First pass at Fantasy Matters proposal

[pegkerr]

(This is 227 words; the maximum is 250):

Flesh, Stone, or Missing Altogether:
The Heart as Embodiment of Humanity in Fantasy Literature

O had I known at early morn Tomlin would from me gone
I would have taken out his heart of flesh,
Put in a heart of stone

In the Author's Afterward to her fantasy novel, Tam Lin, Pamela Dean suggests that the book was about keeping a heart of flesh in a world that wants to put in a heart of stone, and how learning and literature can help their adherents accomplish that. The idea of a heart of flesh versus a heart of stone is a trope that has been used throughout the history of literature, a powerful metaphor which captures something essential about the experience of being engaged with the world, curious, creative, compassionate, vulnerable--in short, being human.

This paper will examine three metaphorical "states of the heart" (flesh, stone, or missing altogether) and explore why fantasy literature in particular is adept in exploring the different ranges of human experience suggested by this flexible metaphor. Examples from the work of Hans Christian Andersen ("The Snow Queen"), Barry Hughart (The Bridge of Birds) and Robin McKinley, among others, will be used to touch upon two advantages particular to the fantasy genre: 1) the illustrative contrast offered by the presence of non-human characters, and 2) the dramatic possibilities inherent in making the metaphor literal.

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Or something. Help me make it pretty? Your comments are very welcome.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

Wow.

That is simply perfect.

And to think you were blocked on this... I think it's fantastic, very descriptive, straight, and clear to the point, and very enticing to your potential audience!

[aome.livejournal.com]

My primary thought is you've given examples of specific works for the first two authors and not for the third, and it looks inconsistent (or that you don't know yet which McKinley book you will use). I would probably either omit the specific works and list just the authors, for now, or be sure to cite specific works for every author you mention.

Otherwise, I can't think of anything else in particular to add. Good luck!

[darius.livejournal.com]

That's a great proposal. I'd only drop the numbers '1)' and '2)' as I think they're a bit distracting.

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

Very clean, readable, and intriguing -- I'd love to hear more.

For the McKinley example, I'd go with the later "Sunshine" or earlier "Beauty" (not "Deerskin," which squicks me right out the door, frex).

[gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com]

It's a great topic, and a great abstract.

I've been thinking about this in terms of the 7th Potter book, too, because the division of the soul thing she's got going here is really a variation on the "Heartless Giant" trope, where the villain can't die because he has separated his life-force from his body. The idea of protecting one's heart by divorcing from it, and then in turn becoming "heartless" and cruel, without pity, or simply emotionless, is an age-old theme and one that does get picked up in fantasy lit very often.

You're really onto something - you'll have a rich field to mine for the presentation, too. It's one of those proposals that instantly jumps out at the reviewer and makes one think that in the putting it together, you'll add even more to it!

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Did you see my earlier post where I considered the trope as it applied to Snape? This was eventually broadcast as part of snapecast Episode 13.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Cool topic. I'd want to attend it, given this description.

One of my earliest out-of-context literary memories is of a fairy tale with a character whose heart was bound with an iron band, making him unable to feel. Eventually he has a profound emotional experience that touches his heart so deeply that his heart expands and breaks the iron band and he is healed. Oddly enough, I don't remember anything else about the story, which was one I listened to over and over on a wire recorder in my preschool years.

I think that suggests what a primal and powerful image this is (although I note that hearts bound with iron bands are not technically within the scope of your proposal. Perhaps they should be.)

Does anybody reading this recognize the story?

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

I know it as The Frog Prince, or Iron Henry. Here's a version (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/frogking.html).

[volkhvoi.livejournal.com]

In Snow White, the queen sends a huntsman to kill Snow White and bring her heart back to the queen.

A google search will bring up stories: Gorkii's Danko's Burning Heart (http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070625212724AAiMnE6/), and Winter (http://zwiker.blogspot.com/2007/03/winter-adapted-from-traditional-russian.html/).

This is a link to an example website (http://www.example.com/)