Why Do People Read Fantasy?
Contemporary Culture
The typical answer is that people are searching for 'escape.' Fantasy represents a retreat from the harsh world of competition and commerce. Another answer is that fantasy provides, like much fiction, a specific kind of wish-fulfillment. Fantasy allows us, for a time, to be the all-conquering warrior or the all-wise sorcerer. The problem is that neither of these answers in any way distinguishes fantasy from other genres of literature. Fantasy offers a very specific kind of escape and wish-fulfillment, one connected to its profound role in the great machine which we call contemporary culture.
Celebration
Fantasy is the celebration of what we no longer are: individuals certain of our meaningfulness in a meaningful world. The wish-fulfillment that distinguishes fantasy from other genres is not to be the all-conquering hero, but to live in a meaningful world. The fact that such worlds are enchanted worlds, worlds steeped in magic, simply demonstrates the severity of our contemporary crisis. 'Magic' is a degraded category in our society; if you believe in magic in this world, you are an irrational flake. And yet magic is all we have in our attempt to recover some vicarious sense of meaningfulness. If fantasy primarily looks back, primarily celebrates those values rendered irrelevant by post-industrial society. One may have faith otherwise, but by definition such faith is not rational. Faith, remember, is belief without reasons.
Primary Expression
Reading fantasy represents the attempt to give meaning to one's life by forgetting, for a time, the world we live in. In the escape offered by fantasy we glimpse the profound dimensions of our modern dilemma. Fantasy is the primary expression of a terrible socio-historical truth: the fundamental implication of our scientific culture is that life is meaningless.
Competitor
If so many religious groups are up in arms about Harry Potter, it is because they see in it a competitor. Fantasy novels can be construed as necessary supplements to the Holy Bible. In a culture antagonistic to meaning, the assertion that life is meaningful is not enough. We crave examples.
http://www.riverrockcritters.com/
The typical answer is that people are searching for 'escape.' Fantasy represents a retreat from the harsh world of competition and commerce. Another answer is that fantasy provides, like much fiction, a specific kind of wish-fulfillment. Fantasy allows us, for a time, to be the all-conquering warrior or the all-wise sorcerer. The problem is that neither of these answers in any way distinguishes fantasy from other genres of literature. Fantasy offers a very specific kind of escape and wish-fulfillment, one connected to its profound role in the great machine which we call contemporary culture.
Celebration
Fantasy is the celebration of what we no longer are: individuals certain of our meaningfulness in a meaningful world. The wish-fulfillment that distinguishes fantasy from other genres is not to be the all-conquering hero, but to live in a meaningful world. The fact that such worlds are enchanted worlds, worlds steeped in magic, simply demonstrates the severity of our contemporary crisis. 'Magic' is a degraded category in our society; if you believe in magic in this world, you are an irrational flake. And yet magic is all we have in our attempt to recover some vicarious sense of meaningfulness. If fantasy primarily looks back, primarily celebrates those values rendered irrelevant by post-industrial society. One may have faith otherwise, but by definition such faith is not rational. Faith, remember, is belief without reasons.
Primary Expression
Reading fantasy represents the attempt to give meaning to one's life by forgetting, for a time, the world we live in. In the escape offered by fantasy we glimpse the profound dimensions of our modern dilemma. Fantasy is the primary expression of a terrible socio-historical truth: the fundamental implication of our scientific culture is that life is meaningless.
Competitor
If so many religious groups are up in arms about Harry Potter, it is because they see in it a competitor. Fantasy novels can be construed as necessary supplements to the Holy Bible. In a culture antagonistic to meaning, the assertion that life is meaningful is not enough. We crave examples.
http://www.riverrockcritters.com/
Labels: culture, fantasy, fantasy rocks, magic
posted by Social Circle Media @ 9:05 PM
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