In a blog for The Guardian May 20, author Natasha Pulley did something very naughty. Namely, she said something controversial about the literary genre of fantasy. She argues that the world building found in high fantasy novels post-Tolkien (and, particularly, post-George R.R. Martin) is impossible to accomplish in short fiction. Whut?! Blasphemy, right? | Recent Updates
|
But maybe she’s got a point. Isn’t it natural to reason that the world building that takes up, say, a good 50 percent of a fantasy novel (I’m guessing) simply can’t fit in, say, a 5,000-word short story? Sure. But judging from the comments, I’m guessing that there’s a deeper contention than matters of space.
So what nerve is Pulley poking? I’d say it’s the exclusivity/inclusivity of genre.
And boy do people have #thefeels about genre! But these discussions beg a big question: What is fantasy even for? Let’s consider.
So what nerve is Pulley poking? I’d say it’s the exclusivity/inclusivity of genre.
And boy do people have #thefeels about genre! But these discussions beg a big question: What is fantasy even for? Let’s consider.