San Antonio College Library

"Transcending arguments over the definition of fantasy literature, [this book] introduces a ... new system of classification for the genre. Utilizing nearly two hundred examplkes of modern fantasy, [the] author ... uses this system to explore how fiction writers construct their fantastic worlds. Mendelsohn posits four categories of fantasy ... that arise out of the relationship of the protagonist to the fantasy world. Using these sets, Mendelsohn...

The story of Gilgamesh, an ancient epic poem written on clay tablets in a cuneiform alphabet, is as fascinating and moving as it is crucial to our ability to fathom the time and the place in which it was written. Gardner's version restores the poetry of the text and the lyricism that is lost in the earlier, almost scientific renderings. The principal theme of the poem is a familiar one: man's persistent and hopeless quest for immortality. It tells...

"In a political system that renders them largely voiceless, Australia's Aboriginal people have used the written word as a powerful tool for over two hundred years. Anthology of Australian Aboriginal Literature presents a rich panorama of Aboriginal culture, history, and life through the writings of some of the great Australian Aboriginal authors. From Bennelong's 1796 letter to contemporary writing, Anita Heiss and Peter Minter have selected works...

The quality of today's literary writing arouses the strongest opinions. For novelist and critic Gabriel Josipovici, the contemporary novel in English is profoundly disappointing--a poor relation of its groundbreaking Modernist forebears. This agile and passionate book asks why. Modernism, Josipovici suggests, is only superficially a reaction to industrialization of a revolution in diction and form; essentially, it is art arriving at a consciousness...

A comprehensive guide to the English novelist includes a chronology of his life, summaries of each of his works, and entries on major characters, important places, and relevant literary terms.

"In this comprehensive study, Jamie Williamson traces the literary history of the fantasy genre from the eighteenth century to its formation following the success of Tolkien's work in the 1960s. While some studies have engaged with related material, there has been no extended study specifically exploring the roots of this now-beloved genre. Using the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series (1969-74) as the touch point in identifying what Williamson terms...

"The story of Helen of Troy has its origins in ancient Greek epic and didactic poetry, more than 2500 years ago, but it remains one of the world's most galvanizing myths about the destructive power of beauty. Much like the ancient Greeks, our own relationship to female beauty is deeply ambivalent, fraught with both desire and danger. We worship and fear it, advertise it everywhere yet try desperately to control and contain it. No other myth evocatively...

"This book explores the modern dreamscape of present-day fantasy, using the ancient myths and traditional fairytales as guides and shining the light of psychological insight onto every symbolic figure and theme encountered. Chapters are dedicated to archetypes: heroes and princesses, fairy godmothers and evil witches, wizards and dark lords, magic, and magical beasts are all explored"--Provided by publisher.