Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information the cambridge companion to fantasy literature 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 lit- erature, 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 its history since the Enlightenment, introduce readers to some of the different codes for the reading and understanding of fantasy, and exam- ine 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 pop- ular end. The book is edited by the same pair who produced The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (winner of a Hugo Award in 2005). A complete list of books in the series is at the back of the book © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO FANTASY LITERATURE EDITED BY EDWARD JAMES AND FARAH MENDLESOHN © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao˜ Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru,UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521728737 c Cambridge University Press 2012 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2012 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data The Cambridge companion to fantasy literature / edited by Edward James, Farah Mendlesohn. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-521-42959-7 – isbn 978-0-521-72873-7 (pbk.) 1. Fantasy literature, English – History and criticism. 2. Fantasy literature, American – History and criticism. 3. Fantasy literature – History and criticism – Theory, etc. 4. Fantasy literature – Appreciation. I. James, Edward, 1947– II. Mendlesohn, Farah. pr149.f35c36 2012 823.0876609 –dc23 2011035585 isbn 978-0-521-42959-7 Hardback isbn 978-0-521-72873-7 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information Dedicated to Diana Wynne Jones 1934–2011 for her critical fictions. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information CONTENTS Note on the contributors page x Chronology xv Introduction 1 edward james and farah mendlesohn part i histories 5 1 Fantasy from Dryden to Dunsany 7 gary k. wolfe 2 Gothic and horror fiction 21 adam roberts 3 American fantasy 1820–1950 36 paul kincaid 4 The development of children’s fantasy 50 maria nikolajeva 5 Tolkien, Lewis and the explosion of genre fantasy 62 edward james part ii ways of reading 79 6 Structuralism 81 brian attebery 7 Psychoanalysis 91 andrew m. butler vii © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information contents 8 Political readings 102 mark bould and sherryl vint 9 Modernism and postmodernism 113 jim casey 10 Thematic criticism 125 farah mendlesohn 11 The languages of the fantastic 134 greer gilman 12 Reading the fantasy series 147 kari maund 13 Reading the slipstream 154 gregory frost part iii clusters 165 14 Magical realism 167 sharon sieber 15 Writers of colour 179 nnedi okorafor 16 Quest fantasies 190 w. a. senior 17 Urban fantasy 200 alexander c. irvine 18 Dark fantasy and paranormal romance 214 roz kaveney 19 Modern children’s fantasy 224 catherine butler 20 Historical fantasy 236 veronica schanoes viii © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information contents 21 Fantasies of history and religion 248 graham sleight Further reading 257 Index 262 ix © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information NOTE ON THE CONTRIBUTORS brian attebery is author of a number of studies of science fiction and fantasy literature, including Strategies of Fantasy (1992)andDecoding Gender in Science Fiction (2002), and currently edits the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.Heis a Professor of English at Idaho State University; he also teaches cello in the ISU music department and is a faculty member in the Graduate Program in Children’s Literature at Hollins University. mark bould is a Reader in Film and Literature at the University of the West of England and a founding editor of Science Fiction Film and Television.Heisthe author of Film Noir: From Berlin to Sin City (2005), The Cinema of John Sayles: Lone Star (2009), and Science Fiction: The Routledge Film Guidebook (2012), co-author of The Routledge Concise History of Science Fiction and co-editor of Parietal Games: Critical Writings By and On M. John Harrison (2005), Red Planets: Marxism and Science Fiction (2009), Neo-noir (2009), The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction (2009)andFifty Key Figures in Science Fiction (2009). He serves on the advisory editorial boards of Extrapolation, Historical Materialism: Research in Critical Marxist Theory, Paradoxa: Studies in World Literary Genres and Science Fiction Studies. andrew m. butler is the co-editor of books on Terry Pratchett, Ken MacLeod and Christopher Priest, and is the author of Pocket Essentials on Philip K. Dick (2000, 2007), Cyberpunk (2000), Terry Pratchett (2001), Film Studies (2002, 2005, 2008)andPostmodernism (2003). With Mark Bould, Adam Roberts and Sherryl Vint he is the co-editor of The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction (2009)andFifty Key Figures in Science Fiction (2009). He is currently co-editing the journal Extrapolation and researching 1970ssf. catherine butler is a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of the West of England, specializing in children’s literature. She is the author of Four British Fantasists (2006) and editor of Teaching Children’s Fiction (2006) and has written numerous articles on children’s authors including Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, Catherine Fisher, Penelope Lively, Gillian Cross and Catherine Storr. She is x © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information note on the contributors currently co-writing a book on the uses of history in children’s books with Hallie O’Donovan. As an author of fiction she has so far produced six novels for children and teenagers, as well as some shorter works. The latest of these, Hand of Blood, was published in 2009. jim casey is an Assistant Professor at High Point University in North Carolina. He received his PhD from the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies at the University of Alabama. Although primarily a Shakespearean, he has published on such diverse topics as textual theory, performance theory, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Battlestar Galactica and the work of comics artist David Mack. gregory frost is the author of seven novels, the most recent being the acclaimed fantasy duology Shadowbridge (2008)andLord Tophet (2008). Others include the World Fantasy Award Finalist Fitcher’s Brides (2002), a recasting of the ‘Blue- beard’ fairy tale. He has worked with fairy and folk tales as well in short stories and in articles, including those covering the eighteenth-century French salons and the history of The 1001 Nights for Realms of Fantasy magazine. Many of his short stories of the fantastic are included in the collection Attack of the Jazz Giants & Other Stories. He is currently one of the fiction writing workshop directors at Swarthmore College, in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; and he has taught at Michigan State, UC San Diego and Temple University.