Fantasy Fiction

3 credits · Undergraduate

(3 hrs Lecture) This course analyzes literary works within the fantasy genre in light of contemporary psychoanalytic, feminist, and/or other cultural theories. While the course considers the history of the genre and the "fantastic" as a literary mode, the course concentrates on contemporary fantasy fiction from J.R.R. Tolkien to the present. Particular emphasis is placed on the poetics and politics of "world-building" in fantasy texts, a term that refers to the production of a vast and complex imaginary world whose historical, geographical, ontological, and cultural realities substantially differ from the world(s) inhabited by fantasy's various readerships. Requisite Courses: 6 credit hours of First-Year English, including ENGL-1001(6) or ENGL-1000(3) [prerequisite(s)].