Speculative Mimesis in Fantasy Literature
With perceptions of reality in the 21st-century increasingly seen as pluralistic and a matter of interpretation, this open access book identifies fantasy literature as a uniquely and highly effective form of storytelling for engaging with our contemporary sense of reality in all its fluidity and com...
Spremljeno u:
| Glavni autor: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Online |
| Jezik: | engleski |
| Izdano: |
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
2026
|
| Teme: | |
| Online pristup: | ONIX_20260415T184305_9781350521452_46 |
| Oznake: |
Bez oznaka, Budi prvi tko označuje ovaj zapis!
|
| _version_ | 1869529914698366976 |
|---|---|
| author | Kraatila, Elise |
| author_browse | Kraatila, Elise |
| author_facet | Kraatila, Elise |
| author_sort | Kraatila, Elise |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | With perceptions of reality in the 21st-century increasingly seen as pluralistic and a matter of interpretation, this open access book identifies fantasy literature as a uniquely and highly effective form of storytelling for engaging with our contemporary sense of reality in all its fluidity and complexity. Proposing a new theory of fantasy’s relationship with our reality as a speculative form of mimesis, Elise Kraatila demonstrates how the genre exemplifies literary ways of engaging with the complexities of our contemporary sense of reality by means of “what if?” propositions, grand-scale scenario models, imaginative world-building and thought experiments. Discussing works of 21st-century fantasy by celebrated authors including Kazuo Ishiguro, N. K. Jemisin, Joe Abercrombie and Lev Grossman, Speculative Mimesis in Fantasy Literature lays bare the complexity and interpretive ambiguity that characterizes the relationship between fantasy fiction, the art of storytelling, and our contemporary sense of reality at large. Illuminating how these contemporary storytellers turn to the expressive repertoire of fantasy fiction to explore topical issues from global inequality to climate crisis and the 'post-truth' breakdown of our conception of reality, this book positions fantasy as a major participant in contemporary responses to our ideas of reality with the power to make actual change. Critically acknowledging and interrogating this most popular genre and the ontological and epistemic force of its narratives, Kraatila offers a perspective to fantasy world-building as a form of literary mimesis that highlights the complex and historically changeable conceptions of what it means for fiction to represent reality more generally. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Tampere University, Finland. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-175759 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) |
| publisherStr | Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1757592026-04-20T08:36:31Z Speculative Mimesis in Fantasy Literature Kraatila, Elise Fantasy fiction Reality Literary mimesis Artistic mimesis Western fantasy fiction Genre Postmodernism Post-postmodernism Storytelling boom Contemporary reading culture Polemical issues Climate crisis Post-truth' global inequality Storytelling Epistemic uncertainty Literary theory Cultural theory Representation 21st-century structures of thinking Kazuo Ishiguro Joe Abercrombie N. K. Jemisin Lev Grossman thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSK Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSA Literary theory thema EDItEUR::F Fiction and Related items::FM Fantasy thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBH Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000 thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general With perceptions of reality in the 21st-century increasingly seen as pluralistic and a matter of interpretation, this open access book identifies fantasy literature as a uniquely and highly effective form of storytelling for engaging with our contemporary sense of reality in all its fluidity and complexity. Proposing a new theory of fantasy’s relationship with our reality as a speculative form of mimesis, Elise Kraatila demonstrates how the genre exemplifies literary ways of engaging with the complexities of our contemporary sense of reality by means of “what if?” propositions, grand-scale scenario models, imaginative world-building and thought experiments. Discussing works of 21st-century fantasy by celebrated authors including Kazuo Ishiguro, N. K. Jemisin, Joe Abercrombie and Lev Grossman, Speculative Mimesis in Fantasy Literature lays bare the complexity and interpretive ambiguity that characterizes the relationship between fantasy fiction, the art of storytelling, and our contemporary sense of reality at large. Illuminating how these contemporary storytellers turn to the expressive repertoire of fantasy fiction to explore topical issues from global inequality to climate crisis and the 'post-truth' breakdown of our conception of reality, this book positions fantasy as a major participant in contemporary responses to our ideas of reality with the power to make actual change. Critically acknowledging and interrogating this most popular genre and the ontological and epistemic force of its narratives, Kraatila offers a perspective to fantasy world-building as a form of literary mimesis that highlights the complex and historically changeable conceptions of what it means for fiction to represent reality more generally. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Tampere University, Finland. 2026-04-20T08:36:30Z 2026-04-20T08:36:30Z 2026-04-16T10:01:19Z 2025 book ONIX_20260415T184305_9781350521452_46 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/112351 9781350521452 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/175759 eng Perspectives on Fantasy open access Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Bloomsbury Academic b7fec79e-c133-4cb3-9544-88060a4d4e06 9781350521452 Bloomsbury Academic 224 London open access |
| spellingShingle | Fantasy fiction Reality Literary mimesis Artistic mimesis Western fantasy fiction Genre Postmodernism Post-postmodernism Storytelling boom Contemporary reading culture Polemical issues Climate crisis Post-truth' global inequality Storytelling Epistemic uncertainty Literary theory Cultural theory Representation 21st-century structures of thinking Kazuo Ishiguro Joe Abercrombie N. K. Jemisin Lev Grossman thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSK Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSA Literary theory thema EDItEUR::F Fiction and Related items::FM Fantasy thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBH Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000 thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general Kraatila, Elise Speculative Mimesis in Fantasy Literature |
| title | Speculative Mimesis in Fantasy Literature |
| title_full | Speculative Mimesis in Fantasy Literature |
| title_fullStr | Speculative Mimesis in Fantasy Literature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Speculative Mimesis in Fantasy Literature |
| title_short | Speculative Mimesis in Fantasy Literature |
| title_sort | speculative mimesis in fantasy literature |
| topic | Fantasy fiction Reality Literary mimesis Artistic mimesis Western fantasy fiction Genre Postmodernism Post-postmodernism Storytelling boom Contemporary reading culture Polemical issues Climate crisis Post-truth' global inequality Storytelling Epistemic uncertainty Literary theory Cultural theory Representation 21st-century structures of thinking Kazuo Ishiguro Joe Abercrombie N. K. Jemisin Lev Grossman thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSK Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSA Literary theory thema EDItEUR::F Fiction and Related items::FM Fantasy thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBH Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000 thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general |
| topic_facet | Fantasy fiction Reality Literary mimesis Artistic mimesis Western fantasy fiction Genre Postmodernism Post-postmodernism Storytelling boom Contemporary reading culture Polemical issues Climate crisis Post-truth' global inequality Storytelling Epistemic uncertainty Literary theory Cultural theory Representation 21st-century structures of thinking Kazuo Ishiguro Joe Abercrombie N. K. Jemisin Lev Grossman thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSK Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSA Literary theory thema EDItEUR::F Fiction and Related items::FM Fantasy thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBH Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000 thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general |
| url | ONIX_20260415T184305_9781350521452_46 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kraatilaelise speculativemimesisinfantasyliterature |