Sixteen-year-old Drea Grimm’s mother walked out of their family home at midnight seven years ago. All she left behind were notebooks full of made up stories and a family that Drea, being the oldest, was now in charge of. One day, Drea finds a mysterious letter with her name on it written in her mother’s handwriting and everything she thought was true is destroyed. With the help of her partner on a school project, Ian, Drea uses her mom’s stories and clues from her last moments to heal her family and maybe bring her mother home. But there is someone who wants Drea and they will do anything to draw her closer to the truth, and in turn, closer to supernatural danger.

This two-section thesis explores the subjective nature of villainy. The larger section, "Dream’s End," is an urban-fantasy young-adult fiction piece I’ve written in epistolary form. I preface the fiction with a critical introduction in which I briefly examine existing definitional scholarship on 1) epistolary fiction, 2) the urban fantasy genre, and 3) the young adult genre. Epistolary fiction may be letters, diaries, or journal entries. Following this exploration, I examine the subjective nature of villains and antagonists in narratives. While "Dream’s End" does not specifically discuss or critique feminist theory, it considers criticism of existing female tropes in its portrayal of both the characters and their roles in relation to one another. The second section of the thesis is comprised of a collection of journal entries, divided into six chapters, wherein protagonist Emma keeps a record of the experiences she has while traveling to another world in her dreams. In this alternate dream world, Emma finds community and purpose absent from her waking life, but must ultimately come to terms with a perceived betrayal and various moral quandaries when her two worlds begin to bleed together. The journal entries will eventually be incorporated into a novel as backstory, and so are presented with a brief explanation as to their significance to the larger narrative. Through the various characters in these journal entries, I explore the complex nature of protagonists and antagonists, and discuss how the classification of each is relative to the experience and perceptions of the characters within the narrative, as well as the readers outside it.

Thesis (MA (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The concept of the city has evolved over time with generations of city dwellers. The rapid advance of technology has promoted globalisation, which has brought about increased familiarity with diverse cultures, but has also exposed issues of marginalisation among communities in cities. In order to approach a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of the “open” postmodern view of the city it is essential to consider the relevant literature that grapples with issues of human identity and appropriation in the city. This dissertation examines narrative perspectives in the literary works of four postmodern writers: Jonathan Safran Foer, Neil Gaiman, China Miéville, and Lauren Beukes. References to underlying philosophical viewpoints, various perceptions, both “real” and fictional, were incorporated in the discussion. Close attention is paid to the correlation between the novel and the city, and to what extent the city itself can be viewed as a narrative – since, within a postmodern approach, fictional narratives may form discourses that represent, and in a fashion constitute, the city, while subjects at the same time form themselves in terms of their environment. Fiction becomes an invaluable tool for exploring the cityscape and commenting on contemporary issues. In conclusion, the urbanised human subject may be said to play a vital role in establishing the concept of the city, both in “real” culture and in fictional narrative. The representation of the contemporary South African urban milieu in the discussed literature serves to confirm the relevance of local as well as global influences. To justify multiple perspectives on the city consequently means to grant each individual viewpoint validity. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die konsep van die stad het deur die jare ontwikkel saam met geslagte van stadsbewoners. Die vinnige vooruitgang van tegnologie het globalisasie bevorder, wat op sy beurt weer bewustheid van diverse kulture bevorder het, maar ook kwessies blootgelê het rondom marginalisasie in stadsgemeenskappe. Ten einde ‘n meer omvattende begrip van die kompleksiteit van die “oop” postmoderne perspektief op die stad daar te stel, is dit belangrik om te kyk na die relevante literatuur wat bemoeienis maak met kwessies van menslike identiteit en eienaarskap in die stad. Hierdie dissertasie het gekyk na vertellerperspektiewe in die literêre werke van vier postmoderne skrywers: Jonathan Safran Foer, Neil Gaiman, China Miéville, en Lauren Beukes. Met verwysing na onderliggende filosofiese gesigspunte is verskeie persepsies, gegrond op die werklikheid sowel as fiktief, in die bespreking ingesluit. Daar is aandag gegee aan die verband tussen die roman en die stad, en in watter mate die stad self as ‘n teks beskou kan word, aangesien die teks volgens ‘n postmoderne aanslag die stad kan “representeer” en “laat ontstaan”, terwyl menslike subjekte hulself terselfdertyd vorm in terme van hul omgewing. Fiksie word dus ‘n waardevolle werktuig vir waarneming van en kommentaar lewer op komtemporêre sake. Ten slotte kan gesê word dat die verstedelikte menslike subjek ‘n belangrike rol speel in die bevestiging van die stad as konsep, beide in reële kultuur en in fiktiewe vertelling. Die verteenwoordiging van die kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaanse stedelike milieu in die bespreekte tekste bevestig die relevansie van lokale sowel as internasionale invloede. Om veelvuldige perspektiewe op die stad gelyk te beregtig beteken gevolglik dat elke individuele gesigspunt geldig is.

This diploma thesis examines fantasy genre in world cinematography at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. It defines the genre and focuses on one of the sub genres - urban fantasy. On several examples of movies it shows this phenomenon in contemporary production. The main part is an artistic concept based on a scenario "Killing on carnival row" by Trevise Beacham. The proposal solves its space from urban unit to particular design of exterior and interior.

The aim of this diploma thesis called Three significant trends in young adult literature is to analyse this literary category in the Czech Republic; to describe the publishing houses focusing on this type of literature and to determine, if there are any trends - and if so to describe them. The first chapter states different definitions of so called YA literature and its understanding abroad and in the Czech Republic among the publishers. In the next chapter I characterise the main trends in YA literature that already exist and also those that could emerge, according to literary agents and publishers. In the next part of this thesis I describe three chosen genres: urban fantasy, fairy tale retellings and dystopian novels and I analyse four series determined as typical for respective genres: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Divergent by Veronica Roth. Each analysis is followed by the description of media response to the chosen series. The thesis also includes the interviews with editors from chosen publishing houses focusing on YA literature: Tereza Pecáková from CooBoo, Jakub Šedivý from Fragment, Lucie Kučová from Egmont and Eva Sedláčková and Jiří Štěpán from Host. This practical part is preceded by a theoretical...

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I denna uppsats undersöks huruvida urban fantasy kan bidra till ett tankeskifte genom att utforska och presentera alternativ till den hegemoniska antropocentriska världs-synen. Utifrån ett ekokritiskt perspektiv analyseras de olika kategorier av varelser som befolkar universum i serien The Invisible Library. Framställningen av varelserna relateras till tre motsatspar med kopplingar till antropocentrismen: natur/kultur, kropp/sinne och känsla/förnuft. Dessutom analyseras hierarkin varelserna emellan för att utröna huruvida det finns kopplingar till motsatsparen och vad som värderas högst i berättelserna. Analysen visade att romanerna The Invisible Library och The Dark Archive belyser svårigheterna med ett tankeskifte, inte minst vad gäller tillit mellan olika kategorier av varelser och förståelse för andras levnadssätt. Människan utmålas som norm vilket är en begränsande faktor men samtidigt understryks vikten av balans mellan det som antropocentrismen utmålar som motsatser. I drakarna möts exempelvis natur och kultur och kropp och sinne, motsatserna flätas samman. Människorna är fysiskt underlägsna drakarna och psykiskt underlägsna fefolket och visar via huvudpersonen Irene rädsla för att förlora sin fria vilja. Det är dock inte mänsklig dominans Irene strävar efter utan målet är samexistens, att människan ska få leva i frihet tillsammans med andra tänkande och kännande varelser.

Where the Dead Remain is a murder mystery set in a Post-Katrina New Orleans where the gods, magic and monsters of various world mythologies actually exist. The story follows a week in the life of Jude Duboisson, a once magician who is struggling with the loss of his magic and the life he had known in the wake of the storm, as he is pulled out of his torpor and into the affairs of the mighty once again. He is tasked with discovering who murdered Dodge Renaud, the fortune god of New Orleans. What he discovers, though, are some surprising truths about the fundamental nature of things: about loss, about New Orleans, and about himself.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att ur ett genreteoretiskt och komparativt perspektiv med hjälp av metoden närläsning undersöka vilka av gotikens genrekonventioner som förekommer i svensk urban fantasy. Romanerna som analyseras är Nene Ormes Udda verklighet (2010), Mats Strandbergs och Sara Bergmark Elfgrens Cirkeln (2011), samt Charlotte Cederlunds Middagsmörker (2016). De gotiska genrekonventioner som används vid analysen är hämtade från Mattias Fyhrs definition av gotik i hans doktorsavhandling De mörka labyrinterna (2003). I diskussionsdelen kombineras dessa med Alastair Fowlers teori ur Kinds of Literature (1982) kring hur olika genrer förefaller ha en rörlighet och flyta in i varandra. Resultatet av analysen visar att samtliga av Fyhrs kategorier finns representerade i de tre romanerna, och skiljer sig något i hur de gestaltas. Följande slutsatser dras: att många likheter förekommer såsom att de drömmar och syner som skildras är vitala för böckernas handlingar, att huvudkaraktären i samtliga analyserade romaner är kvinnlig, utom i Cirkeln där fem perspektiv förekommer varav ett är manligt, att alla romaner har sina egna varianter på fantasytroperna Rådet och Den utvalda, samt att urban fantasy inte går att se som en modern variant av gotiken utan snarare utgör en sentida ättling till gotikgenren.

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