Fantasy Research Topics ?!?!?!

[lissa510]

So, one of the benefits of working at a university (in addition to the free interlibrary loan) is the ability to take courses for free. I talked to one professor and may be doing an independent study on Fantasy Literature.

She wants me to start by picking a topic. SO: If you were going to do some in depth study and research on a theme, sub-genre, or

Comments

[rlg]

and you'd have an excuse to read PS238 and watch The Incredibles ... it's reasearch.

[baronernst]

This is one I could really take off on:
1. How fantasy addresses current social problems.
2. How fantasy addresses bigotry.
3. How fantasy causes us to reexamine our own value set.

Take a look at Raymond Feist's Mistress of the Empire trilogy and you can see examples of all these themes and more. Women's role in society. Culture adaptation and ability to see the world froma different angle.

See? Ya got me started!

[misha_mcg]

The issue of women in fantasy interests me. It seems, to me, that fantasy lags behind society in terms of feminism. Maybe it's more acceptable to fantasy's core base of readers that women still be subserviant homemakers? It seems like fantasy novels either end up with Holly Homemaker or Xena, with few women in between.