MissVanity Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Hi, guys! :)I'm doing a research paper regarding the fantasy genre and its popularity in the recent years. I have to finish it by Friday and as you can see I'm kind of pressed for time. So, you would do me a great favour by answering a couple of questions. Thanks in advance.https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KX8XYnwEcEVMAN-F9LR4agl1TNbzOtbf57Dqeh8Jb0U/viewform Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night's_King Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I just answered your questions. But I want to elaborate two of my answers. Do you think the fantasy genre is looked down upon? - That is really subjective. I know many people who don't like the genre because it's unrealistic and I know many people (mostly academics), who don't like the genre because the prose is mostly bad. But I know many other people who really like the genre. Do you think that the fantasy literature should be made part of the curriculum in elementary and high schools? - That's difficult. When you call books like "The Once and Future King" or "Moby Dick" fantasy, then yes. But if you want to read things like Ice and Fire in school, then no. Like I said above: The prose mostly sucks. GRRM for example is a great storyteller, but not a very good writer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I see you getting a lot of: "25-50, Yes, ASOIAF, LOTR, GOT, imagination, escapism, escapism, yes, yes, yes, yes", around here. How will you use the data points, though? Are you polling other sites and as many people outside internet to get a good sample? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissVanity Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Thank you all for answering. Yes, I'm polling other sites, this is just one of my sources. Most of them are not really related to fantasy, so I'm hoping that the final result will be representative of the general public. I've also handed out a couple of questionnaires at my university. But you are right, escapism seems to be the prevalent answer. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoë Sumra Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I think the genre is looked down upon a lot less than it used to be. I ticked yes for fantasy literature being taught in schools, because while I take Night's King's point above that quite a lot of the genre is badly written, some of it is well written (Mieville is another example, and Le Guin) and some of it is central to our cultural experience over the past seventy or a hundred years. Not every chick lit or thriller or commercial fiction book is taught in schools: the best fiction is taught - much of that having been the genre fiction of its day - and the best fantasy / SF books should fall into the same category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I always have trouble being a "fan" of a whole genre, rather than liking some authors who happen to be writing in that genre, not to mention that the "Fantasy genre" stretches as far as Murakami or Borgès for some, and for others Goodkind is not even in it. I find it awkward to give blanket answers for a multitude of books only linked together in that they contain fantastical elements. I am not a fan of Goodkind, but I quite like Hal Duncan, I find Jim Butcher's prose pedestrian at best, but I find John Crowley's prose awesome, I think that Gene Wolfe's strengths and weaknesses are not Joe Abercrombie's strengths and weaknesses, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Done. Do you think that the success of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and Twilight movies has helped the overall success of the genre? Oh h3ll no. If by success you mean selling a lot of derivative schlock, then yes. If by success you mean new, inventive, challenging books being written, then no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 'fantasy' includes shakespeare, so, yaknow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Rhinos Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 When your genre includes William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Ovid, Dante Alighieri, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, George Orwell, Homer, and Franz Kafka you can't really pretend it isn't taught in school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 I never studied those in school, except maybe Gulliver, can't remember. However I had Vernes or Voltaire, this works too? Annnnd I just noticed Twilight was included in one question, so Mary Shelley is right there too, or Stevenson. If by success you mean new, inventive, challenging books being written, then no.Nevermind that about every author says Tolkien was a big influence. (lord of the ring's success predates the others by many decades) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night's_King Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Done. Do you think that the success of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and Twilight movies has helped the overall success of the genre? Oh h3ll no. If by success you mean selling a lot of derivative schlock, then yes. If by success you mean new, inventive, challenging books being written, then no.I don't think its about new books being written, but about getting people into fantasy. My first books were lotr and hp, it got me into liking fantasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night's_King Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Nevermind that about every author says Tolkien was a big influence. (lord of the ring's success predates the others by many decades)If many means 4, then yes :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 This is an ill-defined survey, so I’m unsure about the validity of your answers. As mentioned above, for some people, fantasy includes Faust. For others its a synonym for urban vampire romance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissVanity Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 I should have specified that this questionnaire is dealing exclusively with modern fantasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_ Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Done. Do you think that the success of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and Twilight movies has helped the overall success of the genre? Oh h3ll no. If by success you mean selling a lot of derivative schlock, then yes. If by success you mean new, inventive, challenging books being written, then no. you are a fool if you think Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings have not helped the genre, go spill your elitist dribble elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Escapism is the genre's great strength, and also its great weakness. It allows the exploration of concepts and "what ifs" (both scientific and moral) without needing to shackle itself to the mundane and the boring. On the other hand, there's the perennial accusation that it is a literary opiate, there to distract and entertain, a genre for people who can't grow up. The accusation is, of course, nonsense, but some people are uncomfortable dealing with the abstract, and fantasy is inherently an abstract genre: it's exploring ideas in their most pure form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted01 Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Done. Best of luck! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solmyr Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 I see you getting a lot of: "25-50, Yes, ASOIAF, LOTR, GOT, imagination, escapism, escapism, yes, yes, yes, yes", around here. Hey, stop peaking at my answers! :ph34r: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 you are a fool if you think Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings have not helped the genre, go spill your elitist dribble elsewhere. Well, the question asks if these movies have improved the genre of fantasy. I don't think that they have, as I haven't sensed a great outpouring of new, challenging works of fantasy since these movies came out. Tolkien's books are a different story, as they helped define the genre, but the movies? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissVanity Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Thank you, guys. You've helped me immensely. The only thing that remains now is for me to actually write the paper. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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