How is science fiction different from fantasy,
according to Le Guinn ( http://www.ursulakleguin.com/PlausibilityRevisited.html)?
The genre we studied this week is fantasy fiction.
According to Le Guinn (2005), "the story is not what happened. Fiction didn't happen."
The genre we studied this week is fantasy fiction.
According to Le Guinn (2005), "the story is not what happened. Fiction didn't happen."
Le Guinn (2005) defines, “Most science fiction pretends that the future is the present or the past, and then tells us what happened in it.” Furthermore he says, “It often said that science fiction is modern mythology." Later, he talks about the gothic horror fiction Frankenstein, " In the case of the rare science-fictional creation with archetypal power, such as Shelley’s Frankenstein, this becomes an arguable statement, but it general I think it’s meaningless. Myth, legend, and folktale are ancestral to, not forms of, modern fiction.”
“The wizard of Earthsea” reminded me of Harry Potter. They have many similarities; for example, they both have the magicians, magic school, evils, this is because they came from Northern Europe mythology.
It deals with evils demonstrating humans’ internal conflicts.
An evil person and dragon was drawn to exteriorize the evil and shadow. The topic is the fight between the hero and the shadow/hero.
Ged doesn't have a physical object like a ring like "the lord of the ring" but he left the island. It shows the first step “Ordinary world" to "special world" from 12 steps "The hero's journey" story archetypes.
“Crossing first Threshold” is an important step. For protagonist, request is a burden.
Ged chose power over some goats. This is how it works - the very beginning step of fantasy fiction.
Le Guinn (2005) describes about fantasy genre as well, “Fantasy is far more direct in its fictionality than either realism or science fiction.” Contrasting genres from Fantasy fiction are science fiction, escape fiction and surreal fiction.
“The wizard of Earthsea” reminded me of Harry Potter. They have many similarities; for example, they both have the magicians, magic school, evils, this is because they came from Northern Europe mythology.
It deals with evils demonstrating humans’ internal conflicts.
An evil person and dragon was drawn to exteriorize the evil and shadow. The topic is the fight between the hero and the shadow/hero.
Ged doesn't have a physical object like a ring like "the lord of the ring" but he left the island. It shows the first step “Ordinary world" to "special world" from 12 steps "The hero's journey" story archetypes.
“Crossing first Threshold” is an important step. For protagonist, request is a burden.
Ged chose power over some goats. This is how it works - the very beginning step of fantasy fiction.
Le Guinn (2005) describes about fantasy genre as well, “Fantasy is far more direct in its fictionality than either realism or science fiction.” Contrasting genres from Fantasy fiction are science fiction, escape fiction and surreal fiction.
Reference
Ursula K. Le Guin: Plausibility Revisited -- Wha Hoppen and What Didn't. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ursulakleguin.com/PlausibilityRevisited.html
Ok Elle. You have made some attempt to answer the question, although your answer does drift into a discussion about Vogler at one point. Yes, fiction is more direct and clear about its fictionality - about elements that could never be perceived as real (even in the future). But what about Science Fiction? How is it different?
ReplyDeleteAns (3). How is science fiction different from fantasy, according to Le Guin?
ReplyDeleteHello Elle. I think you have some fair points with regard to this particular question. I also think it is quite interesting that you have pointed out her view on the fiction genre being more direct in comparison to science fiction. I would like to further elaborate on that idea to the best of my knowledge as well as some other points that I would like to highlight.
Ursula Le Guin (2005) holds her strong opinion on the belief that fantasy takes a far more straightforward approach in expression in comparison to science fiction.
She believes in the idea that majority of science fiction creates a stimulated version of the future and pretends that it is either the past or the present – to my knowledge, the reason why she thinks so is because fantasy in contrast utilises a broader range of imagination and is able to successfully covey a pretend conclusion without having to worry about the logistics of past or present trends pertaining to a science fiction story Science fiction in her account, leans more towards the genre of realistic fiction, which thus generally aims to have the structure and characters to standards that relate more to reality and/or to the prospects that appeal most to the general public. In this regard, perhaps the reason why fantasy and science fiction differ has to do with the latter’s primary focus on standing on a safe playing field to avoid audience disapproval. Fantasy on the other hand, has a higher tendency to be more of a risk-taking genre where the main focus strays slightly away from complete audience approval but rather an in depth look into a fictional world (Le Guin, 2005).
It is quite clear that although the debates between the two genres are still ongoing due to the complex nature of the literary components that make up them up, Le Guin does seem to have a firm idea of the difference between them by her definition.
In a debate with Margaret Atwood over various genres of literature, Ursula Le Guin they had disputes over the definition of and nature of the science fiction and fantasy genre – However, it is perhaps important to note that both authors agreed that “fantasy could never happen, while science fiction could” (Evans, 2010).
The distinction between the two genres of fantasy and science fiction is still quite vague and a topic that has undergone constant scrutiny and discussion – Perhaps an explanation as to why the difference between the two genres are tough to break down is due to the simple fact that both of these measure and explore ‘other realities’ than our own with similar components involved in their general structure.
References:
Evans, C. L. (2010). Margaret Atwood and Ursula K. Le Guin debate science fiction vs. "realism". Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://io9.com/5650396/margaret-atwood-and-ursula-k-le-guin-debate-science-fiction-vs-realism
Ursula K. Le Guin (2005). Plausibility Revisited : Wha Hoppen and What Didn't. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from
http://www.ursulakleguin.com/PlausibilityRevisited.html
Thanks for good comment. :)
DeleteOk Naufa. Thanks for the post. I realise this is your second blog response (fantasy week-3 and 4). I have marked this. For your future responses, could you please just do what everyone else is doing: use the make-new-post link to create a new post - rather than adding your post as a comment on another student's post. Good that you added a comment on Elle's response in your first paragraph though.
ReplyDeleteI like that you have taken a general question and directly related it to Earthsea. Good job.
ReplyDelete