As If
Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality
Published on 9. January 2012
294 pages
978-0-19-971125-3 (ISBN)
Description
Many people throughout the world "inhabit" imaginary worlds communally and persistently, parsing Harry Potter and exploring online universes. These activities might seem irresponsibly escapist, but history tells another story. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, when Sherlock Holmes became the world's first "virtual reality" character, readers began to colonize imaginary worlds, debating serious issues and viewing reality in provisional, "as if" terms rather than through essentialist, "just so" perspectives. From Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and Tolkien's Middle-earth to the World of Warcraft and Second Life, As If provides a cultural history that reveals how we can remain enchanted but not deluded in an age where fantasy and reality increasingly intertwine.
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01/2012
Oxford University Press Inc
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Oxford University Press Inc
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Person
Michael Saler is Professor of History at the University of California, Davis.
Content
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part One: Contexts
Chapter One: Living In the Imagination
Chapter Two: Delight without Delusion: The New Romance, Spectacular Texts, and Public Spheres
Part Two: Cases
Chapter Three: Clap If You Believe in Sherlock Holmes: Arthur Conan Doyle and Animistic Reason
Chapter Four: From "Virtual Unreality" to Virtual Reality: H.P. Lovecraft and Public Spheres of the Imagination
Chapter Five: The Middle Positions of Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and Fictionalism
Envoi
Bibliography
Index
