it's one of THOSE days, isn't it?
So far today I have: overslept by an impressive amount, spilled quite hot tea across my hand and the table, come downstairs to find that the cat had thrown up on the couch, and discovered that there is something wrong with our refrigerator, such that it is no longer cold inside. LIFE, WHY.
/whining. Seriously. In other news, I have turned in my course description for the fantasy course I will be teaching in the spring. It is called Heroic Fantasy, and we will be asking questions such as: what is heroic fantasy, or sword-and-sorcery? What distinguishes this subgenre from other forms of fantasy, and how do we define a hero, or a barbarian, or a quest? How might we account for the popularity (and subsequent decline) of sword-and-sorcery during the early years of the twentieth century, and what influence does this subgenre have today, considering the vast popularity of "fantasy" fiction? Reading list to include: Arthurian romances, Lord Dunsany, Robert Howard, Fritz Leiber, J.R.R. Tolkien, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Robin McKinley, Ursula Le Guin, Neil Gaiman, China Mieville. (More if I think of them and if we have time; I would LOVE to include Hope Mirrlees, H. Rider Haggard, and George R.R. Martin, but...we'll see.)
/whining. Seriously. In other news, I have turned in my course description for the fantasy course I will be teaching in the spring. It is called Heroic Fantasy, and we will be asking questions such as: what is heroic fantasy, or sword-and-sorcery? What distinguishes this subgenre from other forms of fantasy, and how do we define a hero, or a barbarian, or a quest? How might we account for the popularity (and subsequent decline) of sword-and-sorcery during the early years of the twentieth century, and what influence does this subgenre have today, considering the vast popularity of "fantasy" fiction? Reading list to include: Arthurian romances, Lord Dunsany, Robert Howard, Fritz Leiber, J.R.R. Tolkien, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Robin McKinley, Ursula Le Guin, Neil Gaiman, China Mieville. (More if I think of them and if we have time; I would LOVE to include Hope Mirrlees, H. Rider Haggard, and George R.R. Martin, but...we'll see.)