~~ fantasy vs. fiction.
Sep. 6th, 2005 09:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaTo start with, I'll take pity on those of you who read this lj for an H/D fix (I can only imagine your woe, but)-- I wrote two of the fluffy/snarky marriage(!!) snippets for Aja's ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
the_eros_affair here. One of them -with- Aja. I call it "Untitled Fluffy Snark #2". I wonder if any of you could tell which bits are mine, muwahahaha. ♥
~~
In my creative writing class, we were reading our snippets aloud today, and there was a sentence in one girl's piece: "What is the difference between fantasy and fiction?"
The answer was basically an allegory for how in fantasy, the ugly rough broken spots of reality get smoothed over and swept under the carpet-- basically, fantasy isn't going to be emotionally, empirically 'realistic'.
You know, I was thinking about this, and I suppose it's actually true of how most people fantasize, how they view fantasy-- as an escape (and I realize that yes, for me also it's an escape). It's also the reason a number of 'realistic' writers look down on fantasy: after all, it can't tell you anything real about the world or the people around you. Fantasy is around to -lie-.
It seems like we have largely abandoned the traditional uses of allegory and myth in art; the way of the fairy-tale, the art of telling-without-telling, of telling obliquely, of showing through symbol and archetype and allegorical truth. I'm naturally of the bent that predisposes me to allegorical rather than everyday or 'mundane', empirical truth, so yes, 'fantasy' is just easier for me-- which becomes clear because only one of the snippets I heard in the class was really fantastical, and even that one seemed to look down on fantasy. We as a culture see truth as so cut-and-dry a lot of times-- at least, whenever we're not collectively being superstitious and idolizing authority and power. Well. I suppose it's always been like that.
Though there's a lot of 'filler' fantasy being published, much more than there was 50 years ago, say, and tons more than 100 years ago, most of it seems somewhat... standardized and unimaginative to me. The same old recycled pseudo-medieval tropes, the same old videogame retreads, the same old theme-park atmosphere. With HP, in a lot of ways it mocks the fantasy tropes it uses, but there's something about it-- something about the sheer inventivess and silliness that does hold a sense of wonder, it seems like. Even though it -should- feel recycled, it doesn't; it seems fresh if only because of that sense of... surprise, I suppose. Possibly this is a result of them being written like detective novels along with the largely innocent protagonist, or perhaps I'm just a chump. Whatever it is, I never know what silly/weird/odd/useful/funny thing JKR's magic will do next, in the Potterverse. It's like a bag of magic tricks, base stuff really, but it sparkles in a way most fantasy books just... flicker and glow dully.
Even in fanfic for a fantasy and fanart for a fantasy series like HP, there's not a lot of truly mythical/fantastical or allegorical stuff going on. Most people just write romance (rather than romantic fantasy, say), and what fantasy is there (not counting use of 'helper' spells like love potions or Veritaserum or Apparating or silly things like Veela!Draco-- I'm talking about actually being creative within the fantasy medium) is very... um, out of place somehow. I've seen 'wicca' (used badly), I've seen old Egyptian magic (omg, no), and at best I've seen creative variations on JKR's existing spells. Regardless, for some reason none of those things read as fantasy to me at the time-- just something with fantastical elements. I dunno... maybe it's not that it wasn't fantasy so much as it wasn't very good.
Anyway, I got to thinking about all this after looking at this Michael Whelan fantasy art gallery, which you should all see if you're interested in fantasy/allegorical art at all. Whelan's really a master at his chosen themes, and looking at it would give you a sense of the sort of thing I like to see dealt with in writing, also (and I guess you could also see why it's so rare that I find what I like on that level). Maybe it's just because I'm desperate for art to really mean something; to speak to me on multiple levels, from the most base (mmm, porrrnnn!!) to the most spiritual (allegory, dammit!)
In other words, I'm always looking to see the most unreal premise portrayed in a painstakingly realistic manner-- and that's one reason I love Whelan's approach, I think. It's also why I'm so deeply frustrated with nearly all H/D fics, because once the honeymoon glow wore off, no one was really writing them realistically enough, and my desire to suspend my disbelief for anything other than (a deeper) truth really ebbed.
Or maybe I just really like this picture. And this. And this; and this.... Still and always, I hope.
the_eros_affair here. One of them -with- Aja. I call it "Untitled Fluffy Snark #2". I wonder if any of you could tell which bits are mine, muwahahaha. ♥~~
In my creative writing class, we were reading our snippets aloud today, and there was a sentence in one girl's piece: "What is the difference between fantasy and fiction?"
The answer was basically an allegory for how in fantasy, the ugly rough broken spots of reality get smoothed over and swept under the carpet-- basically, fantasy isn't going to be emotionally, empirically 'realistic'.
You know, I was thinking about this, and I suppose it's actually true of how most people fantasize, how they view fantasy-- as an escape (and I realize that yes, for me also it's an escape). It's also the reason a number of 'realistic' writers look down on fantasy: after all, it can't tell you anything real about the world or the people around you. Fantasy is around to -lie-.
It seems like we have largely abandoned the traditional uses of allegory and myth in art; the way of the fairy-tale, the art of telling-without-telling, of telling obliquely, of showing through symbol and archetype and allegorical truth. I'm naturally of the bent that predisposes me to allegorical rather than everyday or 'mundane', empirical truth, so yes, 'fantasy' is just easier for me-- which becomes clear because only one of the snippets I heard in the class was really fantastical, and even that one seemed to look down on fantasy. We as a culture see truth as so cut-and-dry a lot of times-- at least, whenever we're not collectively being superstitious and idolizing authority and power. Well. I suppose it's always been like that.
Though there's a lot of 'filler' fantasy being published, much more than there was 50 years ago, say, and tons more than 100 years ago, most of it seems somewhat... standardized and unimaginative to me. The same old recycled pseudo-medieval tropes, the same old videogame retreads, the same old theme-park atmosphere. With HP, in a lot of ways it mocks the fantasy tropes it uses, but there's something about it-- something about the sheer inventivess and silliness that does hold a sense of wonder, it seems like. Even though it -should- feel recycled, it doesn't; it seems fresh if only because of that sense of... surprise, I suppose. Possibly this is a result of them being written like detective novels along with the largely innocent protagonist, or perhaps I'm just a chump. Whatever it is, I never know what silly/weird/odd/useful/funny thing JKR's magic will do next, in the Potterverse. It's like a bag of magic tricks, base stuff really, but it sparkles in a way most fantasy books just... flicker and glow dully.
Even in fanfic for a fantasy and fanart for a fantasy series like HP, there's not a lot of truly mythical/fantastical or allegorical stuff going on. Most people just write romance (rather than romantic fantasy, say), and what fantasy is there (not counting use of 'helper' spells like love potions or Veritaserum or Apparating or silly things like Veela!Draco-- I'm talking about actually being creative within the fantasy medium) is very... um, out of place somehow. I've seen 'wicca' (used badly), I've seen old Egyptian magic (omg, no), and at best I've seen creative variations on JKR's existing spells. Regardless, for some reason none of those things read as fantasy to me at the time-- just something with fantastical elements. I dunno... maybe it's not that it wasn't fantasy so much as it wasn't very good.
Anyway, I got to thinking about all this after looking at this Michael Whelan fantasy art gallery, which you should all see if you're interested in fantasy/allegorical art at all. Whelan's really a master at his chosen themes, and looking at it would give you a sense of the sort of thing I like to see dealt with in writing, also (and I guess you could also see why it's so rare that I find what I like on that level). Maybe it's just because I'm desperate for art to really mean something; to speak to me on multiple levels, from the most base (mmm, porrrnnn!!) to the most spiritual (allegory, dammit!)
In other words, I'm always looking to see the most unreal premise portrayed in a painstakingly realistic manner-- and that's one reason I love Whelan's approach, I think. It's also why I'm so deeply frustrated with nearly all H/D fics, because once the honeymoon glow wore off, no one was really writing them realistically enough, and my desire to suspend my disbelief for anything other than (a deeper) truth really ebbed.
Or maybe I just really like this picture. And this. And this; and this.... Still and always, I hope.
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-08 08:49 am (UTC)Ascention as destruction!! That sounds great and tragic. Sort of like the idea/metaphor of Savior As Falling Star (Jesus??) except like, less over-the-top, maybe, I dunno. Not so much martyrdom but being saved by the ephemeral appeals to me. And I've always been obsessed with beauty/hideousness and.... all the rest. From an early, impressionable age, all that :D
It's hard to take Tarot cards too seriously as symbols 'cause they're so layered!! And post-HBP!Draco is like, -begging- to be the Hanged Man, I think. Well, in the best of worlds. Plus! The thing about Tarot symbology is that every mutation is unique and special-- like, you can't 'redo' it, 'cause every little thing changes so much. A personal Tarot would be a very revealing thing of an artist, I think.... Plus, no need to draw them all, just one or two would be amazing :D Not that I'm biased or... anything. Magician!Harry!!! :D Um ^^;;
I think I know what I mean the more I say things-- like, a process of self-analysis. 'Sooo, that's what I mean... huh'. It's good to um, not be alone :D With poems, I'm aware faster than with longer pieces, 'cause I can see them at a glance more and they're more of a single work rather than a hodgepodge. I mean, once you pass something like 30 pages, it's hard to think of the story as just this one thing... it gets away from me, anyway.
I would totally write for a wacked-out AU premise if you drew it, especially if you drew something sequential that gave a timeline or multiple scenes :D :D :D I'm probably not the person to do cybermagic, but the other stuff... glass cages, possibly cowboys, hell, ugly elves.... (cousins of house-elves gone wild in Norway, some migrating to Canada... gone on a vacation to England except there was a war on...) You should definitely try to write for the BB H/D if you have ideas!! I think with me, 'going places' just means going at it for long enough... like, once you reach a certain point, plot either happens naturally, or someone dies :>
I've heard great things about Graham Joyce!! I should really get to that :D
And you should try urban fantasy like Nina Kiriki Hoffman & Emma Bull & Charles deLint :D :D :D ♥
no subject
Date: 2005-09-08 09:48 pm (UTC)I am obsessed with beauty/hideousness and all that... I think, fundamentally, I don't truly believe any of the ultimate dichotomies/dualisms exist in actuality (things like male/female, good/evil, up/down, zero/infinity, beauty/ugliness, etc etc etc). Therefore, I love pushing their boundaries (or flipping them altogether) in real life because, for me, I'm not actually breaking anything... but because of my culture, that pretending can be so powerful. Ohhhh, how I love it, my own little subversions. *glee*
I could do a small series of tarot cards... Hn. I will have to ponder this. :D It'd be fun just to see how much I could surprise people with my choices of characters (notice: subversion. yes, i am obnoxious.)
Poems are easier (so much easier) than fiction, yes. It is the condensing of the thoughts - they are easier to visualize and work with. I have a similar problem with long things. I lose track of what I'm doing. My tentative BB H/D fic is the only thing I've written that, at the length it is, I've been able to keep track of. It's still tight (if amazingly, uneditedingly crappy) and a coherant whole for me, which is very surprising. Even weirder (the whole fic weirds me out - it's actually working *mind boggles) is that I have a plot... it's just that I'm lazy and I have to be in the perfect mood to write it well. Meh meh meh. If I write it fast enough, I might just illustrate the whole thing myself and post it somewhere. :D Heh heh heh.
If you wrote a wacked-out AU story, I completely would illustrate it - chronologically, whatever. Sadly, I leave the US in six weeks (haha, DEADLINES OMG *dies*), so it'd have to be done real soon or wait 'til next summer. :) BUT I WOULD. COWBOYS. CYBERMAGIC. EITHER OR. *glee* Heee. UGLY NORWEGIAN COMMUNIST ELVES TOO OF COURSE.
:) And Graham Joyce is an amazing writer. I've only read too of his books - but the Tooth Fairy. God. The Tooth Fairy. It just. a;weifja;eifa;ieeeeeeeee I need to draw art for that. I've been meaning too. Forever. Gah.
♥ ♥ ♥
(oh, and if you finish or think you'll finish your BB H/D fic before I leave - send me a bit and I'll draw you a BB H/D illustration. I won't be here in February but would still draw something for you that could be posted then. :D)