Week 4: Fantasy

How is science fiction different from fantasy, according to Le Guin?
What are some archetypes (e.g. common character types)of fantasy fiction?

After reading Le Guin's open letter about Plausibility in Fantasy, I realised the letter is more about creating a plausible world in fantasy than it is a comment on the differences between fantasy and science fiction. I think what she says about plausibility is also incredibly valid for science fiction writers.

She says several fascinating things. She refers to Tolkien's immense skill in world creation: "Tolkien's references to places, people, events (often of long ago) that are not part of the immediate story: these give the reader a conviction of the reality of the immediate scene - because it is shown to be part of a much greater landscape, a long history, a whole world of which it is only a glimpse." I found Tolkien to be the best example of this, even to a detriment of actual readability. It might come as no surprise that he worked at the Oxford English Dictionary, delving into the history and etymology of words of Germanic origin beginning with the letter W. A very dry topic for some, but I'm sure it helped him create the language of the elves.

Tolkien's worlds are incredibly fully realised, with a rich history behind every place in that world. He also somewhat created several fantasy archetypes. The characters may have existed before, but Tolkien made them much more popular. The tall, fair Elf with the bow, the stout, grumpy Dwarf with the Axe, the wise, old wizard with the staff, and the earthy, strong human with the sword. These archetypes have led to all sorts of variations in later works. For example, the game 'Shadowrun' is a cyberpunk version utilising these sorts of characters. There are humans, orks, trolls, dwarves, and dragons which show similar traits to Tolkien's archetypes.

According to Jungian Archetypes, the main five are:
-The Self, which represents the ideal of one's self.
-The Shadow, which represents the hidden darkness within one's self.
-The Anima, which represents what femininity truly embodies within mankind.
-The Animus, which represents the masculinity within that equation.
-The Persona, which represents the mask we show to the world, not the true self.

All five of these are regularly shown throughout fantasy fiction. For example, in Earthsea, the shadow manifests very literally as a shadow. The Shadow represents all that is wrong with Ged, and what he must conquer within himself. In the movie, it is shown as Ged having to stop running, and to face his fears.

In terms of fantasy vs. science-fiction, there aren't necessarily too many differences actually. The main difference is that fantasy is usually magic based, and doesn't delve too deeply into scientific themes or methods. Therefore it can be difficult to distinguish between the two sometimes. Again, Shadowrun is an example of this as it is basically throwing Tolkien's world into a scientifically advanced Earth in 2074. There is much politics dwelling on strengths of technology and business. For instance, some of the dragons are the largest powers in the world, as they own the largest corporations.

The differences between fantasy and science-fiction can indeed be hard to decipher. It is a muddy line between the two.