Monique Porteous week 4 - Fantasy

How does Attebery (1980)define Fantasy? Find at least five definitions.

1. "Fantasy, then, presupposes a view of exterior reality which it goes on to contradict." (Attebery, 1980, p.3)
2. "Any narrative which includes a significant part of its make-up violation of what the author clearly believes to be the natural law -- that is fantasy." (Attebery, 1980, p.3)
3. "And fantasy treats these impossibilities without hesitation, without doubt, without any attempt to reconcile them with our intellectual understanding of the workings of the world or to make us believe that such things could under any circumstances come true." this is in regards to the previous line above which states ideas about magical objects and proceeding through events. (Attebery, 1980, p.3)
4. "Fantasy is a game of sorts, and it demands that one play whole-heartedly, accepting for the moment all rules and turns of the game." (Attebery, 1980, p.3)
5. Fantasy invokes wonder by making the impossible seem familiar and the familiar seem new and strange." (Attebery, 1980, p.4) 

Can the genre legitimately be defined by examples? How do English and American constructions of fantasy diverge, according to Attebery?

The fantasy genre can not be defined by examples, the examples only aid in describing what can be contained within the genre. As much as Attebery (1980) comments on how his idealistic fantasy shelf would have titles such as The Lord of The Rings, Narnia, The Wind in The Willows and others such like these, they still cannot define the fantasy genre on their own, but as I say before, they do add to it. In regards to how English and American constructions of fantasy diverge, Attebery (1980) uses plenty of 'fantasy' authors in how he explains the constructions. Mentioned are authors such as C.S Lewis, the brothers Grimm and MacDonald, among other historical authors. All of these authors took real life examples turning them into a story, and in most cases a type of fairy tale. Attebery (1980) uses the example of fairy tale in commenting on how the fantasy genre constructions diverge, or in simpler terms - join ideas as well as grammars together. His use of examples is broad but it does leave enough to the readers imagination for one to form a view on how theses constructions diverge. Personally interpreted - I see Attebery's (1980) author and novel examples showing how the fantasy genre can be so many things while focusing on fairy tales also shows that it can have small sub-areas which help to develop the genre over all, causing the constructions of fantasy diverge.

How is science fiction different from fantasy, according to Le Guinn ( http://www.ursulakleguin.com/PlausibilityRevisited.html)?

Science fiction is different from fantasy, Le Guinn (2005) proves this with her writings. Science fiction is a genre which contains realism, as compared to fantasy which is more direct in the way it is written and told. While science fiction isn't strictly realism only, it does meet the requirements to have elements of it throughout the genre. "In general, science fiction proceeds just as realistic fiction does, meeting conventional expectations of how people generally act, and either avoiding events that will strike the reader as improbable, or plausibly explaining them." (Le Guinn, 2005). Besides realism, science fiction does also follow a realistic fiction structure as well. Le Guinn (2005) explains this beautifully in the quote above. To touch briefly on how Le Guinn (2005) describes the fantasy genre, she essentially comments on how fictive it is, but not in the most positive light, calling it "shamelessly fictive". Regardless of how Le Guinn (2005) describes and comments on the qualities of each genre, she does show the stark difference between the two. 

Note while you are reading A Wizard of Earthsea Le Guinn's (1993 ; 1968) depiction of race and gender. Is there anything surprising in this? Why?

In reading this novel there are some very sexist views in regards to women being seen as not equal in comparison to the men in the book. In the first say quarter of the novel the reader is introduced to many characters, the female ones however seem depicted in a lower class type of light. Taking from the book "There is a saying on Gont, Weak as woman's magic, and there is another saying, Wicked as woman's magic." (Le Guinn, 1993 ; 1968, p.16). It is clear from this piece of writing extracted from the novel that there is a very negative connotation towards women early on, in page 16 for that matter. The surprising thing about this is that the author is in fact a woman, which causes confusion as to why a female writer would in ways 'bash' her own gender, in her own novel. 
References:

Attebery, B. (1980). The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature: From Irving to Le Guinn. Bloomington: Indiana U P, 1980

Le Guinn, U. (1993 ; 1968). The Earthsea Quartet. London: Penguin.

Le Guinn, U. (2005). Plausibility in Fantasy. Retrieved 25, June, 2005 http://www.ursulakleguin.com/PlausibilityRevisited.html

Tin-Tin and the Blue Lotus

Tin-Tin and the Blue Lotus

Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media? Why? And how does Farr (1991) justify Tintin's appeal to adults? 

Tin-Tin and the Blue Lotus (1935) is a graphic novel/comic written by Belgian cartoonist Hergé, the graphic novel series is about a young detective “Tin-Tin” and all of his cases. The graphic novel ‘The Blue Lotus’ takes place in India first then Tin-Tin discovers a poison that is turning people mad. He finds out the source of the poison is from Shanghai and he travels there to stop the shipment. The genre of the comic is action but also has aspect of thriller, the genre is probably suitable for a young adult audience but a lot of children read the comics. The comics became more appeal to a younger audience when they were adapted into short films. Farr (1991) justifies Tin-Tin’s appeal to adults, “by devising a character who would appeal to children as much as grown-ups, though for often quite different reasons”. Hergé created the character ‘Tintin’ in order to appeal to both a younger and older audience. Farr (1991) also states that, “Hergé said Tintin was aimed at “all young people aged from seven to seventy-seven””, justifying why it does appeal to adults. I believe that Hergé wrote Tintin with the idea in mind that there would be no target reader, which it would be aimed for everyone to enjoy and if the older readers did not like it then it was targeted for a younger audience. Farr continues to say, “the child will be gripped by the excitement of Tintin, the comedy, even farce. The adult will additionally find political satire and parody, puns and prescience.”. An older audience would laugh and find interest in Tintin with the puns used throughout the text and that is how Farr justifies the appeal to adults. Children would read Tintin would not understand the meaning behind some aspects of the text, they would not understand the political references so why would Hergé put write them if they target readers were children? Farr refers to Hergé doing that as to why the comics appeal to adults. In Tintin and the Blue Lotus, Hergé uses events in the comic to relate to past events and its political meaning behind them. An example of this is the railway explosion in the comic, the antagonist in the story blow up the railway and blames it on someone else. Just like some politics, although the explosion to the children reading the comic is just a bit of excitement to add suspense to the storyline. Therefore, I believe that Hergé aimed his graphic novels at all ages and Farr can justify its appeal to adults just by reading the comics and finding aspects children would not understand.

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Sources: 

Farr, Michael. (1991). Introduction. In Tintin: the complete companion (pp.8-9). London: John Murray.

Sye week 2 - Comics & Graphic Novels

Are Comics Children's or Adult's Genre/Media?

Personally I find this a difficult question to give a definitive answer to.  Tintin is an excellent example of a comic that appeals to both children and adults.  Tintin has countless examples of what can be considered mature content within a classic adventure story plot line.  In Blue Lotus for example the titular destination is explicitly referred to as an opium den (Hergé, 1934), something an adult would understand while a child would only see it as a place the bad guys are in.

"The child will be gripped by the excitement of Tintin, the comedy, even farce.  The adult will additionally find political satire and parody, puns and prescience" (Farr, M. 1991), not only does this quote from Michael Farr apply to Tintin but to almost all comics in general, superheroes being the obvious example.

Green Arrow, a DC superhero, first appeared in More Fun Comic #73 in November 1941.  The comic contained issues relevant in that era, such as aids and homosexuality.  These are things which adults would understand whilst all children see is a superhero battling a villain.

More and more frequently comics are being written with more adult audiences in mind and are being referred to as graphic novels.  "The Walking Dead" and "Watchmen" are prime examples of this.  This suggests that the era of comics for children is starting to wain but it is hard to believe there will ever come a time when comics are not enjoyed by children all over the world.

Ultimately it seems that the comic/graphic novel genre is one that is targeted at a broad demographic. Children and adults, men and women and all races find appeal in this genre.

Referrences:

Hergé. (2005; 1934).  The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus.  London; Methuen.

Farr, Michael. (1991).  Tintin; the complete companion.  London; John Murray.

The Blue Lotus Background

According to the second Farr extract (p.50-59), how did Herge research China for The Blue Lotus?

The excellently written text by Michael Farr clearly shows that Georges Remi was a very unique person with a creative mind like no other. What this particular article delves into is the backstory and history behind Herge's fifth offering of the highly acclaimed graphic novels - The Blue Lotus. Fans of the Tintin canon at the time would have grown curious as to where Tintin would travel to next in his upcoming adventure. According to the extract by Farr, Georges Remi was a perfectionist who spent quite a lot of time on each Tintin novel. 'Readers who were hungry and impatient for the latest Tintin had to learn to wait and have their patience rewarded.' (Farr, M. Introduction)

It was from his previous works such as the Cigars of the Pharaoh for instance that Herge realised that he needed to brush up on his style of writing. From the very start, Herge used research as a means of visualising foreign countries without actually having to go there. His prior Tintin instalments had, for the most part, been built up on cliches which was probably derived from propaganda messages of the time. 'So in the Spring of 1934 Father Gosset introduced him to Chang Chong-Chen.' (Farr, M. p.51)

The reason the two of them were acquainted was due to the concern of Herge basing his next Tintin story in China. When the word of this leaked out, it was advised that Herge was to refrain from using cliches by having him partner up with someone of that specific race who could offer him incite into the Chinese culture. Down the road, Georges Remi forced himself to discard any racial cliches as he throws Tintin into a peril situation where he bravely rescues a Chinese villager from drowning. The character in distress was named Chang Chong-Chen who manages to justify Tintin's ignorant perception of China. Tintin's interaction with this character was used to mirror Herge's friendship with Chang.

Farr, M. (1991). Tintin: the complete companion.

Week 2

Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media?

Personally I believe that comics are not just a children’s genre, but also an adults genre. There are a wide range of comics available and some of which do cater to younger crowds, however quite a lot of comics contain content that adults can find rather enjoyable as well. For instance, the Tintin series appeals to children though its displays of colourful artwork,  interesting companions and exciting adventures, while keeping reasonably mature plots which appeals to adults. What also strengthens my belief is that there is nothing stopping an adult from reading a comic and enjoying it just as much as a child. When it comes to comics, who’s to say what you can and can’t enjoy according to your age. After all, comics like these are created and thought up in the minds of adults. “By devising a character who would appeal to children as much as grown-ups, thought for often quite different reasons, Herge struck gold”(Farr, 2001).

There are some comics geared more towards young adults with story lines which may be too hard for some children to comprehend. Luckily there are more than enough comics aimed at children to compensate for their youth. Also with many comics running series for long periods of time, it’s not impossible to think that young die hard comic fans can someday age into mature die hard fans and I believe that’s what happens to mainstream comics like Tintin.

I think it’s very hard to argue that comics aren’t made for adults as well as children. Especially when widely accepted things like cartoons and movies are often watched and enjoyed by both. It really wouldn’t surprise me at all if a large majority of comic readers were actually adults. Just my two cents.

Farr, Michael. (1991). Tintin: The complete companion. London: John Murray.

Monique Porteous week 2 - comics/graphic novels

Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media? 

Comics are a genre/media which appeal to all age ranges, from children just beginning to read to the elderly in rest homes. The reason being is that it all depends on what the context of the comic itself is showing/portraying and how this content appeals to the reader. While certain comics may be directed to a specific audience, the genre as a whole has no limit as to the age of the reader. 

How does Farr (1991) justify Tintin's appeal to adults? 

Speaking through the element of adventure was key in Farr's justification as to how Tintin appealed to adults as well as children. As Farr stated "The child will be griped by the excitement of Tintin, the comedy, even farce. The adult will additionally find political satire and parody, puns and prescience" (Farr, M. 1991, p.9).  

According to the second Farr extract (p.50-59), how did Hergé research China for The Blue Lotus? 

Hergé was in fact an arm chair traveler at the time he wrote The Blue Lotus (Farr, M. 1991). According to Farr in this second extrat, Hergé was introduced to Chang Chong-Chen by Father Gosset in 1934 which lead onto Hergé's very personal research with Chang. Involved in this research was many hours and time spent talking with Chang and getting a first person's perspective of what China was really like at the time, as well as learning about aspects of China such as traditional art, geography and language (Farr, M. 2001). To follow up from the evidence of Hergé's research, in The Blue Lotus a particular scene portrays this. In the scene it features a very true to life oriental feel as well as being true to the era with political propoganda signs placed all throughout the drawing (Hergé, 1935, p.26). 

How might Hergé's The Blue Lotus address or relate to to what Said (1977) terms 'orientalism'? 

A simple link between The Blue Lotus and Said's discussion of what Orientalism really means would be the vague element towards it. In the comic the way it is drawn (in regards to scenery) is prominently different to that of Hergé's Cigars of the Pharaoh (Hergé, 1934). "Orientalism is a style of thought based upon ontological and epistemological distinction made between 'the Orient' and (most of the time) 'the Occident'." (Said, E. 1977, p.88)

Does Varnum (2001) define the difference between a cartoon, comics, and graphic novel? According to Varnum, what distinguishes comics from other media? 

The definition between cartoons, comics and graphic novels is only very lightly touched on within Varnum's writing. So light that in fact she merely describes them as a large family with cousins and step siblings (Varnum, R. 2001). According to Varnum, comics are distinguished apart from other types of media due to the way of placing pictures with words. Compared to any other media form, the words and images are only combined through visual moving aspects or through descriptive writing (Varnum, R. 2001). 

How and why are comics becoming more accepted as an art form? Can/should they be regarded as a literary genre?

Comics have always been an art form, just not always accepted as one. The concept of having words over images most likely hindered the development of recognition that comics needed to be accepted more widely as an art form. Varnum states that the Chinese and Japanese saw comics as an art form far before other sides of the world began to (Varnum, R. 2001). Through common instinct, the Western/European residences of the world started to recently follow the Chinese and Japanese steps. If taken into consideration the amount of hours and research that Hergé spent on each Tintin album, it is clear to see how comics are an art form. In the modern world just about anything is possible, including having comics as a literary genre. With words like 'selfie' being added to the dictionary in the last couple years, who says that comics shouldn't be a literary genre? 

Farr, Michael. (1991). Tintin: the complete companion. London: John Murray.

Hergé. (2005; 1935). The adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus. London: Methuen.

Said, E. (1977). Orientalism. In Ashcroft, B Griffiths, G. & Tiffin, H. (Ed), The Post Colonial Studies Reader (pp. 87-91). London: Routledge.

Varnum, R. & Gibbons, C. (Ed). (2001). The Language of Comics: word and image. Jackson: U Press of Mississippi.