I think about Fantasy like I think about Art
Of all the genre fiction that I adore, Fantasy is my absolute favourite.
While it's the red-headed-step-child of the writing world, for as long as I've been reading, Fantasy has just had its hooks in me. While, like lots of people, I'm a bit tired of the euro-centrism, protagonist as narrator wish fulfillment and bizarre obsession with a very inaccurate re-casting of medieval times, on the whole Fantasy gives me much more than its cliches, tropes and traps.
Last week, I absolutely just plowed through a book about the rigidity of justice and the complexities of hosting judge, jury and executioner in one house (but also the problems of allowing these groups space). This week I am just about finished a book about the insidious problems of money and power being the same thing. These are not fresh takes by any stretch, and they aren't the most insightful takes either, but the use of narrative, character, tweaks to the world and social commentary is really addictive to me.
One of my favourite novels I read last year was Black Sun - this novel is incredible and contains so much about the complexities of colonisation, the legacy of revenge and the inability for personal connection to heal social grief. Every page kicked ass and it felt substantial but really easy.
But, in a way, all these examples legitimise Fantasy on others' terms. It's good because it does things REAL literature does! It's good because it's complex! I hate propping up something unique on someone else's scorecard, that's so shallow. Iit's ok for things to be enjoyable, or fun, or pleasurable on their own terms. Who cares if they aren't performing similarly to a classic, or one of those horribly over-wrought novels about tragedy befalling women (I prefer the ones less over-wrought, personally)? And, to me, the major unique selling point of Fantasy is the prevalence of agency.
Fantasy's conceit is that the characters (or their actions) matter. Really matter. Frodo is just a Hobbit, who happens to be the most impactful dude around. It's the most fundamental thing about Fantasy - more so than magic, dragons, tons of maps at the start of the book, or unnecessarily invented language. The characters, regardless of their skill, position in society, or the problems befalling the world, have agency. What they do ends up mattering - not always for the better (they don't always win, live or save the world) - but they touch something significant, something where the stakes are high. In this way, a Fantasy novel is a bit like a little diorama, it's this un-naturally neat set up that is still impressive, satisfying and curious.
In a lot of ways, that's sort of like the writing and photography I do. I want to make my own little world that, sure, reflects stuff that is universal or real, but there are elements of representation, symbol or just things that are completely made up. A black and white photo is a fantasy - we see our world in colour. This newsletter is a bit of its own little world, where relatively low stakes, and fairly unconsidered writing is enjoyable for its own aims and that's enough (in the real world, that's not enough, and that's ok). I like taking something that is genuinely real (an issue, a feeling, an experience) and re-telling it in a specific way: I give myself agency and authorship; and in this way my actions matter, at least in my little art snow globe.
An old nemesis (my English teacher, Miss Patsch for those who remember her) would bemoan that I, this kid who'd happily read through class, was so into Fantasy. She just couldn't see it as anything but escapism. But, hey, two things:
Isn't ANY fiction escapism? Is Jane Austen not just Victorian cosplay? Is Tim Winton not just nostalgia wrapped in landscape and women who are there but not really present?
Also, if it is escapism, so fucking what? What's wrong with escapism? Day dreaming is escapsim, strategic planning is escapism, memory is escapism. The present is so completely precise almost anything else is escapism, what's the problem?
I'm reminded of these comments because they rattle around in my mind. As a kid I didn't know how to put up a good defense, I just went back to reading. As an adult, one who has continued to make up more worlds (my writing, my art, my publishing business) it seems bizarre to be critical or haughty since the key lesson of Fantasy is to use your agency to do something, or at least try. I can't change the Universe or save the world, but I still have a bubble I can meld and bend. It'd be a shame to forget that, or to not try. Imagination is so crucial, and so is finding ways you can do stuff that feels like it matters. That's what I really get from Fantasy.
So, I'm not here to convince anyone to become a Big Fantasy Fan, I think you should enjoy what you enjoy on its merits. But it's interesting to me that so much of my own choices in life - what to read, what to make, what to enjoy - really privilege agency, fiction and world building. In a way, then, my approach to art is basically informed by my approach to choosing a book: let's find the coolest fucking story.
Little update, I was interviewed over at Open Eye Gallery. I'd love it if you could have a cheeky read, I think I spoke well and they edited it even better :)