Phantasms of Hope: The Utopian Function of Fantasy Literature

Fantasy literature has long been considered an inherently conservative genre. However, Ernst Bloch’s Marxist theory of a utopian anticipatory consciousness and his concept of nonsynchronism recognize a progressive, utopian function within the archetypes and allegories of fairy tales, a precursor to modern fantasy. Bloch argues that archetypes are not static entities and can be repurposed to critique the world contemporary to a text’s production. Even archetypes produced under a past mode of production, like those used in fantasy, can therefore be anticipatory and utopian. By extending Bloch’s utopian function to include fantasy and integrating his philosophy with the historical-materialist hermeneutic of Fredric Jameson’s Political Unconscious (1981), I articulate a Marxist reading of the utopian function in the works of William Morris, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Ursula K. Le Guin, demonstrating how the archaic figures and motifs of fantasy texts convey anticipatory glimpses of a utopian future.

Name thesis:degree_name

MA

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Theory and Criticism

Grantor dc:publisher

The University of Western Ontario

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Morgan, Alexander C.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Faflak, Joel

• Fantasy
• Utopia
• Marxism
• Ernst Bloch
• Fredric Jameson
• Archetypes

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/31683

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/31683