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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Beyond All Worlds: George Macdonald, The Pre-Tolkienians, And The Forgotten Possibilities Of Fantasy, Ethan Patrick Stevens
Beyond All Worlds: George Macdonald, The Pre-Tolkienians, And The Forgotten Possibilities Of Fantasy, Ethan Patrick Stevens
Masters Theses
The history of modern fantasy has been powerfully shaped by the worldbuilding paradigm so successfully executed in J.R.R. Tolkien's 1954-55 trilogy The Lord of the Rings. However, there were nearly a hundred and fifty years of creative work between the birth of fantasy as a genre and Tolkien’s publication of The Lord of the Rings. By examining the pre-Tolkienian fantasists, we find that Tolkien's way of exhaustive consistency was not, and is not, the only way to write fantasy. Phantastes (1858), the first novel by the influential Victorian fantasist George MacDonald, defies contemporary worldbuilding standards almost constantly in …
Finding Faith Within The Fantasy: Helping Middle Graders Conquer Foes And Fears, Joy Johnson-Summerville
Finding Faith Within The Fantasy: Helping Middle Graders Conquer Foes And Fears, Joy Johnson-Summerville
Masters Theses
The Balance of Time is a work of middle grade fantasy that explores the struggles of children in the world today. It was written with the intent to help all children understand the world and the people around them. The story follows a pre-teen protagonist as she navigates familial relationships, loss, and a world in chaos. Along with her siblings, she finds herself in a position to restore a sense of balance in her own life and in the world. The critical review, “Finding Faith Within the Fantasy: Helping Middle Graders Conquer Foes and Fears,” examines previous works of middle …
David Lindsay's A Voyage To Arcturus: An Anti-Fantasy, Bryan Wysopal
David Lindsay's A Voyage To Arcturus: An Anti-Fantasy, Bryan Wysopal
Masters Theses
This is a study of David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus (1920) in which I argue that the novel is an anti-fantasy, that is, a fantasy that negates certain tropes common to the genre as part of the author’s wider intentions for writing. I contextualize Lindsay by comparing him to several authors of his time who also worked in the mode of fantasy, then explain how the generic traits of the novel are handled unconventionally to promote Lindsay’s personal philosophy. I explore Lindsay’s treatment of the basic generic traits of the hero and his quest, the imaginary world, and …