The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature [Hardcover]

This is the first introduction to the whole field of modern fantasy literature in the English-speaking world.Since Tolkien, Pratchett, Rowling, Pullman and Meyer, fantasy literature has become one of the most popular genres in the English-speaking world. This book puts this publishing phenomenon in a historical context, suggests different ways of reading and appreciating this literature, and examines some of its varieties and subgenres.Since Tolkien, Pratchett, Rowling, Pullman and Meyer, fantasy literature has become one of the most popular genres in the English-speaking world. This book puts this publishing phenomenon in a historical context, suggests different ways of reading and appreciating this literature, and examines some of its varieties and subgenres.Fantasy is a creation of the Enlightenment and the recognition that excitement and wonder can be found in imagining impossible things. From the ghost stories of the Gothic to the zombies and vampires of twenty-first-century popular literature, from Mrs Radcliffe to Ms Rowling, the fantastic has been popular with readers. Since Tolkien and his many imitators, however, it has become a major publishing phenomenon. In this volume, critics and authors of fantasy look at the history of fantasy since the Enlightenment, introduce readers to some of the different codes for the reading and understanding of fantasy and examine some of the many varieties and subgenres of fantasy; from magical realism at the more literary end of the genre, to paranormal romance at the more popular end. The book is edited by the same pair who edited The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (winner of a Hugo Award in 2005).Introduction Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn; Part I. Histories: 1. Fantasy from Dryden to Dunsany Gary K. Wolfe; 2. Gothic and horror fiction Adam Roberts; 3. American fantasy, 18201950 Paul Kincaid; 4. The development of children's fantasy Maria Nikolajeva; 5. Tolkien, Lewis, and the explosion of genre fantasy Edwarl(