Fantasy [electronic resource] : the literature of subversion / Rosemary Jackson.

By:

Jackson, Rosemary

Material type: Text

TextSeries: New accents (Routledge (Firm))Publication details: London : Routledge, 1998, c1981.Description: x, 211 pISBN:

9780203130391 (ebook : PDF)
9781032296395

Subject(s):

Additional physical formats: No titleDDC classification:

809.391 JAC

Also available in print edition.

Contents:

1 INTRODUCTION, Part One: Theory, 2 THE FANTASTIC AS A MODE, The imagination in exile, The ‘real’ under scrutiny, The marvellous, mimetic and fantastic, Non-signification, Topography, themes, myths, 3 PSYCHOANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVES, The uncanny, Metamorphosis and entropy, Disintegrated bodies, Part Two: Texts 4 GOTHIC TALES AND NOVELS 5 FANTASTIC REALISM 6 VICTORIAN FANTASIES 7 FROM KAFKA’S ‘METAMORPHOSIS’ TO PYNCHON’S ‘ENTROPY’ 8 AFTERWORD: THE ‘UNSEEN’ OF CULTURE

Summary: This study argues against vague interpretations of fantasy as mere escapism and seeks to define it as a distinct kind of narrative. A general theoretical section introduces recent work on fantasy, notably Tzventan Todorov's The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre (1973). Dr Jackson, however, extends Todorov's ideas to include aspects of psychoanalytical theory. Seeing fantasy as primarily an expression of unconscious drives, she stresses the importance of the writings of Freud and subsequent theorists when analysing recurrent themes, such as doubling or multiplying selves, mirror images, metamorphosis and bodily disintegration.^l Gothic fiction, classic Victorian fantasies, the 'fantastic realism' of Dickens and Dostoevsky, tales by Mary Shelley, James Hogg, E.T.A. Hoffmann, George Eliot, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, R.L. Stevenson, Franz Kafka, Mervyn Peake and Thomas Pynchon are among the texts covered. Through a reading of these frequently disquieting works, Dr Jackson moves towards a definition of fantasy expressing cultural unease. These issues are discussed in relation to a wide range of fantasies with varying images of desire and disenchantment.

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Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode
General Books	CUTN Central Library Literature	809.391 JAC (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		47423

First published 1981 by Methuen; reprinted 1998 by Routledge.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [181]-205) and indexes.

Online version restricted to NUS staff and students only through NUSNET.

This study argues against vague interpretations of fantasy as mere escapism and seeks to define it as a distinct kind of narrative. A general theoretical section introduces recent work on fantasy, notably Tzventan Todorov's The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre (1973). Dr Jackson, however, extends Todorov's ideas to include aspects of psychoanalytical theory. Seeing fantasy as primarily an expression of unconscious drives, she stresses the importance of the writings of Freud and subsequent theorists when analysing recurrent themes, such as doubling or multiplying selves, mirror images, metamorphosis and bodily disintegration.^l Gothic fiction, classic Victorian fantasies, the 'fantastic realism' of Dickens and Dostoevsky, tales by Mary Shelley, James Hogg, E.T.A. Hoffmann, George Eliot, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, R.L. Stevenson, Franz Kafka, Mervyn Peake and Thomas Pynchon are among the texts covered. Through a reading of these frequently disquieting works, Dr Jackson moves towards a definition of fantasy expressing cultural unease. These issues are discussed in relation to a wide range of fantasies with varying images of desire and disenchantment.