The Transcendent Vision of Mythopoeic Fantasy
Published on 4. August 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
232 pages
978-1-4766-8292-1 (ISBN)
Description
An ever-expanding critical library on fantasy fiction requires an analysis of why the genre is so ubiquitous, enduring and beloved. This work analyzes the mythic elements in foundational fantasy texts, arguing that mythopoeic fantasy reveals timeless truths that link human cultures past and present. Through close readings of works like Phantastes, The King of Elfland's Daughter, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, A Wizard of Earthsea, The Neverending Story, A Wrinkle in Time and Out of the Silent Planet, this book explores how mythopoeic fantasy speaks to the deepest concerns of the human heart. It investigates the genre's use of an imagination that is sometimes atrophied by the demands of contemporary life, and explores how fantasy provides restoration, consolation and hope within a cultural context that too often decries such ideas.
Each chapter focuses on a representative text, providing author background and engaging relevant scholarship on a variety of relevant thematic issues. Offering new insights on these classic texts by drawing upon post-secular critical approaches, this work is suitable for both new and seasoned students of fantasy.
Each chapter focuses on a representative text, providing author background and engaging relevant scholarship on a variety of relevant thematic issues. Offering new insights on these classic texts by drawing upon post-secular critical approaches, this work is suitable for both new and seasoned students of fantasy.
Reviews / Votes
"The interpretation of fantasy as an 'anti-reductionist' form of literature is insightful and important, and its application to the chosen examples is convincing and often elucidates them in ways that seem to me to get at the heart of what they truly are and why they are valuable."-Donald T. Williams, professor emeritus, Toccoa Falls College "This thought-provoking book offers a full course of study in well-chosen works of Mythopoeia, including those of MacDonald, Tolkien, and Lewis, but also of writers with surprising affinities like Le Guin, L'Engle, Ende, and Dunsany, whose works certainly benefit from Hogsette's analysis through a lens of faith. With a wealth of keen insights, Hogsette argues for the serious study of Fantasy Literature based on its longevity, diversity, and power to remind readers of intangible truths. He also explores how these writers ingeniously handle themes of sacrificial love, moral choice, or the role of the supernatural within the natural cosmos. Reading this book has blessed me with startling new spiritual connections not only within fantasy classics like Phantastes, but also between it and much newer works."-Jonathan B. Himes, Ph.D., professor of English, John Brown UniversityMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Jefferson, NC
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
notes, bibliography, index
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
387 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4766-8292-1 (9781476682921)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
David S. Hogsette is a professor of English and the executive director of the School of English Studies at Wenzhou-Kean University, Wenzhou, China, where he teaches a variety of courses on literature and literary research. He has published articles in Studies in Romanticism, Critique and Christianity and Literature.
Content
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. George MacDonald's Phantastes: The Redemptive Imagination and the Quest for Sacrificial Love
Chapter 2. Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter: Clashing Worldviews and Recovering Communion through Sacrificial Love
Chapter 3. J.R.R. Tol-kien's The Fellowship of the Ring: Understanding Good, Evil, Friendship, and Free Will
Chapter 4. C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Fantasy as Evangelium and Apologia
Chapter 5. Michael Ende's The Neverending Story: Quenching Nihilistic Despair and Filling Postmodern Spiritual Voids with the Water of Life
Chapter 6. Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea: Ethical Complexities in Dualistic Mythopoeic Fantasy
Chapter 7. Fantasy SF: Galactic Quests and the Mythopoeic Struggle for Intergalactic Good in A Wrinkle in Time and Out of the Silent Planet
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. George MacDonald's Phantastes: The Redemptive Imagination and the Quest for Sacrificial Love
Chapter 2. Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter: Clashing Worldviews and Recovering Communion through Sacrificial Love
Chapter 3. J.R.R. Tol-kien's The Fellowship of the Ring: Understanding Good, Evil, Friendship, and Free Will
Chapter 4. C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Fantasy as Evangelium and Apologia
Chapter 5. Michael Ende's The Neverending Story: Quenching Nihilistic Despair and Filling Postmodern Spiritual Voids with the Water of Life
Chapter 6. Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea: Ethical Complexities in Dualistic Mythopoeic Fantasy
Chapter 7. Fantasy SF: Galactic Quests and the Mythopoeic Struggle for Intergalactic Good in A Wrinkle in Time and Out of the Silent Planet
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index