By utilizing theories surrounding assemblages, the principle of minimal departure, maps, and world-architecture,the thesis has tried to understand how maps and narrative affect each other in creating an imaginary geography infantasy literature as well as what role maps in fantasy have for the individuals reading them. With a focus on hownarrative, map, and other actors interacted, the thesis, having used two methods, a close reading of the book AWizard of Earthsea, and online content analysis of forum posts regarding fantasy maps, has achieved a deeperunderstanding of maps role in creating an imaginary geography. The thesis has found that when reading a fantasybook using a map, the map serves the role of both limiting what can and cannot be imagined while also bridgingthe assemblages of actual and secondary truth values which aid in interpreting the fantasy world. Furthermore, thethesis has found that for average readers of fantasy, the map can serve two roles: Clarifying spatialities andAugmenting abilities.

The thesis analyzes the possibilities of application of the fictional worlds theory as a possible basis for a different literary-theoretical approach to the study of literary texts. Not being a mere literature research, the thesis inquires into issues which are necessarily connected with the fictional worlds theory and which have been so far rarely dealt with, if discussed at all. It contributes to the discussion on advantages and drawbacks of the mimetic approach and of the fiction theory, it analyzes the possible applicability of the fictional worlds theory in literary history, it attempts to determine the correlation between the Seymour Chatman's textual types and the fiction theory nomenclature, and last but not least the thesis deals with the possibilities of this theory in the fictional worlds of lyrical poetry. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)