by GGK on Jul.03, 2010, under Guy Gavriel Kay
The World Cup is proving a distraction, as it does every four years. I’ve been a fan of the Dutch for a long time, and no changes this year.
But shifting more on-topic, here’s a question: what can fantasy do, in treating ‘history’ that straightforward historical fiction can’t, or tends not to? I’ve argued this at length for years, but a couple of quick points here might work as a kind of Sparks Notes version.
Spinning history slightly to fantasy can work to universalize a story. Take it out of very specific context and permit the reader to ‘see’ the themes and motifs as more widely applicable. (This also operates, sometimes, to reduce the limiting effects of prejudice or assumptions about a given culture.)
Fantasy removes what I have argued is an ethical problem in treating real lives as fodder for fiction. The idea that because it is ‘just a novel’ the author can do whatever he or she wants with real people, or chronology, or cultures. The fantasy spin offers an up-front declaration that the real setting and characters are inspiring the novel, but the book doesn’t pretend to tell us what Anne or Mary Boleyn or Empress Theodora was like (or liked) in bed.
In this way, I argue, using the screen or prism of the fantastic shows respect for the actual people and culture.
Finally (as I mentioned briefly in an earlier post) fantasy permits the writer to present the world of the story as if it really is the way the characters believe it to be. This can shake us free of the complacent smugness often embedded in presentations of what people once believed. In straight historical fiction the reader might be amused, or made to feel superior, by seeing characters seek magical aid from talismans or tablets, or believing there are faeries or pagan powers in the forest. In a fantasy novel that gives value to these beliefs, the world view is respected and the reader might come to understand it more comprehensively.
Though understanding how Argentina lost 4-0 today will be a little harder.
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July 3rd, 2010 on 2:39 pm
The World Cup is a Grand Distraction and recent results heighten the drama.
Speaking of which the drama you conjured in the most overtly professional sporting scenes to be found in your writing - I speak of the chariots in The Sarantine Mosaic - is a favourite.
For me the combination of the races themselves were coloured brightly by the vivid personal dramas of all those involved, participants and spectators alike.
I write this while watching the Tour de France Prologue and find myself slightly annoyed by the colour commentary offering informed opinions (Phil Ligget is an engaging commentator) that take me out of the moment.
This is why I believe the method you describe and use to great effect is a vastly superior experience for the reader. I prefer to lose myself in the story without the nagging thought intruding - “I wonder if they were really like that.”
I have found that books that invite me to suspect outside the scope of the story - which historical fiction, no matter how well written tends to do, lose impact, no matter how salacious their assertions may be.
There are of course exceptions - including a book whose wondrously ludicrous blurb you referenced in a previous blog on bright weavings……….though that is an exception for no reason that is good.
Anyway, back to this moment, the chariots are an element of the Sarantine mosaic and I was wondering - inspired perhaps by the drama of the Mundial - if you might have found a sporting event in times gone by that would be a worthy central theme for a story with your signature quarter turn?
Lastly I have 2 takes on Argentina’s 4-0 loss.
Take 1 - Argentina lost that heavily because until now their talent allowed them to dictate the substance of the game without need of system. Maradona’s cheerleading seemed genuinely inspired because he wasn’t imposing a tactical signature. Instead he was putting out a team of creative players and exhorting them to play.
In Germany, they encountered an equally free flowing team with system,who were confident enough to let Argentina play and disciplined enough to rip them to shreds when they gave up the ball - and I do mean gave up.
Take 2 - As an Australian it was a little gratifying (only MINUTELY) that at least our own 4-0 thumping from the Germans with 10 men for most of the second half and playing a system we had only ever used once in the last 2 years, is slightly less notable if no less painful.
And now for Spain.
Many Thanks for reading.
George.
July 8th, 2010 on 2:41 pm
This octopus is definitely the freshest new psychic
July 9th, 2010 on 1:02 am
Paul is absolutely the greatest prophet …
April 9th, 2011 on 6:21 pm
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