Reconciling the Functions of Tragedy and Fantasy

Abstract

This thesis experiments with concepts of fantasy and tragedy in order to produce knowledge through practice-led research that facilitates an understanding of the links between the genres. It demonstrates that tragedy and fantasy literature are compatible forms that can operate effectively in a self-contained narrative, explicating how eucatastrophe and catharsis perform the same task through the provoking and purging of different emotions. The conclusions of this research support the idea that applying the tragic mode to fantasy can help to critique contemporary socio-political events, as well as to question received versions of history, through the use of tragedies as co-texts to highlight plural subjectivities.
To this end, the thesis attempts to craft a creative narrative that combines elements of both tragedy and fantasy within which the theories and ideas discussed can be tested, effectively providing an example of the compatibility of both genres.