Warum Fantasy?
Fantasy beschwört längst nicht mehr schwarzweisse Weltbilder. Das Genre ist heute zu einem Reflexionsraum von Gegenwart und ihren Geschichten geworden.
Tag: fantasy
Choosing Your Own Adventure: My Life as a Teenage Dungeon Master and How It Prepared Me to Become an Anthropologist
In many ways, Dungeon Masters are the ethnographers of their own worlds. Granted, we’re not exactly interviewing the people who populate them, and we’re inventing most of the…
Book Review: The Truths of Monsters
By Vivian Asimos Limpár, Ildikó (2021) The truths of monsters: coming of age with fantastic media. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. Positioned in the intersections of Monster…
Doctor Strange. Das Multiversum erzählen
Seit ein paar Tagen läuft der neue Marvel-Film „Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness“ im Kino. In seiner Verbindung aller möglichen Superheld:innen-Welten treibt er das filmische Erzählen…
Mattias van Ommen takes the page 99 test
Page 99 of my dissertation contains a theoretical discussion on fantasy, situated in arguably the least ethnographic of chapters. The dissertation itself is about Japanese players of the…
J.K. Rowling und die Sehnsucht nach der heilen Welt der sauberen Kategorien
J.K. Rowling steht massiv in der Kritik: Die Autorin der Harry Potter-Romane hatte wiederholt Cisfrauen gegen Transfrauen ausgespielt. Nach Erscheinen des neuen Krimis Troubled Blood wird diskutiert, …
Anthropologists and Dragons
I surprised myself by not hesitating. Spinning around, I headed straight back toward one of those that had followed us into the alley—a woman in dark robes, eyes…
Saying No to the CIA… and Other Anth Fantasies
It doesn’t go without saying, so I’ll say it: I’ve never worked for the CIA, or done any intelligence or security work of any kind, nor would I.…
Of Fantasy and Daughters
I recently had the excellent fortune to guest blog on The Horn Book’s new venture: Family Reading about my love of reading fantasy, and sharing the books with my…
Magical Maladies and Injuries: Cultural Appropriation in J. K. Rowling’s Ilvermorny
Although the final book in the Harry Potter saga, The Deathly Hallows, was published almost a decade ago, J. K. Rowling has been quietly building the Harry Potter…
Game of Spoilers: A Spoiler-Free Investigation into the Role of Experience in Fandom
By Emily Jackson After surviving the long winter, fans of the HBO hit series Game of Thrones celebrated the premiere of season 6 this Sunday, April 24th. The…
The Written World: Using Fantasy Literature To Understand Culture
By Dana Burton Close your eyes, don’t read another word, and imagine the scene of your favorite fantasy book. Think about the details that make it vivid –…
Storytelling and Worldbuilding in The Force Awakens
By Nicholas Mizer Last month Salon posted an insightful article by Gerry Canavan, an assistant professor of English at Marquette University. Canavan talks about similarities between Star Wars:…
2015 in Review: Geek Girls and Gender
By Emma Louise Backe For several years, TGA founder Marie-Pierre has been conducting research on the fraudulent phenomenon of “fake geek girls,” a category of women who ostensibly…
The Many Roles of Popular Culture in Therapy
By Peter Olthoff As many therapists will tell you, if you cannot build rapport with the client, if you cannot establish a solid therapeutic relationship, then you simply…
It’s not just about Chinese migrant workers
Chinese female migrant workers working in a local reflective vest workshop. Photo by Xinyuan Wang A question always strikes me as I write up ethnography and prepare for…