À la fois mythique constructeur ou destructeur de Mondes, incarnation du Malin pour l'Église au Moyen-âge, monstre lové sur un trésor au fond d'une grotte, qu'un héros doit tuer pour prouver sa bravoure dans les légendes et les contes, le dragon revient périodiquement exprimer les peurs et les fantasmes les plus profonds. Au XXème siècle, la Fantasy a ramené le dragon en littérature et la Dragon Fantasy récente (DragonLance de M. Weis et T. Hickman comme point de départ en 1984) a fait évoluer son image en lui offrant le rôle de personnage principal ou de héros, contribuant à l'amplification de la figure mythique du dragon et à son renouveau. Le dragon vole, crache du feu, pense, parle, raisonne, se métamorphose, possède des pouvoirs magiques, aime et se bat. Il existe également au féminin. Si le dragon ancien était représenté aux pieds de l'homme, en position d'infériorité d'animal dompté, le dragon de Fantasy se situe dans le ciel, libre et supérieur à l'homme. Il ouvre la voie d'une sagesse ancestrale au dragonnier qu'il se choisit. Les combats des dragons symbolisent les éternelles luttes du Bien et du Mal présentes dans toutes les sociétés humaines et en l'homme lui-même, les forces qui s'affrontent pour le rétablissement de l'ordre et de l'équilibre universel en danger. / A mythic builder or destroyer of Worlds, the embodiment of Evil for the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Agesd, a monster to kill in order to take its treasure in legends or tales, the dragon periodically comes back expressing one's fears or diseases. Fantasy has brought the dragon back to twentieth century literature and Dragon Fantasy offers him the leading role in fights to keep order and and hold the world balanced. The new dragon, male or female, thinks, speaks, loves, fights, has magical powers, can fly, breathe fire, transform himself/herself. He shows human beings the way to ancestral wisdom.

Cette thèse propose une analyse assistée par ordinateur des espaces imaginaires dans un corpus de littérature de jeunesse. Elle part du constat qu’il existe, dans ce genre littéraire particulier, une dualité dans la construction spatiale. En effet, on y trouve d’une part un espace quotidien (que Tolkien nomme monde primaire), et de l’autre un espace magique (le monde secondaire). Le périple du héros-enfant, qui prend la forme d’un ou de plusieurs aller-retours entre ces deux mondes, le conduit à grandir et à se métamorphoser. En ce sens, l’espace participe à sa transformation. Le parcours du protagoniste est jalonné de lieux et de motifs spatiaux récurrents dans le corpus tels que les maisons, les forêts, les jardins, les souterrains. Plus que de simples éléments de décors, ils apparaissent comme signifiants parce qu’ils traduisent à la fois les étapes nécessaires à la construction du héros et son état d’esprit. Il s’agit, dans cette perspective, de comprendre les enjeux symboliques de ces espaces imaginaires. L’étude de l’organisation des espaces narratifs à partir de données quantitatives montre qu’il existe une dualité entre les deux mondes, renforcée par une série de dichotomies. Malgré cet antagonisme structurel, le héros est capable de passer d’un univers à l’autre. L’analyse des modalités et des moments du passage de la frontière révèle que le monde secondaire est un espace mental et spirituel. En effet, il est à a fois l’espace du rêve, de la mort et du sacré. / This thesis is a computer-aided analysis of a corpus composed of twenty British children’s novels. It is based on the fact that, in this literary genre, space is organized by a structural opposition. Indeed, there is, on one hand, a daily environment (the primary world according to Tolkien) and, on the other hand, a magical space (the secondary world). The hero’s journey leads him to grow up and to metamorphose. In this respect, the narrative space is part of his transformation. The hero’s journey is marked out by a series of recurring places and motifs such as houses, forests, gardens and undergrounds. More than mere settings, they are meaningful because they reflect the protagonist’s state of mind. All these topographical elements are interdependent and constitute the spatial system of the narrative. The aim of this research is to understand what is symbolically at stake regarding imaginary spaces. The study of the spatial organization, based on quantitative data, shows a duality between the two worlds, emphasized by a series of dichotomies. Despite this structural antagonism, the hero is able to pass from one land to the other. Focusing on how and when the crossing of the border is possible reveals that the secondary world is a mental and spiritual space. Indeed, it is at the same time the land of dreams, of death and of the sacred.

The Tide Lords series of fantasy novels set out to examine the issue of immortality. Its purpose was to look at the desirability of immortality, specifically why people actively seek it. It was meant to examine the practicality of immortality, specifically — having got there, what does one do to pass the time with eternity to fill? I also wished to examine the notion of true immortality — immortals who could not be killed. What I did not anticipate when embarking upon this series, and what did not become apparent until after the series had been sold to two major publishing houses in Australia and the US, was the strength of the immortality tropes. This series was intended to fly in the face of these tropes, but confronted with the reality of such a work, the Australian publishers baulked at the ideas presented, requesting the series be re-written with the tropes taken into consideration. They wanted immortals who could die, mortals who wanted to be immortal. And a hero with a sense of humour. This exegesis aims to explore where these tropes originated. It will also discuss the ways I negotiated a way around the tropes, and was eventually able to please the publishers by appearing to adhere to the tropes, while still staying true to the story I wanted to tell. As such, this discussion is, in part, an analysis of how an author negotiates the tensions around writing within a genre while trying to innovate within it.

This diploma thesis deals with the comparison of three literary works, namely Harry Potter series by Joanne Kathleen Rowling, The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson, Groosham Grange and Return to Groosham Grange: The Unholy Grail by Anthony Horowitz. The aim of the theoretical part is to outline the theory of fantasy and also the lives of the three above mentioned authors. The rites of passage and the Gothic tradition are also included in the first, theoretical, part. The aim of the interpretation is to compare the following themes occurring in the discussed works: the journey to the world of fantasy, the picture of the other world and the hero and his opposite. The summary attempts to prove that the discussed works have different messages. In particular, Rowling focuses on morality, Horowitz deals with farce and Ibbotson concentrates on humour.

In fantasy literature, representations of gender and sexuality outside of the heteronormative binary have historically been limited. Although queer fantasy is on the rise, depictions of non-conformational identities are still rare and far in-between. This thesis seeks to examine one of the earlier fantasy representations of a queer character, the non-binary Beloved in Robin Hobbs fantasy series The Realm of the Elderlings in terms of gender and sexuality. Throughout the series, Beloved assumes different identities of various genders and sexual orientations, and continuously claims that these are all equally true and valid representations of themselves, although these are distinctly separated by ways of, often gendered, physical attributes. Therefore, a central part of this thesis will be to examine how these shifts between genders and sexual identities are established performatively, something I will do with the support of Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity as it is presented in Gender Trouble. While the text ultimately lends itself to a reading in Beloved’s favour, they are often othered and met with scorn from other characters of the series, something that is quite central to their characterization. Consequently, this thesis will also investigate these reactions and the often heteronormative and conservative stances they demonstrate, and, most notably, how these reactions mirror exterior societal attitudes and change in accordance with these.

Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher (A cidade dos livros sonhadores) é um extenso romance escrito em 2004 por Walter Moers. A narrativa se passa no mundo fantástico de Zamonien um lugar habitado por dragões e outras criaturas curiosas e concentra-se na jornada do protagonista Hildegunst von Mythenmetz, um jovem dragão-escritor, o qual encontra um misterioso texto, que seria, segundo sua opinião, a melhor obra já escrita no continente fictício. Ele sai, então, à procura do autor desconhecido daquelas palavras. Sua busca o leva a Buchhaim, a cidade dos livros sonhadores, onde muitas aventuras mas também perigos o aguardam. Moers finge ser apenas o tradutor da língua zamônica e o ilustrador da biografia de Hildegunst von Mythenmetz, que seria o verdadeiro autor de Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher. Logo após a publicação do romance, os fãs de Moers ocuparam-se em decifrar charadas que fazem referência a obras literárias e autores conhecidos. O livro tornou-se, então, uma narrativa fantástica sobre a literatura e o mundo literário. O presente trabalho pretende analisar a estrutura narrativa de Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher, especialmente o aspecto da metaficcionalidade. Para tanto, será apresentado, primeiramente, um breve resumo do enredo. Em seguida, ocuparemo-nos com as principais características do gênero da Fantasy, procurando encontrar exemplos no romance dos aspectos constitutivos desse gênero. Por fim, serão analisados diferentes elementos metaficcionais encontrados na obra, com o intuito de demonstrar o jogo que o autor faz com a ficcionalidade. O romance de Moers lida de forma irônica e parodística com a questão do limite entre ficção e realidade, que ocupa parte da crítica literária. Essa temática desenvolve-se em um jogo, no qual um dinossauro é autor de um bestseller e concede entrevistar à mídia alemã (FAZ e ZDF). O humor é, sem dúvida, a característica mais marcante de Walter Moers. O principal objetivo desse trabalho consiste, por fim, em investigar a relação entre a metaficcionalidade e o sucesso que o romance encontrou entre um público tão diversificado. / Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher (The city of dreaming books) is a novel written in 2004 by Walter Moers. The narrative takes place in the fantastic world of Zamonien a place inhabited by dragons and other curious creatures and focuses on the journey of the protagonist Hildegunst von Mythenmetz, a young dragon-writer, who finds a mysterious text, which would be, according to his opinion, the best book ever written on the fictional continent. He starts a journey looking for the unknown author of those words. His quest leads him to \"Buchhaim\", the city of dreaming books, where many adventures but also dangers wait for him. Moers pretends to be only the translator of the \"zamonia language\" and the illustrator of the biography of Hildegunst von Mythenmetz, which would be the true author of Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher. Shortly after the publication of the novel, fans of Moers tried to decipher the riddles of literary pieces and unknown authors references within the story. The book became, then, a fantastic narrative about the literature and the literary world. This work intends to analyze the narrative structure of Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher, especially the aspect of metafictionality. Therefore, will be presented, firstly, a brief resume of the story. Then we will analyze the main characteristics of the genre of Fantasy, trying to identify examples in the novel which establishes this genre. Finally, we will analyze distinctive metafictional elements found in the work, in order to demonstrate the tricks that the author makes with fictionality. Moers\'s novel deals in an ironic and parodistic way with the question of the boundaries between fiction and reality, which occupies part of the literary critic. This theme takes its course in a game in which a dinosaur is the author of a best-seller and agrees to be interviewed by German media (FAZ and ZDF). The humor is undoubtedly the most remarkable characteristic of Walter Moers. The main purpose of this work is to investigate the connections between the metafictionality and the huge success of the novel, which reached such a diversified audience.

This essay will examine the youth novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. The aim of this essay is to find tendencies of how the novel favours non-stereotypical male behaviour and characteristics. Using gender criticism, the novel and its most central male characters are analysed to highlight their gender characteristics. Symbols and metaphors constitute a part of the analysis for a more comprehensive examination. The results of this essay show that the male characters are divided into two factions, the good side and the evil side. It is evident that the male characters on the evil side are characterised by stereotypical male gender behaviour and the male characters on the good side tend to show a lack of stereotypical masculine traits. The Fantasy genre, which dictates a strong good versus evil storyline, extends this polarisation. The stereotypical male gender roles are therefore opposed and non-stereotypical male behaviour is promoted in the narration by favouring male vulnerability and ridiculing stereotypical masculine traits.

This thesis examines whether character creators in fantasy role-playing games allow players to create ethnically diverse characters. We studied eight games following a procedure to record perceivable data about the available options, and conducted interviews. The results show that options for minority ethnicities are usually either very few and lack variation or are non-existent. All the interviewees answered that they were generally dissatisfied with the options given to them in character creators and could rarely make a representation of themselves. This highlights the need to diversify the options in order to not exclude players. / Denna avhandling undersöker om karaktärsskapare i fantasy dator-rollspel tillåter spelare att skapa karaktärer av etnisk mångfald. Vi studerade åtta spel efter bestämda riktlinjer och samlade information om de tillgängliga alternativen, och genomförde intervjuer. Resultaten visar att alternativ för minoritetsetniciteter är vanligtvis antingen mycket få och har ingen variation eller är helt obefintliga. Alla de intervjuade svarade att de var allmänt missnöjda med de alternativ som ges i karaktärsskapare och kan sällan göra en representation av sig själva. Detta belyser behovet av att diversifiera alternativen för att inte utesluta spelare.

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 master thesis provides an extensive definition of transmedia storytelling systems and the fantasy genre, besides a short overview of publishing management, technology, and marketing. The focus of this master thesis is the practical relevance of transmedia storytelling systems for fantasy franchises, such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, or The Lord of the Rings. This thesis results in the perceptions that potential customers indeed consume storylines across different media types. Most of them only through media types with a low degree of participation. A smaller but significant amount of the customer consumes media types with a high degree of participation. These results are findings from a survey of more than 600 consumers surveyed of selected fantasy franchises.:1 Introduction 9 2 Overview of Publishing Technologies 11 2.1 Principles of publisher’s organization 11 2.2 Cross-media publishing 12 2.2.1 Setup and Integration of a cross-media publishing system 14 2.3 Publisher’s marketing 17 2.3.1 Publishing trademarks 20 2.3.2 Selection of marketing measures 21 3 Principles of Transmedia Storytelling 23 3.1 Transmediality 23 3.2 Transmedia Storytelling 25 3.3 Storyworlds 27 3.4 Transfictionality 29 3.5 Transmedia story systems 30 3.6 Summary 32 4 Examination of the Fantasy Genre 35 4.1 Definition of Fantasy 35 4.1.1 The secondary world 36 4.1.2 Metaphysical power 38 4.1.3 The heroic element 39 4.1.4 Demarcating Fantasy from related terms and genres 40 4.1.5 Summary 42 4.2 The German Fantasy market 43 4.2.1 Fantasy in TV, films, and series 43 4.2.2 Fantasy in books 45 4.2.3 Fantasy in computer games 46 4.2.4 In conclusion 49 5 Implementation of a Survey: Consumption of the Same Fantasy Narrative in Different Media Types 51 5.1 Methods and systematic 51 5.1.1 Description of the examples 53 5.1.2 Justification and classification 56 5.1.3 Gathering of personal data 58 5.2 Results of the survey 60 Inhaltsverzeichnis VII 6 Discussion of the Perceptions 67 6.1 Interpretation and discussion of the survey’s results 67 6.1.1 Interpretation and discussion concerning the target audience 67 6.1.2 Interpretation and discussion in terms of further media consumption 71 6.1.3 Interpretation and discussion in terms of the media type’s potential 79 6.1.4 Interpretation and discussion in terms of further results and perceptions 86 6.2 Strategic Theses for Publishing Houses and Media Agencies 88 6.2.1 Acquiring the right content 89 6.2.2 How to design a transmedia storytelling system? 91 6.2.3 After obtaining the right stories 93 6.2.4 The right publishing system 96 6.3 In conclusion 98 Bibliography 100 Source materials 102 Statistics 105 Attachement A1 107 Total Results 108 Attachement A2 117 Survey’s structure and results in Detail 118 / Diese Masterarbeit bietet neben einem kurzen Einblick in das Verlagsmanagement, allgemeine Produktionstechniken und Marketing-Strategien eine ausführliche Definition von transmedialen Storytelling-Systemen und des Fantasy-Genres. Der Schwerpunkt dieser Masterarbeit liegt auf der praktischen Relevanz von transmedialen Storytelling-Systemen für Fantasy-Franchises, wie Harry Potter, Game of Thrones oder Der Herr der Ringe. Das Ergebnis dieser Arbeit ist die Erkenntnis, dass potenzielle Kunden tatsächlich medienübergreifend Storylines konsumieren. Die meisten von ihnen jedoch nur über Medientypen mit einem geringen Partizipationsgrad. Ein kleinerer, aber wesentlicher Teil der Rezipienten konsumiert Medientypen mit einem hohen Partizipationsgrad. Diese Ergebnisse sind Erkenntnisse aus einer Befragung von mehr als 600 Rezipienten ausgewählter Fantasy-Franchises.:1 Introduction 9 2 Overview of Publishing Technologies 11 2.1 Principles of publisher’s organization 11 2.2 Cross-media publishing 12 2.2.1 Setup and Integration of a cross-media publishing system 14 2.3 Publisher’s marketing 17 2.3.1 Publishing trademarks 20 2.3.2 Selection of marketing measures 21 3 Principles of Transmedia Storytelling 23 3.1 Transmediality 23 3.2 Transmedia Storytelling 25 3.3 Storyworlds 27 3.4 Transfictionality 29 3.5 Transmedia story systems 30 3.6 Summary 32 4 Examination of the Fantasy Genre 35 4.1 Definition of Fantasy 35 4.1.1 The secondary world 36 4.1.2 Metaphysical power 38 4.1.3 The heroic element 39 4.1.4 Demarcating Fantasy from related terms and genres 40 4.1.5 Summary 42 4.2 The German Fantasy market 43 4.2.1 Fantasy in TV, films, and series 43 4.2.2 Fantasy in books 45 4.2.3 Fantasy in computer games 46 4.2.4 In conclusion 49 5 Implementation of a Survey: Consumption of the Same Fantasy Narrative in Different Media Types 51 5.1 Methods and systematic 51 5.1.1 Description of the examples 53 5.1.2 Justification and classification 56 5.1.3 Gathering of personal data 58 5.2 Results of the survey 60 Inhaltsverzeichnis VII 6 Discussion of the Perceptions 67 6.1 Interpretation and discussion of the survey’s results 67 6.1.1 Interpretation and discussion concerning the target audience 67 6.1.2 Interpretation and discussion in terms of further media consumption 71 6.1.3 Interpretation and discussion in terms of the media type’s potential 79 6.1.4 Interpretation and discussion in terms of further results and perceptions 86 6.2 Strategic Theses for Publishing Houses and Media Agencies 88 6.2.1 Acquiring the right content 89 6.2.2 How to design a transmedia storytelling system? 91 6.2.3 After obtaining the right stories 93 6.2.4 The right publishing system 96 6.3 In conclusion 98 Bibliography 100 Source materials 102 Statistics 105 Attachement A1 107 Total Results 108 Attachement A2 117 Survey’s structure and results in Detail 118