Fall Protection
Andrew Tucker
Honors Thesis
March 31, 2004
Fantasy: A World of Sunshine or Shadow Fantasy literature is an object of considerable controversy, but this controversy is not specifically or uniquely modern. Arguably, fantasy literature has been controversial since its very beginnings in Western Society, though I am by no means certain of when that is, nor is it the aim here to determine it. The controversy regarding fantasy stories exists mainly on two levels. The first, a concern regarding the direct moral and spiritual implications of these stories, is perhaps the one predominantly focused upon today in our society. This is seen in the debate over J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series in which the main character attends a school of witchcraft and wizardry and uses magic to defeat an evil villain. Understandably, Christian parents are concerned about their children reading these stories in which the occult holds such a central position, because the Bible warns against and expressly prohibits any involvement in it, and experimentation with it in real life is extremely dangerous. This concern is well worthy of discussion, but I would like to focus primarily on what I perceive as another historically controversial issue, which is perhaps overlooked today, that of fantasy literature as imaginative experience. Though it is distinct from the first concern, it is not unrelated, and I would even suggest that understanding this debate is key to deciding the previous one. For unless we understand fantasy literature as a medium in the abstract and the nature of the mind’s engagement with it, it seems unlikely that we can determine the effects of any particular story upon the reader, whether or not the series is a “good” or “bad” one on the surface. The concerns regarding the imaginative experience of fantasy literature are multiple. Most often, however, it is criticized as an “escape” from real life, or perhaps more accurately, a “desertion”(Tolkien 76).
Honors Thesis
March 31, 2004
Fantasy: A World of Sunshine or Shadow Fantasy literature is an object of considerable controversy, but this controversy is not specifically or uniquely modern. Arguably, fantasy literature has been controversial since its very beginnings in Western Society, though I am by no means certain of when that is, nor is it the aim here to determine it. The controversy regarding fantasy stories exists mainly on two levels. The first, a concern regarding the direct moral and spiritual implications of these stories, is perhaps the one predominantly focused upon today in our society. This is seen in the debate over J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series in which the main character attends a school of witchcraft and wizardry and uses magic to defeat an evil villain. Understandably, Christian parents are concerned about their children reading these stories in which the occult holds such a central position, because the Bible warns against and expressly prohibits any involvement in it, and experimentation with it in real life is extremely dangerous. This concern is well worthy of discussion, but I would like to focus primarily on what I perceive as another historically controversial issue, which is perhaps overlooked today, that of fantasy literature as imaginative experience. Though it is distinct from the first concern, it is not unrelated, and I would even suggest that understanding this debate is key to deciding the previous one. For unless we understand fantasy literature as a medium in the abstract and the nature of the mind’s engagement with it, it seems unlikely that we can determine the effects of any particular story upon the reader, whether or not the series is a “good” or “bad” one on the surface. The concerns regarding the imaginative experience of fantasy literature are multiple. Most often, however, it is criticized as an “escape” from real life, or perhaps more accurately, a “desertion”(Tolkien 76).
Bibliography: Lewis, C.S. On Stories and Other Essays on Literature. Ed. Walter Hooper. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers: New York, 1966. Lewis, C.S. The Last Battle. The MacMillan Company: New York, 1956. Lewis, C.S. The Vogage of the Dawn Treader. The MacMillan Company: New York, 1952. O’Brien, Michael. A Landscape With Dragons: The Battle for Your Child’s Mind. Ignatius: San Francisco, 1998. Taylor, James. Poetic Knowledge: The Recovery of Education. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1998. Tolkien, J.R.R. “On Fairy-Stories.” Essays Presented to Charles Williams. Ed. C.S. Lewis. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, 1947.