The Cambridge companion to fantasy literature

James, Edward, 1947- (Added Author). Mendlesohn, Farah. (Added Author).

Summary: "Fantasy is a creation of the Enlightenment and the recognition that excitement and wonder can be found in imagining impossible things. From the ghost stories of the Gothic to the zombies and vampires of twenty-first-century popular literature, from Mrs Radcliffe to Ms Rowling, the fantastic has been popular with readers. Since Tolkien and his many imitators, however, it has become a major publishing phenomenon. In this volume, critics and authors of fantasy look at the history of fantasy since the Enlightenment, introduce readers to some of the different codes for the reading and understanding of fantasy and examine some of the many varieties and subgenres of fantasy; from magical realism at the more literary end of the genre, to paranormal romance at the more popular end. The book is edited by the same pair who edited The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (winner of a Hugo Award in 2005)"--

Item details

ISBN: 9780521429597
ISBN: 0521429595
ISBN: 9780521728737
ISBN: 0521728738
Physical Description: print
xxiv, 268 pages ; 24 cm.
Publisher: Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, [2012]
Copyright: ©2012

Contents / Notes

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-261) and index.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction / Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn -- Part I. Histories: 1. Fantasy from Dryden to Dunsany / Gary K. Wolfe; 2. Gothic and horror fiction / Adam Roberts; 3. American fantasy, 1820-1950 / Paul Kincaid; 4. The development of children's fantasy / Maria Nikolajeva; 5. Tolkien, Lewis, and the explosion of genre fantasy / Edward James -- Part II. Ways of Reading: 6. Structuralism / Brian Attebery; 7. Psychoanalysis / Andrew M. Butler; 8. Political readings / Mark Bould and Sherryl Vint; 9. Modernism and postmodernism / Jim Casey; 10. Thematic criticism / Farah Mendlesohn; 11. The languages of the fantastic / Greer Gilman; 12. Reading the fantasy series / Kari Maund; 13. Reading the slipstream / Gregory Frost -- Part III. Clusters: 14. Magical realism / Sharon Sieber; 15. Writers of colour / Nnedi Okorafor; 16. Quest fantasies / W.A. Senior; 17. Urban fantasy / Alexander C. Irvine; 18. Dark fantasy and paranormal romance / Roz Kaveney; 19. Modern children's fantasy Catherine Butler; 20. Historical fantasy / Veronica Schanoes; 21. Fantasies of history and religion / Graham Sleight.