“I think that the soul of fantasy—or second-world fantasy at least—is our problematic relationship with nostalgia.”
Context: I don't find fantasy to be more or less suited to philosophical questions than any other genre, really. I think that the soul of fantasy—or second-world fantasy at least—is our problematic relationship with nostalgia. The impulse to return to a golden age seems to be pretty close to the bone, at least in western cultures, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's a human universal. For me, it's tied up with the experience of aging and the impulse to recapture youth. Epic fantasy, I think, takes its power from that. We create golden eras and either celebrate them or—more often—mourn their loss.
Interview with Peter Orullian http://orullian.com/writing/danielabraham_interview.html
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Daniel Abraham 141
speculative fiction writer from the United States 1969Related quotes
“Fantasy is an 'F' word that hopefully the five second delay won't do anything with”
After receiving the Best Picture Oscar for "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" at the 76th Academy Awards
“I have too many fantasies to be a housewife…. I guess I am a fantasy.”
Variant: I have too many fantasies to be a housewife. I guess I am a fantasy.
Where's the Rest of Me? http://books.google.com/books?id=n6pZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22So+much+of+our+profession+is+taken+up+with+pretending%22+%22that+an+actor+must+spend+at+least+half+his+waking+hours+in+fantasy%22&pg=PA6#v=onepage (1965)
1960s
As quoted in An Encyclopedia of Quotations About Music (1981) by Nat Shapiro, p. 194
“They see it for what it is… It is a fantasy world and they understand that completely.”
As quoted in "Success of Harry Potter bowls author over" at CNN.com (21 October 1999) http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9910/21/rowling.intvu/; also quoted in "Urban Legends Reference Pages : Harry Potter" at Snopes.com http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/potter.asp
1990s
Context: I absolutely did not start writing these books to encourage any child into witchcraft. … I'm laughing slightly because to me, the idea is absurd.
I have met thousands of children now, and not even one time has a child come up to me and said, "Ms. Rowling, I'm so glad I've read these books because now I want to be a witch." They see it for what it is... It is a fantasy world and they understand that completely.
Sometimes a Fantasy.
Song lyrics, Glass Houses (1980)
“… fantasy is not practice for what is real—fantasy is the opiate of women.”
Source: Austenland