The Fantastic in World Literature and the Arts: Selected Essays from the Fifth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy)

From a discussion of the problem of communicating with non-human beings and a review of popular fantastic films to an examination of stage portrayals of Dr. Frankenstein's monster, the essays included reflect and reinfoce the international appeal of the fantastic. Studies on J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis Caroll, Carlos Fuentes, Edgar Allen Poe, Jorges Luis Borges, and others show how writers, artists, and directors use the impossible as a way of presenting familiar problems and themes--such as the relation of the past to the future or our attitudes towards death--in a new light. Several essays suggest new or newly refined ways of approaching the fantastic in literature from a critical standpoint, while others focus on the visual and kinetic arts. Taken together, the essays accurately mirror the flux and vitality of the current study of the fantastic in the arts. Introduction: The Fantastic In World Literature And The Arts / Donald E. Morse -- Part 1. The Fantastic In World Literature: Theory And Themes. From Providence To Terror: The Supernatural In Gothic Fantasy / Robert F. Geary -- A Lesson In Xenolinguistics: Congruence, Empathy And Computers In Joan Vinge's Eyes Of Amber / Gregory M. Shreve -- Continuity Wit The Past: Mythic Time In Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings / John A. Calabrese -- Remembering The Future: Gene Wolfe's The Book Of The New Sun / Peter Malekin -- The Ultimate Fantasy: Astrid Lindgren's The Brothers Lionheart / Clara Juncker -- Part 2. The Fantastic In World Literature: Individual Authors. Irony Grows In My Garden: Generative Processes In Borges's The Garden Of Forking Paths / Ralph Yarrow -- What Went Wrong With Alice? / Beverly Lyon Clark -- The Figure Of The Decadent Artist In Poe, Baudelaire And Swinburne / Roger C. Lewis -- Elements Of The Fantastic In La Granja Blanca By Clemente Palma / Nancy M. Kason -- The Play-within-the-play: A Study Of Madness In Hubert Aquin's Neige Noire / V. Harger-grinling And A.r. Chadwick -- The Fantastic Dwelling In Jacques Cazotte's Le Diable Amoureux / Juliette Gilman -- The Living Past: The Mexican's History Returns To Haunt Him In Two Short Stories By Carlos Fuentes / Cynthia Duncan -- Dissolution And Discovery In The Fantastic Fiction Of Andre Pieyre De Mandiargues / Joyce O. Lowrie -- Part 3. Fantastic Themes, Figures And Techniques In The Arts: Collage, Stage And Film. Surrealist As Religious Visionary:max Ernst's Reve D'une Petitie Fille Qui Voulut Entrer Au Carmel / Charlotte Stokes -- The Foulest Toadstool: Reviving Frankenstein In The Twentieth Century / Steven Earl Forry -- The Underground Journey And The Death And Resurrection Theme In Recent Science Fiction And Fantasy Films / Donald E. Palumbo. Edited By Donald E. Morse. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. [229]-239.