Subcreation
Fictional-World Construction from J.R.R. Tolkien to Terry Pratchett and Tad Williams
By (author) Stefanie Schult
Paperback (Published)
(January 2017)
ISBN: 9783832544195
5.75 x 8.31 inches
Price: $57.00
In stock
The doctorial thesis argues that the term Subcreation with its revised and broadened definition, in part differing from J.R.R. Tolkien’s original term sub-creation, may be used for the discussion of the making of fictional worlds in literary discourse. The successful conception of a fictional world depends on the reader’s willing suspension of disbelief. This depends both on the author and his skilled composition of the world and all its aspects, as well as on the reader’s acceptance of this invented fictional world. The author needs to create a narrative with an inner consistency, which is crucial to achieving the effect of the reader’s immersion in the fictional world. The fundamental aspects that an author needs to realize to achieve successful Subcreation have been structured into and analysed in four categories: Language and Linguistic Variation, Physiopoeia, Anthropoeia and Mythopoeia. Furthermore, this thesis shows that, as contemporary examples of fantastic literature, both Tad Williams’s and Terry Pratchett’s fictional worlds are successfully created through the realization of these aspects of Subcreation. Apart from commenting on the success of the subcreative process, this thesis also remarks upon the cultural influences both authors include in their writings. While both may be considered Anglophone in a general categorization, Pratchett’s Discworld retains a feeling of ‘Britishness’ that is not to be found in Williams’s Otherland. The thesis proposes several approaches to Subcreation that may be studied subsequently. So, for example, it may be possible to determine the success of an author’s Subcreation by collecting empirical data. Apart from literary works this field of studies may also include other media.
- By (author) Stefanie Schult
Similar Books
Ars Prophetica
Theology in the Poetry of Twentieth-Century Hebrew Poets Avraham Halfi, Shin Shalom, Amir Gilboa, and T. Carmi
Cahiers de l’Association internationale des études françaises
J. M. G. Le Clézio - Enseigner les littératures francophones aujourd’hui - Récit de soi et expérience de l’illusion (XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles)
Volume 78
Cahiers de littérature française
Les Métamorphoses du texte. Enjeux intertextuels et transpositions visuelles
Volume 25
Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes – Journal of Medieval and Humanistic Studies
Volume 51
Cahiers de sémiotique des cultures
Ponctuation et sens. Nouvelles perspectives / Punctuation and meaning. New perspectives
Volume 6
CompLit
Myth, Folklore and Magic in European Literatures. Critical and Contemporary Reconfigurations
Dis/United States of Vulnerability
Literary and Cultural Transgressions in U.S. Poetry Since the 1960s
Volume 330
European Drama and Performance Studies
Dramatisations politiques. Théâtre, politique et idéologie au XIXe siècle (1806-1914)
Volume 27
La Lettre clandestine
La littérature philosophique clandestine, ses éditeurs et ses éditions
Volume 34
La Revue des lettres modernes
« Afin que rien ne meure ». Le deuil dans et de l’œuvre de Marguerite Duras
Volume 9
