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People that study the Fantasy genre can't agree on a definition of what Fantasy is. Occasionally a nonfiction book comes out from a scholar that tries to explain Fantasy and give it a legitimacy as literature. These books can be interesting to the Fantasy reader in gaining a better insight into the purposes of the genre and intentions of the authors. Strategies of Fantasy by Brian Attebery is such a book. It traces the literary importance of Fantasy as important, viable literature.
Defining Fantasy literature with a set meaning has been debated for a long time. Everyone has their own definition of what constitutes a Fantasy work. In his book, Brian Attebery provides a viable and sensible one. He believes that Fantasy is a fuzzy set that revolves around core books and expands out to books on the fringe. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is an example of a core book. People's conception of High Fantasy springs from this book. He thinks other core books are at the center of several sub-genres with a few books that defy definitions. Once Mr. Attebery established this definition, he moves on to explain the relationship of Fantasy to literature. The author uses several literary theories to compare Fantasy books against. Through an exhaustive use of examples, he demonstrates that Fantasy is a part of literature. Readers gain insights into the importance of the genre and how it fulfills its purpose by story and character. He covers several books that are classics in the genre like John Crowley's Little, Big. Mr. Attebery thinks the power of story and characters give Fantasy a legitimacy for consideration. Lastly, the contributions of women authors to Fantasy have increased the genre's strength. Mr. Attebery thinks women have helped the genre by adding their unique points of view. He tells how women authors like Ursula K. LeGuin, Patricia McKillip, Andre Norton and many others have created female heroines of strength and intelligence to the genre. They have brought us the women's coming-of-age story to our attention. Women add different stories than the standard male heroe. Go To Page: 1 2 |
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