In Defence of Fantasy: A Study of the Genre in English and American Literature since 1945

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Ann Swinfen

In Defence of Fantasy

A Study of the Genre in English and American Literature since 1945

Ann Swinfen

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English

Routledge
18 October 2019

Literary theory; Literary studies: from c 1900 -; Children's literature studies: general; Science fiction

Series: Routledge Library Editions: Modern Fiction

The modern fantasy novel might hardly seem to need a defence, but its position in contemporary literature in the 1980s was still rather ambivalent. Many post-war writers had produced highly successful fantasy novels, some phenomenal publishing successes had occurred in the field, and an increasing number of universities throughout the English-speaking world now included the literary criticism of fantasy as part of their English Literature courses. None the less some critics and academics condemned the whole genre with a passion that seemed less than objectively critical.

In this book, originally published in 1984, Dr Ann Swinfen presents a wide-ranging and comprehensive view of fantasy: what it is, what it tries to achieve, what fundamental differences distinguish it from mainstream realist fiction. She concentrates on the three decades from 1945, when a new generation of writers found that Tolkein had made fantasy ‘respectable’. Her approach is thematic, rather than by individual author, and she brings out the profound moral purpose that underlies much modern fantasy, in a wide range of works, both British and American, such as Russell Hoban’s The Mouse and His Child, C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Trilogy.

By: Ann Swinfen
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Volume: 22
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm,
Weight: 648g
ISBN: 9780367336806
ISBN 10: 0367336804
Series: Routledge Library Editions: Modern Fiction
Pages: 266
Publication Date: 18 October 2019
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgements. Abbreviations. 1. Fantasy and the Marvellous 2. Talking Beasts 3. Worlds in Parallel 4. Secondary Worlds 5. Layers of Meaning 6. Experience Liberated 7. Idealisms: Religious and Philosophic 8. Idealisms: Social and Political 9. The Perilous Realm. Notes. Select Bibliography. Index.

Ann Swinfen