expression of evil in fantasy literature with a special focus on J.K. Rowlings’ Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s stone and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but also C.S. Lewis’ Narnia the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Narnia the Last Battle. The purpose is to illuminate different depictions of evil in the books and reflect what these depictions can tell us about evil in our contemporary context. With this essay I want to show how world views are present in fantasy literature with a special focus on the portrayal of evil and its significance for the understanding of the narrative. I mean that the understanding and depiction of evil is a universal problem and an existential issue of relevance to world views.