/lit/ - Literature

Don't involve me in this...nonsense.

>>20823200
Meds, now!

>>20823200
What's wrong with being a fantasy writer? Many of the greatest works of literature have fantasy elements to them. You have to take into consideration that before Tolkien came around, the common conception of a fantasy novel wasn't elves, orcs and wizards. They were relatively tame, and mostly exaggerated reality. A Midsummer Night's Dream has fantasy elements to it, and there's nothing at all wrong with that--nor should you think that labeling it as such demeans it in any way

>>20823200
I've heard stupider claims, like how Jorge Luis Borges is a fantasy author. At this point, its just fantasyfags wanting to be taking seriously or some stupid shit,

>>20823200
I mean the tempest, a midsummer nights dream, macbeth. Even fucking as you like it. Face it, he’s fantasy

>>20823200
These claims are usually made by retards who don't understand the difference between "fantasy literature" and "literature with fantastic elements" (and if these people do actually understand the difference, they choose to ignore it because they want to lend the fantasy genre more merit by claiming that [insert famous author]'s works were actually fantasy). Surprisingly and dishearteningly, the most vocal of these people are established fantasy authors themselves, most egregiously Terry Pratchett and Patrick Rothfuss.
To clear things up, when they say 'Fantasy literature,' most of the time what they're talking about would more accurately be called 'modern commercial fantasy literature.' Like I said, there is a vast difference between 'modern commercial fantasy literature' and 'literature containing fantastical elements' (Shakespeare's plays and Borges' short stories fall into the latter category, as does the work of a good portion of canonical and 'literary' writers). Michael Moorcock talks about this distinction in 'Wizardry and Wild Romance,' and explains how 'literature with fantastic elements' is a very rich tradition and goes back all the way to the Epic of Gilgamesh and Iliad and the Odyssey, but 'modern commercial fantasy literature' has its roots in the often elaborate, sentimental, melodramatic chivalric romances that were popular in the 14–16th centuries (ironically, the same romances that Cervantes parodies and ridicules in Don Quixote).

>>20823357
I’d say Borges you can make a better case for than Shakespeare, at least

I don't really see the merit in dividing stories about fairies into two separate genres. It's just a bucket for identifying broad narrative similarities, they all have good and bad writers. Is he also not a comedy writer because it would put him in the company of the guy who wrote American Pie?