Questing Feminism: Narrative Tensions and Magical Women in Modern Fantasy
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University of Rhode Island DigitalCommons@URI Open Access Dissertations 2018 Questing Feminism: Narrative Tensions and Magical Women in Modern Fantasy Kimberly Wickham University of Rhode Island, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss Recommended Citation Wickham, Kimberly, "Questing Feminism: Narrative Tensions and Magical Women in Modern Fantasy" (2018). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 716. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/716 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. QUESTING FEMINISM: NARRATIVE TENSIONS AND MAGICAL WOMEN IN MODERN FANTASY BY KIMBERLY WICKHAM A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 2018 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DISSERTATION OF KIMBERLY WICKHAM APPROVED: Dissertation Committee: Major Professor Naomi Mandel Carolyn Betensky Robert Widell Nasser H. Zawia DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 2018 Abstract Works of Epic Fantasy often have the reputation of being formulaic, conservative works that simply replicate the same tired story lines and characters over and over. This assumption prevents Epic Fantasy works from achieving wide critical acceptance resulting in an under-analyzed and under-appreciated genre of literature. While some early works do follow the same narrative path as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Epic Fantasy has long challenged and reworked these narratives and character tropes. That many works of Epic Fantasy choose replicate the patriarchal structures found in our world is disappointing, but it is not an inherent feature of the genre. Other possibilities exist. This study uses the figure of the magical woman—a character found throughout Fantasy literature—to investigate the ways in which works of Epic Fantasy challenge, modify, or discard patriarchal narratives that work to contain powerful magical women characters. In order to investigate the ways in which works of Epic Fantasy are reworking patriarchal narratives and challenging generic conventions, this study first looks to the genre of Epic Fantasy itself, tracing its inauguration as a widely recognizable, marketable genre through the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. In order to investigate new and compelling imaginings of the magical woman, this study analyzes a number of types and approaches to Epic Fantasy including: Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen, Lois McMaster Bujold’s Paladin of Souls, and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy. This study finds that the magical woman, while often powerful in her own right through her access to magic, is often constrained by narrative and generic expectations. It is only when these structures are modified, or discarded, that powerful magical women characters are not subsumed beneath patriarchal narratives. Acknowledgements I would first like to thank Naomi Mandel, whose encouragement and support allowed me to study as an academic a genre of literature I have loved since I was a child. Her enthusiasm and feedback have helped make me a better critic and a better writer. I cannot thank her enough. I would also like to thank Carolyn Betensky and Robert Widell, who have been a part of this process at every stage, and whose questions and suggestions have only made my work stronger. Thank you, too, to John Wyatt and Derek Nikitas for the time they have so willingly given and their generous counsel. I offer sincere thanks to Michelle Caraccia for her indispensable help with deadlines, forms, and the various inner workings of university policy. To Casey Moore, thank you for reading my work throughout graduate school, and to Jenny Slobodian, clearly you deserve thanks as well. To both, you have been truly wonderful friends. Endless thanks goes to my family. To my grandfather who valued education above all else, to my grandmother who loved us all unconditionally, to my father who spent countless hours hunting down obscure Fantasy movies in the 80s and is to blame for my love of the genre in all its forms, to my mom who is proud of everything I do, and finally, to my sisters who have never let me down, I cannot express how much you all mean to me. Finally, to my nieces and nephews, Kenny, Thomas, Eleanor, and Callie, I hope to get you hooked on Harry Potter as soon as possible. iv Table of Contents Abstract. .ii Acknowledgments. iv Table of Contents. v Introduction – Magical Women in Fantasy. .1 Chapter 1 – Epic Fantasy: The Evolution of a Genre. .13 Chapter 2 – “Egwene died”: The Magical Woman as Donor/Helper. .54 Chapter 3 – “Tell me, how good is Tattersail?”: Magical Women in Egalitarian (and Not-So-Egalitarian) Worlds. .99 Chapter 4 – “Roads were made for young men”: The Magical Woman as Questing Female Hero. .147 Chapter 5 – “I paint a picture”: Postcolonial Fantasy and The Magical Woman. .200 Conclusion – “Roads go ever on”: The Future Possibilities of Epic Fantasy. .240 BIBLIOGRAPHY. .245 v Introduction Magical Women in Fantasy “Never put your faith in a Prince. When you require a miracle, trust in a Witch” (Valente 2006: 134). “Reading fantasy is what the cool kids do once again” (Smith 2015) Fantasy recalls our desire for wonder, for epic narratives, for imagining alternatives and looking at the world anew through a confrontation with human concerns on a grander scale. Fantasy also offers a chance to imagine a world almost without limits, where authors can experiment with different social, gender, and political relationships. The secondary worlds of Fantasy can have magic, and dragons, and wizards, but Fantasy is not so divorced from the mundane world that it does not engage with issues that exist in the “real world.” This study looks to Epic Fantasy to explore and comment on myriad issues, in particular patriarchal narratives that are enacted through the character of the magical woman. This character, and the ways in which her narrative unfolds within Fantasy works, highlights how patriarchal narratives influence not only the genre as a whole but also specific character types. The magical woman, whether she is witch, sorceress, mage, shapeshifter, shaman, oracle, or seer, is an archetype seen throughout literatures, but appears with regularity in Fantasy. And as Fantasy works present newly imagined magical women characters, by challenging or deconstructing traditional tropes and proposing alternatives, they are often at odds with generic expectations and thus demand new narrative approaches. If these new approaches are not enacted, the tension that arises between the figure of the magical woman and narrative expectations is resolved at the expense of the magical woman: she is contained within a patriarchal narrative, despite 1 her power. This study makes clear the ways in which works of Epic Fantasy participate in a feminist tradition of re-appropriating and reimagining often conservative genres. When I began this study, I expected to find that when the magical woman was able to access power through magic, this would be the deciding factor in whether or not her character was somehow diminished within the narrative. While I found that this is, in a sense, true—magical women’s access to power through magic would become an important tool for them to challenge patriarchal expectations—the narrative structure of the work played a larger role in her development. When authors modified, played with, or discarded more traditional Fantasy narrative structures, only then could the magical woman fully step out from behind a male hero. Whether this modification is through multiple focalized narrators and egalitarian world-building, a reimagining of the specifics of the hero’s narrative, or an approach to Fantasy that foregrounds the experience of marginalized peoples, it is when these changes are made that magical women are freed from earlier constraints. This is why, though my interest lies in the figure of the magical woman, this study is also largely concerned with narrative structures, character tropes, and generic expectations. I pay close attention to the ways in which these narrative and generic expectations are reimagined by authors, both subtly and strikingly, and the ways in which these structural changes affect the character and agency of the magical woman. Without confronting and modifying, and sometimes rejecting, these structures, fully realized feminist works of Fantasy are not possible. 2 This study relies on a number of theoretical works and approaches. I bring together feminist studies of the female hero, narrative theories on focalization, post- colonial studies, and existing studies on Fantasy, casting a large net in order to fully explore the myriad ways authors are reimagining the magical woman and her place within the Fantasy text. I also look outside of accepted scholarly texts and theories. If familiarity, dedication, and volume of reading can make one an expert, then Fantasy fans are some of the most passionate experts that exist. Many fans of Fantasy read voraciously within the genre, and become extensively involved with different works— looking at the absolute thoroughness of fan wiki sites should be enough to convince anyone of the expertise and dedication of Fantasy fans. And, while Fantasy might have been largely ignored by the academy, it has not been ignored by the fans. Blogs, fan sites, and even Reddit offer numerous insightful, detailed, and yes, scholarly examinations of Fantasy. Fantasy authors also tend to be more involved in the Fantasy community than other authors of different genres. Many give extensive interviews, post articles and think-pieces on their own websites, and write for Fantasy magazines and periodicals.