This study undertakes an examination of the representation of nature in works of literature that it regards as early British ‘mythopoeic fantasy’. By this term the thesis understands that fantasy fiction which is fundamentally concerned with myth or myth-making. It is the contention of the study that the connection of these works with myth or the idea of myth is integral to their presentation of nature. Specifically, this study identifies a connection between the idea of nature presented in these novels and the thought of the late-Victorian era regarding nature, primitivism, myth and the impulse behind mythopoesis. It is argued that this conceptual background is responsible for the notion of nature as a virtuous force of spiritual redemption in opposition to modernity and in particular to the dominant modern ideological model of scientific materialism. The thesis begins by examining late-Victorian sensibilities regarding myth and nature, before exposing correlative ideas in selected case studies of authors whose work it posits to be primarily mythopoeic in intent. The first of these studies considers the work of Henry Rider Haggard, the second examines Scottish writer David Lindsay, and the third looks at the mythopoeic endeavours of J. R. R. Tolkien, the latter standing alone among the authors considered in these central case studies in producing fiction under a fully developed theory of mythopoesis. The perspective is then widened in the final chapter, allowing consideration of authors such as William Morris and H. G. Wells. The study attempts to demonstrate the prevalence of an identifiable conceptual model of nature in the period it considers to constitute the age of early mythopoeic fantasy fiction, which it conceives to date from the late-Victorian era to the apotheosis of Tolkien’s work.

Le tournant des XXe et XXIe siècles coïncide avec l’essor de la littérature fantasy, héritière de nombreuses formes littéraires et cinématographiques. Plusieurs œuvres de ce corpus récent procèdent au renouvellement des paramètres conventionnels de la fantasy. Pierre Bottero prend part à cet effort par le truchement de la figure singulière d’une femme, Ellana, appartenant à la guilde des marchombres, et dont la quête de liberté renvoie à la recherche de dépassement de l’auteur. Après l’écriture de La Quête d’Ewilan (2003) et Les Mondes d’Ewilan (2005), Bottero se détourne en effet de la tradition tolkiénienne et de la légende arthurienne afin de mettre au point Le Pacte des marchombres, une trilogie qui relate l’émancipation du personnage d’Ellana par sa pratique d’une écriture « poétique ». Le présent mémoire explore les potentialités de l’écriture fantasy qui se déploient au sein du récit Ellana (2006), premier volet de la dernière trilogie de Bottero. Ellana relève d’une pratique particulière de l’écriture transfictionnelle – le prequel – qui s’effectue à rebours. Bottero substitue à la figure de Merlin, mythe fondateur de ses premières trilogies, celle d’Ellana, qui en vient à jouer un rôle central au sein du cycle alavirien. Nous mettons en relief les principaux traits du genre fantasy dans le but d’identifier les topoï qu’Ellana reconduit ou transgresse. Parallèlement, nous procédons à l’étude de l’imaginaire bottérien dont la figure d’Ellana est tributaire. En faisant de la protagoniste une figure mythique, l’auteur construit l’image d’un féminin à la fois sauvage et gracieux que rien n’empêche de vivre indépendamment des hommes. / Fantasy literature, heiress of many literary and cinematographic forms, has developed rapidly at the turn of the XXth and XXIst centuries. In this recent corpus, several works concur to the renewal of the conventional parameters of fantasy. Pierre Bottero takes part in this joint action through a singular feminine figure, Ellana, who belongs to the marchombre guild, and whose freedom quest refers to the author’s goal to dispel the commonplaces of fantasy genre. Indeed, after the writing of La Quête d’Ewilan (2003) and Les Mondes d’Ewilan (2005), Bottero moves away from tolkienian tradition and arthurian legend in order to create Le Pacte des marchombres, a trilogy relating the emancipation of Ellana’s figure by the way of a “poetical” writing practice. This thesis searches for fantasy writing’s potentialities that are observable in the book Ellana (2006), first volume of Bottero’s final trilogy. Ellana comes under a particular transfictional writing practice – the prequel – that is done back to front. While the first trilogies of Bottero are based on Merlin’s myth, the author changes the focus to Ellana’s figure who plays a pivotal role in the alavirian cycle. We highlight the main features of the fantasy genre with the aim to identify the topoï that Ellana renews or infringes. At the same time, we set about studying the botterian imaginary that Ellana’s figure is dependent on. By turning the protagonist into a mythical figure, the author builds the image of a wild yet graceful feminine that nothing prevents from living apart from men.

Explore pictures of supernatural beings and other creatures which could be found in current visualizations of Fantasy genres, computer games, illustrations and films. Study and categorize visual and written materials, follow these fantastic creatures, how they look like and how the appearance of them changes through time. Track the source of the appearance by comparing modern sources and older pictures and also by studying old myths and legends. Research what inspiration how impacted the process of creating new concepts. Study and define terms such as imagination and fantasy. Through scientific research, try to map how the children imagine fantastic creatures and from what pictures and text their images come from. What do children find scary? What ways and techniques stimulate their imagination? Plan and realize an art project following up your findings. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

J'ai voulu étudier un phénomène qui sous-tend l'écriture de la littérature spéculative (science-fiction et fantasy) aujourd'hui : la création d'un « monde secondaire », selon l'expression de J.R.R. Tolkien. Deux problèmes se posaient de prime abord. Premièrement, l'ensemble culturel et éditorial que recouvre l'expression « littérature spéculative » est relativement flou, du fait des problèmes de délimitation des genres et de la problématique culturelle plus générale (la littérature spéculative est-elle définie par des motifs littéraires, ou par l'appareil culturel qui l'entoure ?). Deuxièmement, un « monde secondaire » est-il uniquement un univers inventé entièrement différent ou détaché du monde réel, ou peut-il recouper le monde réel, etc. ? La littérature spéculative étant un genre foisonnant et en pleine évolution, j'ai pris le parti de ne pas donner de réponses définitives. Plutôt que de tenter de tracer des frontières, j'ai cherché à mettre en évidence les différents éléments dont se constituent les mondes secondaires : les traditions du genre sur lesquels les auteurs s'appuient pour transmettre la vision d'un univers original à leurs lecteurs, entre mise en avant de l'originalité et utilisation d'éléments connus comme soubassement, ainsi que la vision particulière de l'histoire, de la géographie et de la place de l'humanité dans le monde que les auteurs développent. Cette réflexion se veut située à la fois en amont et en aval de l'acte d'écriture. Elle se conclut sur les questions qui se posent aux auteurs contemporains : questions de renouvellement du genre, ou d'ouverture sur les autres médias, en particulier ceux que pratiquent les amateurs. / I endeavoured to study a phenomenon underlying contemporary speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy): the creation of a ‘secondary world', to use J.R.R. Tolkien's phrasing. I had to solve two preliminary problems. First, the cultural and economic phenomenon that speculative fiction represents has a blurry outline, questions regarding genre delimitation and wider cultural problems (is speculative fiction defined only by a number of literary patterns, or by the whole cultural apparatus that goes with it?) being difficult to answer. Secondly, does the notion secondary worlds only apply to invented worlds that are entirely different or detached from the real world, or can it be applied to texts that take place at least partly in the real world, etc.? Speculative fiction being a diverse genre that has been steadily evolving for years, I have chosen to avoid giving definitive answers to those questions. Instead of looking for boundaries, I have tried to emphasise the various building blocks of secondary worlds in speculative fiction: the traditions of the genre authors rely on to convey their view of an original universe to their readers, in a dialogue between known elements used as a foundation and the idiosyncratic view of history, geography and the place of mankind in the particular secondary world developed by the author. In an attempt to open this study to the contemporary practice of world-building, I have concluded with the questions that speculative fiction authors face today: how to renew the tropes of the genre, how speculative fiction pervades other media, in particular the practices of fans.

Science fiction, like any other genre, is sub-divided into categories. Yet scholars in the field have long debated the existence of multiple, regional sf genres. The most critiqued of these classifications is between sf produced in Britain, and America. Though Britain remains the birthplace of sf, American author have undoubtedly left a mark on the genre. Scholars mark this difference in the writing styles and themes of authors in these regions. To examine this difference, I analyze two authors that have worked on a common theme: religion and in particular, the concept of hell. Evaluating the arguments put forth by critics such as Peter Kuczka, Cy Chavin, Franz Rottensteiner, and others; I examine works by Scottish author Iain m. Banks, and American author Cordwainer Smith to determine the validity of this classification. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:38:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Luiza Scrosoppi Persicano.pdf: 13590026 bytes, checksum: 987e46a955863f199cc4194db928eb40 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-22 / First this study presents a review of the economic concept of somatic anxiety, developed by the author in her master's work, as seen from the point of view of Klein's theory of the fantasy. The objective of the study is to further develop ideas that are fundamental to this concept of somatic anxiety and to question them in terms of the new frame of reference. The text establishes counter-positions and counterpoints between the two sets of reference in order to determine the place of somatic anxiety in Klein s view of the process of fantasizing. At first sight, anxiety, which, in Kleinian thought, is an aspect of unconscious fantasy, would seem to go beyond Freud's economic metapsychology, and this might exclude the concept of somatic anxiety from Klein s theory of the fantasy. On the basis of clinical cases, the author tests the effectiveness and the definition of the concept of somatic anxiety in Kleinian thought and locates it metapsychologically in this theory of fantasy. The study has the overall purpose of studying unconscious fantasy and the place of somatic anxiety in such fantasy. This led to the investigation of two opposing general hypotheses: 1) somatic anxiety could be anxiety without unconscious fantasy, a position which runs counter to Kleinian thinking; or, 2) somatic anxiety is located in the theory of unconscious fantasy, implying that somatic anxiety could thus be classified as somatic. These general hypotheses led to a more specific question regarding the metapsychological possibility of somatic fantasizing. The hypotheses thus led us to conclude and to metapsychologically sustain that Kleinian primary fantasy is a state of somatic anxiety experienced in early sensory images. It is therefore a primary somatic fantasy. The author of this thesis introduces the expression somatic-sensitive imagos to refer to such early sensory images and relates manifestations of somatic 20 fantasy to them. The author then formulates the notion of somatic fantasy on the basis of somatic-sensitive imagos and attempts to compose them in a metapsychology of unconscious fantasy. Finally, levels of fantasizing are established, as well as the places of somatic fantasies, of somatic-sensitive imagos and of somatic anxiety / Esta pesquisa empreende, primeiramente, a revisão do conceito econômico de angústia somática, desenvolvido pela autora no Mestrado, seguindo um referencial freudiano, agora pela ótica da teoria kleiniana da fantasia, visando compor uma elaboração das ideias fundamentais deste conceito e problematizá-las frente ao novo esquema referencial. Estabelece contraposições e contrapontos entre os dois referenciais de modo a averiguar o lugar da angústia somática no pensamento kleiniano a respeito do fantasiar, já que, à primeira vista, a angústia, por ser, para aquele, um dos aspectos da fantasia inconsciente ficaria para além da metapsicologia econômica freudiana e isto poderia excluir o conceito de angústia somática da teoria kleiniana da fantasia. A partir de casos clínicos, testa a eficácia e a definição do conceito de angústia somática no pensamento kleiniano e o implementa metapsicologicamente dentro de sua teoria da fantasia. A pesquisa objetivou o estudo da fantasia inconsciente e o lugar da angústia somática na mesma. Isto conduziu à investigação de duas hipóteses gerais opostas: se seria possível que a angústia somática fosse uma angústia sem fantasia inconsciente, contrariando o pensamento kleiniano; ou se seria possível a angústia somática dentro da teoria da fantasia inconsciente e se isto viria a significar que a mesma poderia chegar a ter um estatuto de somático. Estas hipóteses gerais conduziram a uma mais específica a respeito da possibilidade metapsicológica de um fantasiar somático, que levaram a concluir e a sustentar metapsicologicamente que a fantasia primária kleiniana é um estado de angústia somática, vivida em imagens sensoriais arcaicas, portanto, é uma fantasia primária somática. A autora introduz a expressão Imagos sômatosensitivas para se referir a estas imagens sensoriais arcaicas, ligando a elas a manifestação de angústia somática. Formula a noção de fantasia somática a partir das Imagos sômato-sensitivas, buscando compô-las dentro de uma metapsicologia 18 da fantasia inconsciente. Finalmente, estabelece os níveis do fantasiar, o lugar das fantasias somáticas, bem como das Imagos sômato-sensitivas e da angústia somática

Recent empirical evidence supports the theoretical stance that fiction provides vicarious experiences of imagined spaces and situations that can help shape our perceptions of the real world, our social others, and the self. The implications for this are especially interesting for adolescents, as their brains undergo a restructuring during puberty, making them more responsive to change in executive function and social cognition. Few scholars have yet addressed how texts instruct young readers in how to use their developing cognition to assess characters' emotions and behavior, and how fiction can potentially affect these readers' cognitive and emotional development. This thesis analyzes the concept that potential adolescent readers can engage with a novel's characters' thoughts and behaviors by using their improving cognitive abilities to transmute what is on the page into real-life coping strategies. This phenomenon is especially compelling when considering the potential impact empowered female characters could have on adolescent girl readers, since their malleable brain around puberty makes them more receptive to accepting ideas - such as a person's gender not being a limitation. I examine what the primary texts themselves offer to potential readers, and analyze certain aspects of the texts that could be linked to potential readers' cognitive and affective engagement. The primary texts I have chosen are Tamora Pierce's two narrative quartets (The Song of the Lioness and Protector of the Small) that deal with characters from the fictional land of Tortall, as they focus closely on female characters in fantasy realms who are breaking gendered stereotypes by training to become knights. Pierce's books are representative of this adolescent feminist fantasy. I extrapolate that findings from this thesis will be applicable to other kinds of adolescent feminist fantasy texts; namely, that adolescent feminist fantasy fiction can beneficially change potential readers behavior and cognition.

Yang, Jing. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-135). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Literature Review --- p.p.14 / Bodies --- p.p.15 / Spaces --- p.p.19 / Bodies-Spaces --- p.p.23 / "Fantasy, Organization & Gender" --- p.p.28 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Methodology --- p.p.36 / Data Collection --- p.p.36 / Date Analysis --- p.p.41 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Fantastic Bodies-Spaces / The ACG Fantasy of Maid --- p.p.43 / Geographical Location & Imaginary Location --- p.p.46 / Inventing Names & Dressing Up --- p.p.50 / "Home, Sweet Home" --- p.p.57 / Fantastic Bodies-Spaces --- p.p.61 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Organizational Bodies-Spaces / "Maid Date, A Profit-Organization" --- p.p.66 / White Maid Date & Black Maid Date --- p.p.67 / Redrawing the Boundaries Between Home and Work --- p.p.70 / Working as Professionals --- p.p.74 / Supervision --- p.p.79 / Organizational Bodies-Spaces --- p.p.82 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Gendered Bodies-Spaces / Display of Femininity & Male Gaze --- p.p.87 / Butler's Day --- p.p.93 / Gendered Bodies-Spaces --- p.p. 100 / Chapter Chapter 7: --- Conclusion --- p.p.103 / Appendix --- p.p.117 / Reference --- p.p.122

<p>U ovoj disertaciji istražuju se mnogobrojni oblici utopije u<br />nekolikim, prvenstveno u književnim segmentima složenog i obimnog<br />opusa H. Dž. Velsa, kao i u nekolikim, prvenstveno u književnim<br />segmentima ne tako obimnog, ali takođe složenog opusa G. Kosteljnika.<br />Studiju čine trinaest poglavlja.<br />Prvo je uvodno, te se u njemu najpre obja&scaron;njavaju predmet, cilj i<br />metodologija istraživanja, a potom se razmatraju najfrekventniji pojmovi:<br />op&scaron;ta i naučna fantastika, i, iznad svih, glavni pojam, utopija. Osvetljavaju<br />se i njena geneza, i njene karakteristike, i njene funkcije.<br />U drugom poglavlju su najpre izloženi faktori nastajanja, postojanja i<br />nestajanja utopija, a u nastavku je prezentirana iscrpna tipologija utopija.<br />U trećem i četvrtom poglavlju govori se o formiranju stvaralačkih<br />ličnosti H. Dž. Velsa i G. Kosteljnika.<br />Narednih &scaron;est poglavlja ispunjeno je odeljcima putem kojih se<br />osvetljava romaneskno, pripovedačko i diskurzivno (esejističko,<br />sociolo&scaron;ko, politikolo&scaron;ko, naučnopopularno i publicističko) stvarala&scaron;tvo H.<br />Dž. Velsa, kao i poetsko, pripovedačko, dramsko i diskurzivno (esejističko,<br />teolo&scaron;ko, književnokritičko, lingvističko i publicističko) stvarala&scaron;tvo G.<br />Kosteljnika.<br />Jedanaesto poglavlje je zaključno. U njemu je jo&scaron; jednom razmotren<br />značaj utopije uop&scaron;te, a naročito u delu dvojice protagonista ove disertacije:<br />H. Dž. Velsa i G. Kosteljnika.</p> / <p>This thesis researches numerous forms of utopia in several, primarily<br />literary segments from complex and comprehensive opus of H. G. Wells, as<br />well as in several, primarily literary segments of not so comprehensive, but<br />also complex opus of G. Kosteljnik.<br />The study consists of thirteen chapters.<br />The first chapter is introductory, where the subject matter, aim and<br />methodology of the research are explained, and the most frequent notions<br />are considered: general fantasy and science fiction, and, above all, the main<br />notion, utopia. Some light is being shed on its genesis, its characteristics<br />and its functions.<br />In the second chapter, the factors for its emergence, existence and<br />disappearance are presented, along with exhaustive typology of utopias.<br />The tird and fourth chapter deals with formation of creative<br />personalities of H. G. Wells and G. Kosteljnik.<br />The following six chapters include the extracts through which I<br />throw light on romanesque, narrative and discursive (essayistic,<br />sociological, politicological, popular scientific and publicistic) artistic<br />creation of H. G. Wells, as well as poetic, narrative, dramatic and<br />discursive (essayistic, theological, literary-critical, linguistic and<br />publicistic) artistic creation of G. Kosteljnik.<br />The eleventh chapter is conclusion. It once again considers the<br />notion of utopia in general, and particularly in the works of the two<br />protagonists of this thesis: H. G. Wells and G. Kosteljnik.</p>

The thesis consists of the novel The Fox and the Mirror and an accompanying exegesis. The novel is an historical fantasy set in a world based on early medieval (12-13th century) Japan. The main characters are a young female shaman, Hatsu, and a young warrior’s assistant, Sada, who is a Buddhist believer. When Hatsu’s village and shrine are destroyed by warriors and her summoning mirror is stolen, she is abandoned by her kami . To experience the kami’s presence again, she must follow the thief and retrieve the mirror before it can be used to resurrect an ancient evil. Sada must capture Hatsu and bring her back to his lord, or his family will suffer. Yet he is entranced by Hatsu and feels guilt at the destruction of her village. He must choose whether to abandon his former life and stay with Hatsu, or betray her. In the novel I have tried to invoke the feel of a place and time where the supernatural is as real as the physical world; I also try to imagine how a religion as alien to Japanese native beliefs as Buddhism became a part of that country’s spiritual culture. In the exegesis I reflect upon how I used various kinds of history, both written and unwritten, to build the world, characters and narratives of The Fox and the Mirror, and thereby explore some ways in which historical fantasy, as a sub-genre of historical fiction, is capable of presenting an ‘authentic’ view of the past, in spite of its non-realistic nature. I identify three main ways historical fantasy writers can provide an authentic view of the past: by using telling details from an historical era; by incorporating documented events and persons into the story; and by portraying the world as people in the past believed it to be. Historical fantasy is different from realistic historical fiction in that it can more easily incorporate elements belonging to shared cultural heritage, such as beliefs regarding the dead and the supernatural. This characteristic involves writers in research using material that involves other ways of knowing the past—in particular the expressions of belief such as religion, popular customs, folk tales, and oral history. With the broadening of our historiological perspectives in the postmodern climate, historical fantasy based on non-documentary forms of history may come to be seen as another way of knowing the past.