Rhetorics of Fantasy
| Author | Farah Mendlesohn |
|---|---|
| Subject | Fantasy genre, literary theory |
| Publisher | Wesleyan University Press |
Publication date | 2008 (first edition) |
| ISBN | 9-7-808-1956868-7 |
Rhetorics of Fantasy is a non-fiction book by the British academic Farah Mendlesohn. It was published in April 2008 by Wesleyan University Press. In the book, Mendlesohn proposes four categories of fantasy literature: portal quest, immersive, intrusion, and liminal. The discussion for each category includes about twenty novels.
The book was a significant contribution to literary studies, particularly with regard to fantasy and genre fiction. It changed the focus of fantasy scholarship from debates over narrative material to exploring content structurally – considering the reader's experience and expectations alongside those of the protagonist.
Rhetorics of Fantasy won the British Science Fiction Association's 2008 award for Best Non-Fiction in 2008.