Collision of Realities : Establishing Research on the Fantastic in Europe

"Even though the fantastic has been a part of our culture for as long as it exists, it has not been a prominent feature of European academic interest. But the commencing boom of fantastic themes in contemporary media production has facilitated a paradigmatic change in research, prompting a wide interest in the fantastic in all its forms. This volume addresses this growing interest by reviewing the status of European research on the fantastic from an interdisciplinary perspective and by providing a necessary outlook for the future."-- Summary provided by EBL (Ebook Library) Preface 7 THE FANTASTIC – THEORY AND HISTORY 11 The Art and Science of Heterocosmic Creativity 13 “It’s not what you see – it’s how you see what you see.” The Fantastic as an Epistemological Concept 27 The Nightmares of Politicians. On the Rise of Fantasy Literature from Subcultural to Mass-cultural Phenomenon 35 Fantastic Liminality. A Theory Sketch 55 VISUALIZING THE FANTASTIC IN OUR CULTURE 71 Fantastic Language/Political Reporting. The Postcolonial SF Illocutionary Force is with us 73 Visualising the Fantastic in Strange Embrace 91 Love your Zombie. Romancing the Undead 109 God Hates Fangs? Morality, Ideology, and the Domesticated Vampire in American Culture 125 The Semiotics of Sexual Transformation. Ursula and Ariel as Representations of Metamorphosis in The Little Mermaid 145 FANTASTIC GENRES: FANTASY 159 Taking a Zebra to Vegas. Allegorical Reality in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians Series 161 “Real adventures weren’t about Hogwarts and Muggles.” Intertextual References in Amanda Hemingway’s Sangreal-Trilogy 181 On Alien Alders. The “Erl-King” inspirations in Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher Saga 193 “It’s magical!” Supernatural Elements in Children’s Literature and Young Adults’ Fiction 211 Story Matters. Story and its Concept in Tolkien and Pratchett 225 Grimmerie and Primer. Wicked and Diamond Age as Instructional Texts 239 FANTASTIC GENRES: SCIENCE FICTION 255 The Haunted House of Science Fiction. Modern Ghosts, Crypts, and Technologies 257 Difference and Resistance in M.T. Anderson’s Feed 277 Disharmony and Dystopia. Music in Classic Dystopian Fiction 291 Facing the End of the World. Margaret Atwood’s Post-apocalyptic Science Fiction 301 Is the Scientist Still Mad? Renegotiations of a Cultural Stereotype in New Hard Science Fiction 317 Utopian, Dystopian and Subversive Strategies in Recent German Alternate History Fictions 331 CONFERENCE THEME STORY 345 A Pocketful of Faces 347 Contributors 365 Even though the fantastic (in its most inclusive definition) has been a part of our culture for as long as it exists, it has not been a prominent feature of European academic interest. With its inherent transgressive moment the fantastic allows for an ideal space of the cultural negotiation of political, social and physical boundaries, which should place it at the center of popular cultural research, not as is the case, at its periphery. But the commencing boom of fantastic themes in contemporary media production has facilitated a paradigmatic change in research, prompting a wide interest in the fantastic in all its forms, from fantasy to horror, from fairy tale to science fiction. This volume addresses this growing interest by reviewing the status of research on the fantastic in Europe so far and by providing a necessary outlook for the future. In the essays current trends, such as the liminality debate, as well as established discourses, as for example on genre theory, are brought together to show interested researchers a network of interdisciplinary (from literary, media and social studies) approaches towards the fantastic. Main description: Even though the fantastic has been a part of our culture for as long as it exists, it has not been a prominent feature of European academic interest. But the commencing boom of fantastic themes in contemporary media production has facilitated a paradigmatic change in research, prompting a wide interest in the fantastic in all its forms. This volume addresses this growing interest by reviewing the status of European research on the fantastic from an interdisciplinary perspective and by providing a necessary outlook for the future