Graduate Program
English
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Semester of Degree Completion
2013
Thesis Director
Lania Knight
Thesis Committee Member
Melissa Ames
Thesis Committee Member
Jad Smith
Abstract
Kurt Vonnegut says in his novel, Player Piano, "I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center" (84). Laurence Yep, Marie Colleen Cruz, and Kate B. Pollock all argue that fantasy stands as an important vehicle of learning for those who cannot understand reality without taking a step out of it. George Slusser asserts that the "concept of 'reality' [needs] a firm sense of non-reality ( or fantasy) in order to define itself as a distinct entity" (24). This assertion lends credence to the idea that fantasy is necessary, if for nothing else, to define the parameters of reality. This puts fantasy in an interesting position of existing as an unrealistic or improbable supposition, but at the same time, an intrinsic part in understanding our own reality. When used in literature, good fantasy can create a duality of what Roland Barthes calls "readerly" and "writerly" text (x). A readerly text is one in which the reader is a passive observer following a set meaning, whereas the writerly text invites a reader to join in the creation of the text by interpreting meaning from a non-traditional storyline. However, these two concepts of text are intrinsically linked because, like reality and fantasy, one cannot exist without the other. A readerly text only becomes readerly, having the ability to bring readers back to the text for the sheer enjoyment of reading the novel, by first being a writerly text, a text that allows a reader to think and contemplate an idea or moral. Fantasy accomplishes this duality of readerly and writerly, according to John Dean, by being a "form ofliterature in which the imagination is most liberated, in which astonishment outruns reason and the reader is invited both to play truant from the everyday world and to be refreshed by wonder" (149). The fantasy genre allows readers to have a liberated sense of escape from the everyday world, yet, it is this liberated imagination that opens the reader to the possibility of discovering something new. This deceptive idleness or enjoyment allows for fantasy to be an ideal vehicle for the issues of reality that hit too close to home. With this in mind, I strive to utilize the fantasy genre in my creative thesis in order to showcase the psychological issue of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in my main character, Zaria DeKarthan and the sociological issue of slavery in the realms of my fantasy world. One of the main elements of fantasy that I employ in my work is the use of a parallel universe, which is to say, a universe or world that is different from our own universe/world. The placement of the story into a world different than our own brings with it the ability to put PTSD and slavery in sharper clarity because of its foreign surroundings. Placed in a setting where most aspects are improbable and unrealistic, issues of reality can become more pronounced and central to the story being told without overwhelming the reader with reminders of real world problems. They are invited to "play truant" from reality, yet they are experiencing that reality through the characters and stories of the fantasy nonetheless.
Recommended Citation
Wohltman, Heather, "Fantasy's weight: A tale of Zaria DeKarthan" (2013). Masters Theses. 1227.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/1227
