Fantasy and Ecology

Catalog description

In this course, we explore how fantasy literature and film imagine the life we share with others, human and nonhuman. Focusing on modern and contemporary works from Britain and beyond, we consider how fantasy looks beyond what seems most obvious and ordinary and allows for different ways of relating to the world in which we live. We also examine fantasys concern to create beings and ecosystems that do not exist in this world. After exploring the pastoral landscapes and lively beings of classical fantasy (Tolkien), we ask how more recent works engage processes such as climate change through fantasy.