According to Le Guin, fiction is a story told using characters which do not exist in reality but yet in the story are interacting with places or people we know to exist (in reality). A fantasy story on the other hand is one entirely focused on what does not exist. For instance Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" consists of realistic characters, in real places, doing things, that although they may seem near impossible to achieve by regular people, have a sense of realism to them. Fantasy, as Le Guin states "is far more direct in its fictionality than either realism or science fiction" meaning that even thought the characters contain reflections of reality in their personalities the story can be as out of this world as the author can imagine because that is what the story is supposed to be, an escape from reality, while a fiction story is more an illusion of reality.
In what ways does Tax (2002) suggest Earthsea may still be relevant today?
I believe what Tax is trying to say is that although outwardly appearances may suggest otherwise the fantasy style with which this story is told provides and underlying message. As Tax states "they speak from the unconscious to the unconscious in the language of the unconscious". Messages passed through in the way we understand the story, but that are not obvious, put there to allow the reader to make his or her own meanings out of what the story is saying. For instance the Shadow from the novel, may to some only represent what we don't know of ourselves, but to another it could symbolize some addiction or a secret. I have not read the other stories but from what I understand of what Tax has written about them they also hold relevance to people of anytime, not just of today, in the sense that these stories all feature and under-dog, one who overcomes his or hers restraints and discovers themselves in the journey. I believe this to be a timeless message, one that seems always to reflect society even if it is one that did not exist at the time the story was written, because these are common traits in all of humanity.
Hello Gabriel,
ReplyDeleteSo do you think EarthSea is a good example of fantasy? Do you think it is completely focussed on what does not, it reality, exist?
Try to link the questions to both the critical readings and the primary texts, but nice Dan Brown Example - fantasy, some might say! :)
You also have not really answered the question and talked about how SCIENCE FICTION differs from FANTASY.
Your second answer is much more to the point. I agree with you, and wonder what it is that is discovered by the main characters in EarthSea?
Esther :)