Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2017 The Laws of Fantasy Remix Matthew J. Dauphin Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE LAWS OF FANTASY REMIX By MATTHEW J. DAUPHIN A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Matthew J. Dauphin defended this dissertation on March 29, 2017. The members of the supervisory committee were: Barry Faulk Professor Directing Dissertation Donna Marie Nudd University Representative Trinyan Mariano Committee Member Christina Parker-Flynn Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii To every teacher along my path who believed in me, encouraged me to reach for more, and withheld judgment when I failed, so I would not fear to try again. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ v 1. AN INTRODUCTION TO FANTASY REMIX ...................................................................... 1 Fantasy Remix as a Technique of Resistance, Subversion, and Conformity ......................... 9 Morality, Justice, and the Symbols of Law: Abstract Ideals in the Fantasy Remix ............. 21 Evil Is as Evil Does: Immanent Causality in the Fantasy Remix ......................................... 23 Tale as Old as Time: Temporality in the Fantasy Remix ..................................................... 24 2. MORALITY, JUSTICE, AND THE SYMBOLS OF LAW: ABSTRACT IDEALS IN THE FANTASY REMIX ................................................................................................................. 27 Moral Codes and the Problem of Hypocrisy ........................................................................ 35 The Symbolic Power of Law ................................................................................................ 42 Corruption and the Limitations of Law and Justice ............................................................. 47 The Redemptive Power of Abstract Morality ...................................................................... 55 3. EVIL IS AS EVIL DOES: IMMANENT CAUSALITY IN THE FANTASY REMIX .......... 61 Speculative Racism .............................................................................................................. 66 Essentialism in Race and Racism ...................................................................................... 67 Race in the Speculative Fiction Text ................................................................................. 71 Speculative Racism and Immanent Causality in Grimm ...................................................... 83 Biology, Culture, and the Choice of Humanity ................................................................. 84 Defying Expectations and the Exceptional Grimm ........................................................... 93 4. TALE AS OLD AS TIME: TEMPORALITY IN THE FANTASY REMIX ........................ 104 Temporal Complexity and Cognition ................................................................................. 107 The Narrative Possibilities of Temporal Manipulation ...................................................... 114 Historical Ruptures ............................................................................................................. 133 The Temporal Dimensions of Memory as Identity ............................................................ 142 5. TO BE CONTINUED: A CONCLUSION? ........................................................................... 146 References ................................................................................................................................... 151 Biographical Sketch ..................................................................................................................... 158 iv ABSTRACT This project establishes a critical framework for the examination of a recently emerged trend in speculative fictions texts, which I have dubbed "fantasy remix." Through close examination of two exemplary texts that exhibit the characteristics of fantasy remix, Once Upon a Time and Grimm, I establish a method by which fantasy remix can be identified and examined for its strength as a tool of resistance, subversion, and conformity. There are three major characteristics of the technique that can be used to identify most fantasy remix texts: 1) the incorporation and adaptation of multiple pre-existing fantastic characters, plots, and motifs, such as from fairy tales, folklore, or mythology; 2) the juxtaposition of these fantasy elements with contemporary culture and/or settings; and 3) an emphasis on narrative and/or structural temporal complexity. Fantasy remix texts displaying these characteristics make liberal use of speculative fiction's tendency to subvert reality and to enable its consumers to resist the sometimes- overwhelming bombardment of cultural ideology that suffuses the real world. The fantasy remix's simultaneous tendency to conform, at least superficially, to the status quo increases its chances of effective subversion and resistance, creating a semi-paradoxical situation in which that which does not fit becomes a source of cultural reflection. This dissertation examines the way the fantasy remix technique helps to dismantle and critique ideological conceptions of morality, law, and justice; immanent causality, especially race and racism; and the temporal order inherent to causality, and thus to our ability to make meaning from the world. Meant as a means to expand speculative fiction scholarship with regard to a specific niche technique, the questions posed by this analysis serve as an example for new ways of approaching the dialectic possibilities of a contemporary culture that creatively cannibalizes its own past. v CHAPTER 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO FANTASY REMIX "No theory that claims universal applicability is worth a damn." —Farah Mendlesohn, Rhetorics of Fantasy The aim of this project is to establish a critical framework for the examination of a recently emerged trend in speculative fictions texts, which I have dubbed "fantasy remix." Through close examination of two exemplary texts that exhibit the characteristics of fantasy remix, I intend to establish a method by which fantasy remix can be identified and examined for its strength as a tool of resistance, subversion, and conformity. As a creative technique, there is a limit to the formal boundaries that might be said to define it; fluidity and variation are embedded in the creative process. Despite this, it is still possible to identify three major characteristics of the technique that can be used to identify most fantasy remix texts: 1) the incorporation and adaptation of multiple pre-existing fantastic characters, plots, and motifs, such as from fairy tales, folklore, or mythology; 2) the juxtaposition of these fantasy elements with contemporary culture and/or settings; and 3) an emphasis on narrative and/or structural temporal complexity. Using these three characteristics first to identify and then to interrogate fantasy remix texts, it becomes possible to understand the cultural work performed by these texts, and especially the way this work differs from that of more traditionally constructed speculative fiction texts. In particular, I find that fantasy remix makes liberal use of speculative fiction's tendency to subvert reality and to enable its consumers to resist the sometimes-overwhelming bombardment of cultural ideology that suffuses the real world. I believe it is through the fantasy remix's 1 simultaneous tendency to conform, at least superficially, to the status quo that it increases its chances of effective subversion and resistance, creating a semi-paradoxical situation in which that which does not fit becomes a source of cultural reflection. Our ability to interrogate our own cultural values from a position of relative comfort, as I will explore throughout this project, enables the fantasy remix to undermine our faith in multiple cultural institutions, not through a targeted and deliberate attack on them, but by deconstructing the notion of faith itself. No institution is more consistently dismantled by this process than our sense of justice as a monolithic and knowable construct. The laws of fantasy remix dictate that what we know of our world and our society is based on a system of blind faith more rooted in fantasy than reality, and so it is through fantasy that we stand the greatest chance of weakening this faith in favor of a more deliberate and conscientious worldview. It is important to note that this project does not recognize fantasy remix as a genre (or sub-genre) in its own right, but rather as a method by which pre-existing genres are manipulated. The incredible similarities observed among many instances of fantasy remix suggest a strong reliance on similar methods of manipulation by authors, artists, and other creators of these texts. As fantasy remix is a technique that can appear in any medium, its analysis necessitates a difficult choice: the more examples examined, the more structural discussion of varying media forms must occur, potentially