1. How does Tolkien (1964) define fantasy Compare and contrast this to the other definitions from last week’s reader.

2. Is Tolkien’s notion of the ‘faery story’ linked to fantasy genre? How closely?

3. What parallels can you find between A Wizard of Earthsea and the Harry Potter franchise?

4. What other influences does Burn (2005) suggest for Harry Potter?

5. How does the fantasy genre relate to modern media such as video games?

6. Why does the religious right in the US condemn fantasy, according to Cockrell (2004)? On what grounds does Cockrell defend fantasy literature, using Harry Potter as example?

Hi Rachel and Binna

I'm going to answer the first two questions.

Tolkien (1964) defines Fantasy in its older and higher use as making images by mental power, and in order to give creditability to these images or as he says “the inner consistency of reality”, a Secondary World which it’s found in should be created. This world is of course not our primary world and completely different, “imaginary world”. An example is given by him, that everyone has human language can say “the green sun” and then many people can imagine it, but that is not enough to produce fantasy, what is required is to make a Secondary World inside which the green sun will be credible”, and of course making this Secondary World need many requirements, one of the most important are special skills, secondary belief, labour and thought. I think this definition is very close to Attebery’s (1980) definition of Fantasy as “a narrative that it presents the persuasive establishment and development of impossibility, an arbitrary construct of the mind with all under the control of logic and rhetoric”. In relation to the second question the notion of faery- stories according to Tolkien is, “a fairy-story is one which touches on or uses faeris, whatever its own main purpose may be: satire, adventure, morality, fantasy. Faerie itself may perhaps most nearly be translated by Magic-but it is magic of a peculiar mood and power..”.. Therefore, Tolkien’s notion of the “faery story” is tightly linked to fantasy genre, both of them a narrative genre which need the language and the mental power to be produced. Tolkien (1964) says “But faery-stories offer also, in a peculiar degree or mode, these things: Fantasy, Recovery, Escape, ..”, so in a specific situations and mode faery-stories might produce fantasy.

In relation to question three there are many similarities even though they are different sub-genres of fantasy. A Wizard of Earthsea being High Fantasy and Harry Potter being low Fantasy. I guess the most obvious example is looking at the protaganist in both stories, Ged and Harry both grow up without any real parental direction, both discover at an early age that they have an innate ability for magic. Both in order to further their magic attend a school of magic where they excell. Both of the boys get into mischief and both of the boys owe much to their headmasters with Archmage and Dumbledore both dieing before the boys must face their biggest challenge. In addition both of the boys have helpers that support them in their final challenges ie. Vetch and Ron.
This intertextuality is crucial to the success of the Potter franchise, according to Burn(2005) , "the most marked feature of the children's awareness, unsurprisingly, is their relation of Harry Potter to other texts current in their popular culture" (pg. 15). What i find even more interesting is what Attebury (1980) states "No important work of fantasy written after Tolkien is free of his influence" (pg. 8) Both of these books have many similarites with the works of Tolkien.
I believe that one of the main reasons for this is the prescription to Jung's archetypes and the 'collective unconscious'. Many od these archtypes can be found within both of these stories and when added Volger's (1998) three act structure there are very similar storylines.

I found this on the net in relation to Jungs archtypes and Volger's three act structure. Its not Wizard of Earthsea but it is still quite amusing.
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/05/08/harry-potter-and-star-wars/.
I can't get blogger comments to let me hyperlink so you'll have to copy and paste on the address bar. Sorry but it's worth the look I think.

Hi Rachel
In addition to what you mentioned about the similarities between Harry Potter and A Wizard of Earthsea that both Harry and Den is orphan or has no normal childhood, also both of them has inherited supernatural power “magical power”, Harry from his parents as his mum was witch and his dad was wizard, Den from his aunt who is the village’s witch. Their magical power were discovered before they join the school of magic, Den when he repeated a spell he heard from his aunt and made all the sheep come around him, Harry by some event that happened in his aunt’s house ‘ I can’t remember them”. Before they join the school Hagrid was looking after Harry and supporting him in the school, Ogion was looking after Den and was teaching him how to be patient and wise, in the school Harry has enemies and friends, Den also has enemy “Jasper” and has friend “Vetch”, also both of them has their main fight with unknown enemy in isolated place, Harry in the forest and Den in the sea, they both struggle and then succeed in the end. I think these similarities are because most of the fantasy narratives if not all organised around the same structures as Paul explained to us last session.

Hello Rachel and Saja =)
Finally I’m back (Lol) but there are lots of things to catch up 

Saja I agree with you about the similarities between Harry Potter and A Wizard of Earthsea. They are orphans, they have extraordinary power and they become brave as stories proceed. For example, Harry Potter got the power from Voldmort when his parents were killed and he became not only more brave but also a man of strong faith.

I also think Harry potter influences in many areas and includes many literary elements, I guess that’s why Harry potter is became popular not only among the Children but also adult. Nicholas Tucked (1999) states that Harry Potter makes look backwards in time to their sources in folktale and children’s literature: to the orphan changeling stories of fairytale and of Frances Hodgson Burnett; to the magical characters and anthropomorphic animals of Victorian and Edwardian children’s literature, form the Princess and the Goblin to The Phoenix and the Carpet; to the portals and parallel worlds of the Chronicles of Narnia; to boarding-school stories from Tom Brown’s Schooldays to Jennings Goes to School; to the obsession with tuck in the post-war stories of Enid Blyton.(Burn. 2005, CL)

In relation to question 5, I think the Fantasy Genre is the easiest one to adapt to modern media. We can no longer afford to see literature as an entirely distinct mode and culture, with its own distinct literacy, as early studies of the relation between games and writing show. (Burn. 2005, CL) Burn further argues, the books have grown into a cross-media craze, in which children’s engagement extends across novels, films computer games, the internet, and a range of merchandise worthy of Star Wars. In addition, the question of whether games influence books or the other way round is perhaps debatable in this case: Tolkien’s stories have maps, lists, puzzles and so on: The Lord of the Rings gave rise to one of the most popular of modern game-genres.

Marie-Laure Ryan (2001) notice that some stories are ideally adapted to serve as the basis of games (Burn.2005, CL) According to Burn (2005), Harry Potter essentially like the fairytale proxy for the child, pleasurable because he offers at least a fantasy of power in a world run by adults. I think this fact -not only for HP but also the other fantasy genre- attracts Child or Readers to play the video games. The fantasy genre based game offers the world that we only can imagine and the most important thing is we are able to experience the adventure as a hero. I used to play the fantasy game (but it was not based on literature) called Diablo when I was a college student. It was really awesome because I felt just as I really became a hero in that world ^-^;; I could handle the story; use magical power and during master the quests, I deeply absorbed in the story. BUT it wasn’t easy to return to real life after play the game. I think this is really huge problem among teenagers which could call violence and social crimes. Few years ago, in Korea, one teenager killed his younger brother with an axe cruelly; he imitated Diablo in the real life. He testified that he did it without any sting of conscience and he still can’t realize what he has done.

In relation to question 4, i think Binna alluded to it in answering question 5 as they are one and the same almost i think. According to Burn "on the other hand ... they [harry potter books] are also rooted in the contemporary moment" (par. 1). He goes on further to say that "they contain structures influenced, above all, by the images and practises of video-games" (par. 1). I think that this is an interesting point because the Potter oeuvre relies on contemporary culture but has created a vast world of contemporary culture itself. Burns states that "the books have grown into a cross-media craze, in which children's engagement extends across novels, films, computer games the internet, and a range of merchandise worthy of Star Wars" (par. 2).
I think that you made a great point Binna that the enjoyment comes from being able to "experience the adventure as a hero" what kid doesn't want to be a hero, and like you mentioned it can be incredibly addicting, my nephew can spend literally 8 hours on computer games and has a hard time coming back to reality.

Hi Rachel and Binna
in relation to question 6, according to Cockrell (2006) the religious right in the US attacks fantasy, in particular Harry Potter, because they think that Harry Potter is written purposely to teach children magic and destroy their spiritual welfare. They say that Harry Potter encourage children to behave rudely with their parents and they say that it is not a kind of literature but a manual for evil arts, especially that the world of Harry Potter is our current world and current time. Also, another point that made the Christian fundamentalist attack Harry Potter is that the world of Harry Potter is not still which is against the religious instruction that the world is still and unchanging. However, Cockrell defends Harry Potter and says that there are other unwanted influences on children everywhere “Popular culture is everywhere: on television, at the mall, in magazines,…”, so they can’t stop all of these influences. He says that the writer of Harry Potter insists that magic is as any other science should be learnt and studied, He says “Dumbledore makes magic indeed sound like philosophy, and Rowling’s magic, although it may behave like a science, is in itself a mystery, as most advanced science is. There are things in theoretical physics more difficult to imagine that the miracles of the Bible.”