In the September edition of "Locus", John Clute writes:
"For two or three years now, I've been using the term Fantastika, because I don't like 'the Fantastic,' partly because, for Anglophones, the term tends to exclude science fiction. In some European languages, fantastika designates science fiction and all the other literatures that SF shares
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What are etymological connections of "ulme" then? Does it have anything to do with Estonian for "science" or something else?
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Ha, interesting about "der Phantast". In Lithuanian (and in Russian, at least) "fantastas" refers to a fan of fantastika :D But they muggles may also conjure up a pejorative meaning sometimes, exactly the same thing as with German (referring to a person with his head in the clouds...)
I'm especially curious about these things, because I'm preparing to write a masters' thesis on Chinese SF, and one of the things I've been looking into is various terms the Chinese use to describe this sort of 'Phantasie' fiction. It's always good to have other languages for reference, apart from English and your own...
Though, um, what does he mean by, "Fantastika begins around the mid-18th century because time begins there, because history begins then, because the contemplation of Ruins and Futurity as a single topos begins then"?Well, he goes on to talk about the whole Ruins thing, I just was too lazy to copy it here... It's about this symbol of ( ... )
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No, it's labeled "Science Fiction/Fantasy" - we use the English classifications there. :P
China is special guest country at this year's Frankfurt book fair, btw. Haven't been following it, so I don't know what sort of stuff they'll be presenting, but if you're planning on heading down for a visit to chat with the authors or so, let me know, maybe we can meet for coffee or something. :D
It's about this symbol of ruins that begins to appear in literature and the arts at that time: someone watching a ruined old castle etc. and imagining that some time in the future, other people will be looking upon the ruins of his own time in the same way. That, Clute says, is a new way of conceiving time, a new outlook that enabled people to imagine stories set in the "narrated future".Hmmh, interesting thought. Not sure I agree, though. :D True, ruins became fashionable in the later 18th century, but imagining that your own glory will be just ( ... )
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Oh ok, thanks, I got it, sorry was a bit confused:) It's interesting how German uses so many words borrowed directly from English... But then the languages are close enough to not make that sound awkward, I guess. Like, week-end in French does feel weird!
China is special guest country at this year's Frankfurt book fair, btw. Haven't been following it, so I don't know what sort of stuff they'll be presenting, but if you're planning on heading down for a visit to chat with the authors or so, let me know, maybe we can meet for coffee or something. :D
Oh really? Shame I can't go... Checked their website, they will have some well-known Chinese writers visiting. No SF writers, of course, it's quite a marginal phenomenon :) Are you going?
Hmmh, interesting thought. Not sure I agree, though. :D True, ruins became fashionable in the later 18th century, but imagining that your own glory will be just ruins to future generations seems quite an ancient ( ... )
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But for fantasy we use fantasy or fantasi, and in Finnish it's fantasia.
Science fiction is the same
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