Portals of Power: Magical Agency and Transformation in Literary FantasyFantasy writing, like literature in general, provides a powerful vehicle for challenging the status quo. Via symbolism, imagery and supernaturalism, fantasy constructs secondary-world narratives that both mirror and critique the political paradigms of our own world. This critical work explores the role of the portal in fantasy, investigating the ways in which magical nexus points and movement between worlds are used to illustrate real-world power dynamics, especially those impacting women and children. Through an examination of high and low fantasy, fairy tales, children's literature, the Gothic, and science fiction, the portal is identified as a living being, place or magical object of profound metaphorical and cultural significance. |
Contents
| 1 | |
Introduction | 5 |
Women and Other Magical Creatures | 21 |
Charms Places and Little Girls | 61 |
Haunted Houses and the Hidden Self | 101 |
Haunting History | 141 |
Chapter Notes | 203 |
| 205 | |
| 213 | |
Other editions - View all
Portals of Power: Magical Agency and Transformation in Literary Fantasy Lori M. Campbell No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
adult Amulet Aragorn Barrie becomes belief beloved Brown Owl Burnett chapter characters child Colin culture Darling death Deathly Hallows defines Diana Wynne Jones Dorian Dumbledore emphasis added Faërie fairy Fairy-Stories fairy-tale princess fantasists father female fiction finds Ford Ford's Frodo Gaiman Galadriel Gandalf gender genre ghost girl Gollum gothic Harry Potter Harry's hero Hodgson Horcrux human idea imagination in-between Ismara J.K. Rowling Jane journey Lilith literary fantasy living LotR Mabel magical agency Maid and Mistress male Mary medieval Merrymineral Middle-earth mirror Morris Morris's narrator Neil Gaiman Nesbit one-world past Pensieve Peter Pan Portals of Power porter status portrayal position provides Ptolemy's Gate quest real world realm Ring Roddy role Romantic Rowling Rowling's Saruman Sauron says Secret Garden social society space stereotypically story supernatural symbolic tale tion Tolkien traditional transformation Victorian Voldemort Walter Wendy Wharton Wilde wizarding world woman women Wood writer