How is science fiction different from fantasy,
according to Le Guin?
The Oxford dictionary
defines science fiction as “fiction based on
imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or
environmental changes, frequently portraying space or time travel and life on
other planets.”[i] While fantasy is a
genre of “fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as
a primary plot element, theme, or setting.”[ii]
According to Le Guin[iii], science fiction is a
branch of realism. Most science fiction, or sci-fi, pretends that the future is
the present or that past, and then tells us what happened in it. Most people
question if science fiction does that. It does, because the future is a blank canvas,
writers can write anything about the future as long as the audience can somehow
believe it.
Fantasy is more directed in fictionality than either realism or science fiction. Fantasy is shamelessly fictive meaning that it is able to engage in imaginative invention.
Fantasy is more directed in fictionality than either realism or science fiction. Fantasy is shamelessly fictive meaning that it is able to engage in imaginative invention.
The tales of EarthSea, directed by Goro Miyazaki 2006, is classified as apart of the fantasy genre, and is an anime film based on the triology of novels written by Ursula K. Le Guin. The film focuses on a world of dragons and wizards.
Something bizarre has come over the land, people are acting strange and seeing dragons. Due to these events a wandering wizard, Ged, is investing the cause. He meets Prince Arren, a young teenage boy, during his journey. Although Ged is helping Arren, a witch named Kumo would want to use the powers Arren has against Ged.
Something bizarre has come over the land, people are acting strange and seeing dragons. Due to these events a wandering wizard, Ged, is investing the cause. He meets Prince Arren, a young teenage boy, during his journey. Although Ged is helping Arren, a witch named Kumo would want to use the powers Arren has against Ged.
In Le Guin’s opinion, EarthSea would classify as a fantasy film,
because it is not based in the future, like most science fiction films. EarthSea includes primary elements of the
magic and supernatural phenomena, the dragons, wizards and witches. It is
focused more on the imaginative invention of the genre rather than if it is
realistic.
In EarthSea when Prince Arren changes from himself to the dark powers that are inside of him its adds to the genre of fantasy because fantasy consists of supernatural phenomena. It is almost as if a demon is inside of Arren, he becomes emotionless and does not care who he hurts including Therru.
In EarthSea when Prince Arren changes from himself to the dark powers that are inside of him its adds to the genre of fantasy because fantasy consists of supernatural phenomena. It is almost as if a demon is inside of Arren, he becomes emotionless and does not care who he hurts including Therru.
Tolkien, J.R.R. wrote On Faerie Stories about the definitions
of the Faerie story and of ‘faeries’; the Victorian versus the Celtic;
children’s stories; fantasy.
“In the supplement,
fairy-tale is recorded since the year 1750, and its leading sense is said to be
(a) a tale about fairies, or generally a fairy legend; with developed senses,
(b) an unreal or incredible story, and (c) a falsehood. The last two senses
would obviously make my topic hopelessly vast. But the first sense is too
narrow. Not to narrow for an essay; it is wide enough for many books, but too
narrow to cover actual usage. Especially so, if we accept the lexicographer’s
definition of fairies: ‘supernatural beings of diminutive size, in popular
belief supposed to posses magical powers and to have great influence for good
or evil over the affairs of man. Supernatural is a dangerous and difficult word
in any of its senses, looser, stricter. But to fairies it can hardly be
applied, unless super is taken merely as a superlative prefix.”[iv]
EarthSea relates to the sense, (b), in the way that it is an unreal story and contains aspects of supernatural. This relates to Le Guin's opinion of the difference between fantasy and science fiction because fantasy contains the sense of supernatural and is more fictionality rather than realism in the science fiction.
[iii] Ursulak Le Guin. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://www.ursulakleguin.com/
Plausibility Revisited.html
[iv] Tolkien, J.R.R. (1988; 1964). On Faerie Stories. In Tree and Leaf. London: Unwin Hyman.
Thanks Sophie. Good answer. You enage well with the secondary texts. Try to also remember to use in-text APA when you do quote and to attribute quotes (even short ones) by putting them in quotation marks (eg. "pretends that the future is the present or that past, and then tells us what happened in it." and "shamelessly fictive"). I see you have commented on the Miyazaki animated version of Earthsea (rather than the TV mini-series). While it changes some elements of the original work, I personally feel it is a better adaption in many ways. Good, you worked in a passage from J R R Tolkein's essay "On Faerie Stories" (1964). Further on in the essay he says "Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of, scientific verity. On the contrary. The keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy will it make". So here, he and Le Guinn agree about the way Fantasy must create and maintains a fictive world. Nice work.
ReplyDelete