Week 3-4: Fantasy [Julie]

Can you identify any common fantasy meta-narratives from your own reading/viewing?

A common meta-narrative I’ve found from my own viewing and reading of the fantasy genre are the decline of the environment and humanity which are in the brink of destruction. It seems like a very popular concept especially because how relevant it is to our current society.

In The Tales from Earthsea, an adaptation of Le Guin’s Earthsea series done by Ghibli, it tells us of a heroic story but underneath all that is a tale of lands in ruins rife with poverty and immorality. Scarcity of resources spawned chaos and injustice. People are taken to doing drugs to ease their suffering from the world and human lives are bought and sold like things.


Nature has lost its balance and up to humans to fix what they broke. If they can.

Also, an anime I’ve been watching recently aptly named ‘Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (Humanity has Declined)’ has the same meta-narrative. The narrative is in contrast to the tempo Earthsea, using dark humor.

This anime depicts tiny fairies as creatures with superior technology, insatiable love for sweets and self obsessed with taste for consumer products. They breed at incredible rate when together but can be literally controlled by simply putting them away in a boxes with divisions. The fairies have very little regard of knowledge and morality. In any case, it’s clear to see that these fairies are us, the humans. The little adorable fairies are humanity’s descendants.

The perpetually smiling fairies were shown in the first episode discussing what would happen if resources run out.



Ultimately, it doesn’t seem like anything has changed since the time Le Guin wrote her stories. We still continue to go down the same path no matter how many years pass. We’ll always head towards ruin and we can only hope that we become adorable fairies in the end.

Christianity and Fantasy

Growing up, I have always been nrought up with Christian beliefs, as a small child I went to Kids church every Sunday and knew nothing else. From the age of about 12 I stopped going to church but still have a belief in god. I personally am not against fantasy but as a small child my mum never approved of it. I never had books with witches in them as mum tried to keep that kind of thing away from me. Although, I was allowed to pretend to be a magician, after all it's completely harmless pretending to make a ball dissapear and it drops out of my sleeve or from wherever I'm attempting to hide it. Halloween was also another thing that my mum never encouraged, the one year I did do it I dressed up a princess. In all honesty I have always been a bit of a wuss when it comes to scary things, i easily get frights with scary movies and simply have no desire to watch them. When Harry Potter came out, I watched it like very other kid simply because it was the 'cool' thing to do, I have never been against it I just never found a passion for it like so many others. So I think my mum's christian influence and thoughts against witch craft and things similar effected me so much as a child that I just have no desire for those types of books or movies. Like I said I personally have no problem, in all honesty I can watch most things but it doesnt mean I thoroughly enjoy it.

Week 4 - Che Crawford - Fantasy

What are some archetypes of fantasy fiction?

The Hero

The most well known of fantasy archetypes is of course - The Hero. In the Earthsea Saga, our hero is Ged. There are two types of main hero, innocent and dangerous. The innocent one doesn’t know how he got into the action, but does his best to learn and overcome it. The dangerous hero is usually older and more experienced, and set out on their own quests.

Our hero is the innocent type.

Both types of hero can also appear as lesser characters. In our book - Vetch.

The Guide/Mentor

Guides in fantasy are skillful warriors or powerful magic users. Their job is, like their name states, to guide our hero on his journey. In Earthsea, this role is played party by some of the mages and Archmages at Roke Island. But the main Guide is predominantly Ogion, who heals Dunny with one touch, and later guides him as Ged in dealing with the shadow, leading Ged to recognise; “I have walked with great wizards and lived on the Isle of the Wise, but you are my true master Ogion.”

The Good/Bad Guy

The good/bad guy was once the brightest and the best, but is tempted to do evil. He is usually someone that is closely connected to the hero or guide, and will often turn good again at the end right before he dies, saving the hero’s life.

I think in Earthsea, that our hero actually fits into this archetype very well. Conceited, and egged on by Jasper, Ged is tempted to do something Ogion specifically banned him from doing unless he is in peril of his power or life, and as a result, Ged brings forth the shadow. Ged is so changed by this event that he goes back to ‘good’ and actively works to get rid of it.

Structure of Fantasy - A Hero’s Journey

1. THE ORDINARY WORLD.

Dunny is one of many children, who after losing his mother is looked after a bare minimum by his Aunt, the village witch. As her sister’s son, he meant nothing to her.

2. THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.

Dunny yells a rhyme aloud and the goats come to him. His Aunt recognises he is magic and trains him the best she can. Savage people attack their village, Dunny protects them with mist.

3. REFUSAL OF THE CALL.

This usually comes early in a fantasy story, but Ged has always been an eager character, plowing forward. The only time I can think of him refusing the call is when he runs and runs from the shadow.

4. MEETING WITH THE MENTOR.

Ogion comes to see and heal Dunny, and gives Dunny his truename - Ged. He then takes Ged to his home to train him.

5. CROSSING THE THRESHOLD.

Ged goes with Ogion. And then goes to the Island of Roke.

6. TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES.

Ged meets the daughter of an enchantress. Ged meets Jasper and Vetch.

7. APPROACH.

Ged goes to school, where him and the other boys learn different branches of magic.

8. THE ORDEAL.

Ged summons the shadow. This changes him. He becomes less arrogant, and focuses on working hard.

This also happens when he faces the dragon. Ged chooses to help people rather then save himself by learning the name of the shadow.

9. THE REWARD.

Ged earns his mage staff.

10. THE ROAD BACK.

Ged finds his way back to Ogion, who offers him advice - chase the shadow. Vetch travels with him and together they go to face it.

11. THE RESURRECTION.

Ged faces and defeats the shadow.

12. RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.

Ged and Vetch make their way back to Yarrow - Vetches sister (and I hope Ged’s soon to be love interest haha, but I have to read the rest of the books).

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.

Isaac Week 3-4, Fantasy

How is science fiction different from fantasy, according to Le Guinn


Science fiction tends to avoid the present day, and instead creates the idea of 'the future' as the present, past, or actual future. This is because the creation of 'the future' is a creation of a blank page, in which fact and possibility can be plausibly meddled with. Sci-fi usually stays away from the actual present, thus avoiding problems such as factuality, and becoming laughable, or nonsense.

"In general, science fiction proceeds just as realistic fiction does, meeting conventional expectations of how people generally act, and either avoiding events that will strike the reader as improbable, or plausibly explaining them. Realism and science fiction both employ plausibility to win the reader's consent to the fiction." (Le Guinn, 2005)

Fantasy tends not to bat around the bush, and pretend that it's story actually happened.

"[Fantasies] invention is radical. With the informed consent of the reader, fantasy deliberately violates plausibility in the sense of congruence with the world outside the story." (Le Guinn, 2005)

Though more realistic details are usually kept for smaller aspects of the story, such as human behaviour and emotion, regardless whether the characters are human or not.

"What constitutes plausibility in fantasy is the coherence of the story, its consistent self-reference." (Le Guinn, 2005)
The completely fictionalized world must remain consistent within its own creation and continually back itself up.

Week 3 And 4: Fantasy

What are some archetypes (e.g. common character types)of fantasy fiction?

Fantasy Fiction is a very wide and popular genre. Fantasy fiction spreads across numerous generations and appeals to just about any person of any age, gender or race. Despite the wide appeal of the fantasy fiction genre, I couldn't help but notice that several texts (whether it be books, movies or even video games) have similar archetypal characters that have been prevalent in many famous pieces of work. 

One of the most common archetypes in Fantasy Fiction is the inclusion of the "Wise Old Man" or mentor type character. This person is always old and depicted as wiser than the clueless protagonist. If there were perfect examples of similar characters than A Wizard of  Earthsea and the Star Wars saga provides many different characters that often have the same characteristics, mannerisms and even appearances.  

Wise Old Man

Obi Wan Kenobi - Star Wars

Ogion - Earthsea

The Earthsea mini series from 2004 obviously looked at 1977's Star Wars: A New Hope as an obvious inspiration to the appearance of Ogion. Both have brown drab-looking brown robes, a white beard and very powerful. Ogion is a powerful wizard while Obi Wan Kenobi is a Jedi Knight. Both characters are crucial to the protagonist's journey to become more than the average boy they were at the beginning of the story. Once Ged from Earthsea save his village from getting slaughtered by a group of Karg riders. Ogion realizes Ged's power and wants him to be trained.

Obi Wan did a similar action when C3-PO and R2-D2 landed in Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine. Little did Luke Skywalker know was that the two robots came off of Princess Leia's ship. He talks to Obi Wan about the message R2-D2 received which prompts Obi Wan to train Luke Skywalker to be a Jedi. Obi Wan feels that only Luke Skywalker is powerful enough to take down The Emperor and Darth Vader's tyranny.

The Hero
  
Ged  - Earthsea

 Luke Skywalker - Star Wars 

Physical similarities are obvious although Ged was depicted as having red skin in the books and not a prissy blonde boy like in Sy Fy Channel's mini series which is played by Shawn Ashmore. However, both characters are nothing special at the beginning of their journey as Ged is a Blacksmith living with his father while Luke Skywalker is a farm boy living with his Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. Ged's mother is dead while Luke Skywalker's mother died at birth while he thinks his father died during a battle with Darth Vader.

Both characters do rash and immature decisions that danger themselves and puts them into more danger. Ged's impatience makes Ogion send the boy to the School of Wizards in the Island of Roke. From there, Ged tries to resurrect a spirit from the dead and this has dire consequences. He releases his own evil spirit.

Luke Skywalker irrationally fought Darth Vader at the end of The Empire Strikes Back (1980) before his Jedi training with Yoda was complete. Many of you will already know this is the scene where Luke gets his hand chopped off by Darth Vader's lightsaber and Darth Vader says "I am your FATHER".

In the end of both tales, Ged realizes the shadow he released is his own "evil" side. The two beings become one after Ged names him "Ged". As for Luke Skywalker, his journey became complete after convincing Darth Vader can become "good" again. Darth Vader becomes Anakin Skywalker again for a brief moment before he passes away.

References:

Hallmark Entertainment. (Producer) (2004, December 13) Earthsea [Television Broadcast] United States. The Sci Fi Channel

Kurtz, G. (Producer) & Lucas, G. (Director).  (1977). Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope [Motion Picture]. United States. 20th Century Fox

Kurtz, G. (Producer) & Kershner, I. (Director). (1980) The Empire Strikes Back [Motion Pictures]. United States. 20th Century Fox

Le Guinn, U. (1993; 1968). A Wizard of Earthsea. In The Earthsea Quartet  (pp.13-167). London: Penguin.

Fantasy week 4

How does Tolkien define fantasy?

Tolkien uses a variety of explanations to describe his definition of fantasy. Imagination is at the forefront of what fantasy is created from. Tolkien states “the power of giving to ideal creations the inner consistency of reality” (p44) His fantasy ideally comes from nature and he uses elements of nature within his themes. An example of this is in The Lord of the Rings with the battle of Isengard when the trees of Fangorn rise up against Isengard. Isengard used to be a forested area but had been turned into the representation of what we know as an industrial area. Within this there were blacksmiths, forgers and the like who were preparing and breeding Orcs for war. In the fantasy, the race of trees, the Ents fought back against the Orcs as a representation of nature’s beauty overpowering the advantages of technology.

Tolkien speaks of the mind of fantasy being able to change what was once thought, into something magical. The example he uses is making things that are heavy, light or able to fly. Making yellow gold from grey lead and something that is still like a rock into something moving like the water. These images in the mind come from a place of imagination that flows into a space of fantasy. These notions of Tolkiens could perhaps identify him with the Romantics who were at the time that science and technology were advancing and rising and talked of the alternative view of nature, having everything that is needed and provided a more romantic ideology.

Tolkien did not believe that everything in fantasy had to be wholesome or even beautiful. He saw fantasy as a “natural human activity” one that does not have to defy reason or obscure scientific fact. Because Tolkien studied and understood languages and mythology he was able to make his fantasy so real to those who read it that at times the line between fantasy and reality was hard to see. He believed that by creating a secondary world the writer needs to have it flowing from reality.

Tolkien talked of the difference between folklore and mythology. He sees the beginning of fantasy coming from nature-myths as a way of people explaining what was going on as at that time they didn’t have the science and technology to explain it as we do today. These nature-myths became localised and humanized with heroes and in turn became folk tales, myths and legends. An example of this is how the ancient Greeks told of Apollo drawing the sun across the sky in a chariot and more localised of Maui fishing the Islands of Aotearoa from the sea.