Murat Sezi - China Miéville, Terry Pratchett, Kazuo Ishiguro and the Ambivalence of Knowing

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Produktbeschreibung

The guiding question of this study is how the theme of knowledge is realized in the genre of fantasy. Drawing from the research fields of literature and knowledge, theory of fantasy, narratology, and memory/orality studies, CHINA MIÉVILLE, TERRY PRATCHETT, KAZUO ISHIGURO AND THE AMBIVALENCE OF KNOWING: AN ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR THE REPRESENTATION OF KNOWLEDGE IN FANTASY LITERATURE furthermore investigates how societal struggles over knowledge are negotiated in contemporary fantasy literature, with specific foci on the depiction of technology and risk in China Miéville’s “The Scar”; culture and identity in Terry Pratchett’s “Nation”; and memory and repression in Kazuo Ishiguro’s “The Buried Giant”. The study finds that while the worldviews the novels espouse with regard to their attitude to knowledge differ considerably, they all contain the general notion that knowledge can be dangerous, in that the discovery or revelation of hitherto secret knowledge threatens the stability of the society itself or the personhood of individuals. Knowledge conflicts are staged by means of contrasting worldviews, which are realized through the novels’ character systems. This particularly pertains to the questions of whether it is better to remember or to forget, and whether the old or the new society is to be preferred. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 9 2. Literature and knowledge 13 2.1 Preliminary considerations 14 2.2 Ways of conceptualizing the relationship between literature and knowledge 15 2.3 Knowledge as a theme of fantasy literature 19 3. Fantasy and genre 23 3.1 Defining fantasy 24 3.2 Fantasy and structuralism 26 3.2.1 Fantasy as mode, genre, and formula 29 3.2.2 Fantasy, structuralism, and character knowledge 30 3.3 Rhetorics of fantasy 32 3.3.1 The narrative trajectory of the portal-quest fantasy 33 3.4 Conclusion: Theorizing fantasy 35 4. Narratology 37 4.1 Characte 37 4.1.1 Character knowledge 39 4.2 Plot 43 4.2.1 Story, plot, and fantasy 44 4.3 Space 45 4.3.1 The division of narrative space 48 4.4 Conclusion: Narratology 49 5. The literary realization of individual and collective knowledge 51 5.1 Memory in literature 52 5.1.1 Collective memory: Communicative and cultural memory 53 5.1.2 The rhetoric of collective memory 55 5.2 Orality in literature 57 5.2.1 The constitution and forms of oral knowledge 58 5.2.2 The thematic integration of oral knowledge 60 5.3 Conclusion: Memory and orality in literature 63 6. The analytical schema 65 7. China Miéville’s “The Scar” 69 7.1 Character knowledge in “The Scar” 71 7.1.1 Krüach Aum 73 7.1.2 Bellis Coldwine 75 7.2 The public discourse of knowledge 79 7.3 Reality and perception 81 7.4 Places of knowledge 85 7.4.1 Armada 85 7.4.2 Grand Gears Library 88 7.4.3 The island of the anophelii 91 7.5 Interim conclusion: Knowledge in “The Scar” 95 8. Terry Pratchett’s “Nation” 97 8.1 Character knowledge in “Nation” 99 8.1.1 Mau 100 8.1.2 Daphne 108 8.2 Orality and story-telling in “Nation” 117 8.2.1 Pilu 122 8.3 Collective memory and identity 124 8.4 The reconciliation of science and belief 131 8.5 Interim conclusion: Knowledge in “Nation” 136 9. Kazuo Ishiguro’s “The Buried Giant” 137 9.1 Character knowledge in “The Buried Giant” 141 9.1.1 Wistan and Gawain 142 9.1.2 Axl and Beatrice 144 9.2 Orality and story-telling in “The Buried Giant” 150 9.3 Places of memory 156 9.4 Exhuming in the darkness 159 9.4.1 Awakening in the light 163 9.5 Interim conclusion: Knowledge in “The Buried Giant” 165 10. Conclusion 167 Works Cited 171