We often see separate photos of the Inklings, that band of Christian fantasists who met at a famous Oxford tavern, but not often in a group picture. I have reunited the Inklings for one last meeting at the Eagle and Child--who knows what they might discuss?
Tag: Tolkien
MythCon 45 Day 4: Faith, Myths, and Archetypes
The first of the two legendary panels that happened on Sunday--just before my own presentation, which was the last before the banquet and awards ceremony--was entitled "Fantasy and Faith." Chip Crane moderated, and Carl Hostetter, Sorina Higgins, and Lynn Maudlin were discussing the Inklings. What is the place of faith in the fantasy genre? What …
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MythCon 45 Day 3: Postmodernity at MythCon
Sunday morning at MythCon, and I took it easy, only getting to "Harry Potter as Dystopian Literature" for 10:00. Kris Swank framed Harry Potter not only in terms of the latest dystopian craze in YA fiction (Divergent, The Hunger Games), but also with the dystopian tradition of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. The Dolores Umbridge-corrupted …
MythCon 45 Day 2: Where does fantasy fit?
Day 2 of MythCon began Saturday morning. After breakfast, I really came to appreciate how many people had come to Wheaton College. In addition to seeing many of the faces I saw on Friday, Corey Olsen, the Tolkien Professor, was there. Allow me to explain one thing about this guy: I first listened to his …
MythCon 45 Day 1: Prose, Genre, and Tolkien’s Genius
. This is a series documenting my intellectual journey at MythCon 45 at Wheaton College, in Norton, MA (8-11 August 2014). Although I will attempt to summarize the arguments made by presenters, the series does not replace the presenters' scholarship, but will represent my attitudes towards the topics. Having arrived early the Thursday, I had …
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Fantasies of History: Guy Gavriel Kay’s Synthesis of the Historical Fantasy Novel — PowerPoint Presentation
Use the following links to download the PowerPoint for my presentation "Fantasies of History: Guy Gavriel Kay's Synthesis of the Historical Fantasy Novel" at MythCon 2014. I presented at 5:00 pm Sunday, August 1oth at Wheaton College, Norton, MA. Fantasies of History Presentation PDF Fantasies of History Presentation PPT Fantasies of History Presentation PPSX Fantasies …
Fantasy, Narrative, and The Origin of Species by Nino Ricci
Alex Fratarcangeli, the protagonist of Nino Ricci's The Origin of Species, works on a Ph.D. proposal that could change literary academics: he chooses to analyze literary texts in the light of Darwinism. As its title suggests, the novel is about Alex's relationship to the life of Darwin and his seminal The Origin of Species. On …
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Unreliable Narrators and Historical Fantasy
Unreliable narrators have a way of turning up in the most recent short stories I have drafted, so, in the interest of attaching this idea to historical fantasy, here is my blog post of this week: In my Honours thesis, I drew attention to the conflict posed by fusing the historical novel with the fantasy …
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Taniwha Highway: the Phenomenon of Modern Day Dragons
Over a decade ago, you might have stumbled across the following headline in the New Zealand Herald: "Transit and the Taniwha" by James Corbett. It discusses--with that characteristic Kiwi sense of dry humour--how a dragon came to be at the center of a Māori protest over the construction of a highway. The BBC said, "Construction …
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Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever: Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson
Beware! Leper unclean! shout the crowds. Don't touch me! responds Thomas Covenant, the antihero of Stephen R. Donaldson's memorable epic fantasy trilogy. In this exchange, which Convenant repeats in his mind like a mantra for his sanity, Donaldson summarizes the conflict of his protagonist. Despite being unlikeable, Covenant tends to garner your empathy. He's a …
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Matthew Rettino 