Lección sin título

From Mode to Genre: The Deconstruction of Epic in Building Fantasy

Transcends genre. “A broad but identifiable kind of literary method, mood and manner that is not tied exclusively to a particular form or genre.” (Chris Baldick)

Mode

Can be seen as a complex system. A system is a collection of features that are connected and dominated by a salient feature around which the rest of the features are arranged in a subordinate level. aBc→bCd. “A literary genre is a way of defining and categorizing a collection of different criteria, such as formal structure, length, intention, effect, origin, and subject matter.” (Chris Baldick)

​Genre

Genre and Mode

• Fantasy-as-mode. Uses Todorov’s definition of the marvellous. Present in fantasy literature, as well as in epic poetry and romances.

• A genre is created when a single work is imitated by other authors who use the first text as a model, thus creating a formula and the conventions of the genre.

• Fantasy genre was initiated by J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. It was very influenced by epic poetry and romances.

• As any other system, fantasy genre evolved, thus changing the salient features.

​

From Mode to Genre

“Next dawn he dresses, calls early for his arms, they are duly carried in.First, a red silk carpet is spread on the floor and the lustrous gilt armourlaid on it, glistening. Dressed in a doublet of worked silk from Turkestanand a king’s cape, cleverly made, closed at the neck,]its inside hems fringed with shining fur, he strolls among the armourand strokes the steel. They fix steel sabatons onto his feet, lap his legs in gleaming metal greaves, their brilliant knee-joints newly burnished, and fasten them, with knotted filigree to his knees.”
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

​Evolution of Motifs: The Arming of the Hero Scene

Multiple Choice

What evolution did this scene have?

• Parody

• Remained

• Disappeared

“'Men-at-arms, remain here on the barrow, safe in your armor, to see which one of us is better in the end at bearing wounds in a deadly fray. This fight is not yours, nor is it up to any man except me to measure his strength against the monster or to prove his worth.’” Beowulf

​

Themes: Heroism

Multiple Choice

How have heroes evolved?

• Remained classic heroes

• Became villains

• There are no heroes, but grey characters

• With the evolution of the genre, features such as the narrator shift, including new types of narrators, such as the first-person narrator.

• With the introduction of newer types of characters, the traditional narrator of epic poetry and romances disappears, making way for a less biased narrator.

Style: Narrator

Multiple Choice

What sort of narrator is common nowadays in fantasy?

• First-person narrator

• Third-person narrator

• Both are common