{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/135461"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/135461","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"(In)humans: Shifting Narratives of Race And Species In Contemporary Fantasy Fiction","abstract":"In this dissertation I interrogate the ways in which the fantasy genre engages with the topic of race, in particular the ways in which it uses the established genre convention of non-human sentient species to tell stories that both critique and reinforce hegemonic narratives of race. I begin with an overview of the fantasy genre's thorny history with race, tracing the timeline from the early days of what is recognizable as the 'modern' fantasy genre (largely beginning with Tolkien) all the way to the present day. My primary focus is on the last several decades (the 21st century) and the ways in which the genre has evolved to be more critical of both its own history with race and the dominant narratives around race in society at large, while still oftentimes being held back by the habits and habitus that it developed in its early days. I examine a wide range of primary sources across different mediums (novels, video games, television series) to demonstrate different strategies employed by contemporary fantasy authors who are interested in engaging critically with race, while also identifying their shortcomings and foibles. In the process I call upon a wide range of theoretical perspectives, from literary theory, to psychology, to Black feminism, Critical race theory, and post-colonial thought. The dissertation concludes with my thoughts on the future of the fantasy genre vis-à-vis race, and the advantages and disadvantages it has for dealing with this topic as a result of the unique history and qualities of the genre.","abstract_html":"In this dissertation I interrogate the ways in which the fantasy genre engages with the topic of race, in particular the ways in which it uses the established genre convention of non-human sentient species to tell stories that both critique and reinforce hegemonic narratives of race. I begin with an overview of the fantasy genre's thorny history with race, tracing the timeline from the early days of what is recognizable as the 'modern' fantasy genre (largely beginning with Tolkien) all the way to the present day. My primary focus is on the last several decades (the 21st century) and the ways in which the genre has evolved to be more critical of both its own history with race and the dominant narratives around race in society at large, while still oftentimes being held back by the habits and habitus that it developed in its early days. I examine a wide range of primary sources across different mediums (novels, video games, television series) to demonstrate different strategies employed by contemporary fantasy authors who are interested in engaging critically with race, while also identifying their shortcomings and foibles. In the process I call upon a wide range of theoretical perspectives, from literary theory, to psychology, to Black feminism, Critical race theory, and post-colonial thought. The dissertation concludes with my thoughts on the future of the fantasy genre vis-à-vis race, and the advantages and disadvantages it has for dealing with this topic as a result of the unique history and qualities of the genre.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mesarovic, Vasilije"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":"Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought","degree_department":"Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Venkatesh, Vinodh"],"committee_members":["Ni, Zhange","Ramirez, Geovani","Weaver-Hightower, Rebecca Anne"],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-05-27","date_published":"2025-05-27","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:56:51Z","subjects":["Fantasy","Race","Warcraft","Broken Earth","Stormlight Archive","Tolkien","Racial coding"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International"],"rights_urls":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:43992"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:43992","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10919/135461","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Venkatesh, Vinodh"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Ni, Zhange","Ramirez, Geovani","Weaver-Hightower, Rebecca Anne"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mesarovic, Vasilije"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-06-11T08:01:27Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-06-11T08:01:27Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-05-27"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Fantasy","Race","Warcraft","Broken Earth","Stormlight Archive","Tolkien","Racial coding"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:43992"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10919/135461"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this dissertation I interrogate the ways in which the fantasy genre engages with the topic of race, in particular the ways in which it uses the established genre convention of non-human sentient species to tell stories that both critique and reinforce hegemonic narratives of race. I begin with an overview of the fantasy genre's thorny history with race, tracing the timeline from the early days of what is recognizable as the 'modern' fantasy genre (largely beginning with Tolkien) all the way to the present day. My primary focus is on the last several decades (the 21st century) and the ways in which the genre has evolved to be more critical of both its own history with race and the dominant narratives around race in society at large, while still oftentimes being held back by the habits and habitus that it developed in its early days. I examine a wide range of primary sources across different mediums (novels, video games, television series) to demonstrate different strategies employed by contemporary fantasy authors who are interested in engaging critically with race, while also identifying their shortcomings and foibles. In the process I call upon a wide range of theoretical perspectives, from literary theory, to psychology, to Black feminism, Critical race theory, and post-colonial thought. The dissertation concludes with my thoughts on the future of the fantasy genre vis-à-vis race, and the advantages and disadvantages it has for dealing with this topic as a result of the unique history and qualities of the genre."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["In this dissertation, I look at popular works of fiction in the contemporary fantasy genre and analyze the ways in which they engage with the topic of race. I specifically look at how this engagement relates to the long history of the fantasy genre with this topic, as well as provide an overview of that history. I argue that contemporary fantasy has changed its approach to tackling race when compared to older works of fantasy, in particular by attempting to avoid some of the racist tropes and narratives that older works of fantasy employed. I also argue that in the process these newer works seem to embrace an entirely different understanding of what \"race\" even means, one more in line with contemporary ideas of race as a socially constructed category weaponized for the maintenance of unjust power structures. By looking at a wide range of fantasy texts belonging to different mediums – books, video games, television series – the dissertation demonstrates different forms of this new, more critical engagement with race. 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In the process I call upon a wide range of theoretical perspectives, from literary theory, to psychology, to Black feminism, Critical race theory, and post-colonial thought. The dissertation concludes with my thoughts on the future of the fantasy genre vis-à-vis race, and the advantages and disadvantages it has for dealing with this topic as a result of the unique history and qualities of the genre."],"dc:description.abstractgeneral":["In this dissertation, I look at popular works of fiction in the contemporary fantasy genre and analyze the ways in which they engage with the topic of race. I specifically look at how this engagement relates to the long history of the fantasy genre with this topic, as well as provide an overview of that history. I argue that contemporary fantasy has changed its approach to tackling race when compared to older works of fantasy, in particular by attempting to avoid some of the racist tropes and narratives that older works of fantasy employed. I also argue that in the process these newer works seem to embrace an entirely different understanding of what \"race\" even means, one more in line with contemporary ideas of race as a socially constructed category weaponized for the maintenance of unjust power structures. By looking at a wide range of fantasy texts belonging to different mediums – books, video games, television series – the dissertation demonstrates different forms of this new, more critical engagement with race. I conclude by offering some prescriptions for the future of the fantasy genre if it wants to avoid reproducing the racist narratives that were common in its past."],"dc:description.degree":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:43992"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10919/135461"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"],"dc:subject":["Fantasy","Race","Warcraft","Broken Earth","Stormlight Archive","Tolkien","Racial coding"],"dc:title":["(In)humans: Shifting Narratives of Race And Species In Contemporary Fantasy Fiction"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought"],"thesis:degree_level":["doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:56:51Z"}