Terms Flashcards
(20 cards)
Conte Philosophique
- “philosophical story” or “fable of reason.”
- employs the fictional frame of an imaginary or dream journey to impart // scientific or philosophical content
- Allegorical nature and universal themes like “interconnectedness of the universe, cosmic harmony, and the relationship between freedom and structure”
- Example: The Dance of the Comets
Myth (as opposed to Fantasy) - the creation story & the Prometheus Legend
- legendary or a traditional story that usually concerns an event or a hero, with or without using factual or real explanations; fantasy can contain myths, but myths are not necessarily fantasy
- Feature - ruling gods, goddesses, deities, and heroes having god-like-qualities, but status lower than gods
Creation story: explained natural phenomena, and described rituals and ceremonies to the people (since lack of scientific evidence)
Prometheus Legend: Greek mythology and tells the story of a Titan who defied the gods (stole fire) to benefit humanity
Ex. Coyote & The Pebble
Second World Fantasy (know the subsets) - not to be confused with sub creation (2ndary world-building)
- Any work of fiction set in a place not recognizable as a version of Earth
Subsets: - “swords and sorcery” (focus on individual heroics of ragtag antiheroes, with or without quest)
- “heroic fantasy” (more likely to include broader societal context and upper classes, almost always with quest)
- “science fantasy” (another way of saying the boundaries between science fiction and fantasy have been breached, with the uses of technology so advanced as to be indistinguishable from magic)
Example: The Kingdom of Cards by Rabindranath Tagmore - heroic fantasy
High vs Low Fantasy
- High fantasy (epic fantasy) is a subgenre of fantasy: epic nature of its setting or stature of its characters, themes, or plot; set in an alternative, fictional (“secondary”) world, rather than the “real” or “primary” world. This secondary world is usually internally consistent, but its rules differ from those of our reality
- Low Fantasy is characterized by being set on Earth, the primary or real world, or a rational and familiar fictional world with the inclusion of magical elements
Ex. High Fantasy - The Kingdom of Cards by Raindranath Tagmore
Ex. Low Fantasy - The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame
Frame Story
- a story set within a story, narrative, or movie, told by the main or the supporting character
information is either released or withheld to create tension. Three options:
1) Relate the frame story with the main story.
2) Create a tense moment between its characters.
3) Keep that moment or tension parallel to the main story & continue it unresolved.
Ex. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: The main story (a series of letters written by Captain Walton) frames Victor Frankenstein’s recounting of his tragic tale, which itself contains the creature’s narrative.
Metafiction (from class on “Reluctant Dragon”)
a literary technique where a story draws attention to its own status as a work of fiction, can sometimes break the fourth wall
Example: The Reluctant Dragon - flipping these tropes, it highlights the constructed nature of such storytelling; dragon is gentle and cultured
Hard vs Soft Sci-fi
- From Chat (her definition is shitty):
- Hard Science Fiction: Emphasizes scientific accuracy, technical detail, and plausible technology. The science is often central to the plot. Typically deals with physics, engineering, astronomy, biology, or other “hard” sciences. More “realistic” and detailed.
- Soft Science Fiction: Concentrates on societal, psychological, and philosophical themes, often using speculative science as a backdrop rather than the focus. Explores “soft” sciences like sociology, anthropology, and psychology, or even purely speculative concepts. Less realistic and speculative.
Example: Dune by Frank Herbert: Focuses on politics, religion, and ecology in a distant, speculative universe.
Feminist Criticism (from lecture; the 4 waves and 1-2 main themes per wave)
- the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women
Four Waves:
- 1st: Suffrage - securing voting and equal rights (formal equality aka equality of application - same rules apply equally to everyone)
- 2nd: access to education, equal pay and employment, start to see challenges of gendered norms, advancements of reproductive technology (access to birth control)
- 3rd: Multicultural Feminism - criticisms of white-middle class feminism (considering needs and concerns of working class and/or women of colour, not treating everyone the EXACT same but may require we treat some people differently to result in equitable outcomes (equity vs equality)
- 4th: Post Feminism - intersecting identities, the emphasis is no longer just about gender, prioritize intersectional approach to feminism
Ex. Friend Island by Frances Stevens (female protagonist working as a sailor, a traditionally male-dominated profession. This reflects first-wave feminism’s advocacy for women’s participation in public and professional spheres. Reversal of Gender Roles: By depicting a society where women hold power in professions, it critiques historical gender inequalities and mirrors the first-wave demand for women’s equal rights and opportunities.)
Robinsonade (look at the key themes from PowerPoint)
- a fictitious narrative of often fantastic adventures in real or imaginary distant places, especially a story of the adventures of a person marooned on a desert island
- Key Themes: Progress through technology, A storyline following the triumphs and the rebuilding of civilization, Economic achievement, Unfriendliness of nature
Example: Friend Island by Frances Steven (with a feminist twist - The protagonist is shipwrecked and must navigate life on a mysterious island, echoing the survival element typical of Robinsonades.
Unlike traditional Robinsonades, the focus is less on physical survival and more on the protagonist’s reflection on her life as a female sailor in a reversed-gender society.
The “island” is almost a character itself, providing companionship and support, which deviates from the harsher isolation of classic Robinsonades.)
Gender Criticism approach (from lecture on Frankenstein)
- explore issues of sexuality, power, and marginalized populations (woman as other) in literature and culture
- emerges from post-structural interest in fragmented, de-centered knowledge building. Therefore, a critic working in gender studies and queer theory might even be uncomfortable with the binary established by many feminist scholars between masculine and feminine
Ex. Frankenstein (from Chat): In Chapter 5, when the creature comes to life, Victor is immediately repulsed and rejects it, leaving the creature to fend for itself in a hostile world. This can be seen as a parallel to the treatment of marginalized groups, particularly women, in literature and culture, where the “other” is often abandoned or cast out when it does not conform to the ideals of the dominant group. The creature, in many ways, can be read as embodying the role of the woman as other, as it is created (like a woman) yet rejected (like a woman who does not fulfill patriarchal expectations of femininity). The creature is, in a sense, an unnatural being, much like how women, who have historically been marginalized or denied agency, have been positioned as other in many literary and cultural narratives.
Postcolonial Criticism (from lecture: the 2 Power Dynamics)
- An approach to literature that focuses on the study of cultural behavior and expression in relationship to the colonized world.
- refers to the analysis of literary works written by writers from countries and cultures that at one time have been controlled by colonizing powers, including writers during or after British colonial rule OR analysis of literary works written about colonial cultures by writers from the colonizing country
Ex. Black Panther (The exploration of African identity and the contrast between colonized African nations and the independent, powerful Wakanda offers a direct critique of colonial history and the effects of exploitation) and War of Worlds (Martians’ conquest of Earth mirrors the way European powers colonized indigenous lands, with the Martians exploiting Earth’s resources and devastating its inhabitants)
Orientalism (see handout re Said)
- Put simply, this term refers to a way of thinking which privileges the West (ie Europe and England) as the place of progress and enlightenment.
- “The East”, (bc a fantasy version), by contrast, is aligned with the past and is thereby the ‘negative’ of western progress.
- There is, in other words, a contrast drawn between nations used to reinforce power through binary oppositions (akin to “Othering”).
- These works are a way for the West to construct itself through opposition, through the ‘Other,’ and thus a representation of what it is not
Utopian sci-fi (from litgloss and lecture)
description of a perfect society in the physical world, as opposed to the perfection of afterlife, is considered to be utopian literature
Everything functions harmoniously
Ex. Friend Island by Frances Stevens - what society could look like if gender roles were restructured in progressive ways.
Dystopian sci-fi (from litgloss and lecture)
- literary device and genre used by writers to present a vision of the future that challenges readers to reflect on the current social and political environments in which they live
- portrays society in cataclysmic decline resulting from environmental ruin, control through technology, and government oppression of individual freedom and expression
Ex. War of Worlds by H. G. Wells (depicts the Earth being invaded by Martians, leading to the collapse of human society)
Indigenous sci-fi (from lecture: myth and nature)
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Afrofuturism (from lecture)
- Cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to explore the African-American experience and aims to connect those from the black diaspora with their forgotten African ancestry
- notions of Black identity, agency, and freedom through art, creative works and activism that envision liberated futures for Black life
Ex. Black Panther (empowering black narrative, technology, music has roots in tradition, etc.)
Posthumanism (from Lecture)
- idea that humans aren’t completely independent or in control of everything. Instead, we are deeply connected to other living things and technology, shaping each other as we grow and change. It challenges the old way of thinking that humans are the center of everything and shows that we are part of a bigger, evolving system.
- What forms of the human exist? How will humans change tomorrow?
- Transhumanism: improving the human as a distinct and superior entity, clear concept of what it means to be “human” and seeks to make that better, enhance humans
- Critical Posthumanism: interconnected with and shaped by other life forms and technology, rejecting human superiority, evolving alongside technology and animals
Critical Race Theory (from lecture)
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Steampunk (possible examples: BioShock, Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, cosplay, or examples you can describe/ justify)
- Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction
1) incorporates retrofuturistic (retro futuristic - stories that look to earlier/19thC efforts to imagine the future) technology and aesthetics
2) inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery.
Uses steam as its energy source instead of electricity, gas or oil; gives industrial revolution look
Ex. Cosplay - people dress a certain way and create outfits to match the aesthetic
Indigenous Steampunk
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