The Importance of "Other" in Fantasy

[changeling]

Thoughts in progress.

Rhysenn makes some comments about the importance of real-world place for fantasy stories.

Australian fantasy... the idea of setting one at Melbourne -> old buildings ->cool, but why not simply set it in Europe? What's the difference?
But what's the alternative? Aboriginal Sacred Sites -> v. unclassy; not in depth, treats a spiritual site with flippancy.
Why not set it in regular Melbourne? Too mundane, too boring.

What do these two settings have in common? Are "other" from the normal. Fantasy by its nature needs "otherness" -> magic vs technology etc; the collision of the mundane and the supernatural.

How can we find the "other" in Australian settings without resorting to the above?


(Just a quick note before bed. Longer entry, as always, to follow. I have So Much To Tell You.)

Comments

[spirail.livejournal.com]

today i had a big hunt and i found the book, so soon ill start reading it

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Excellent. Hope you enjoy it. :D

places.

[celeloriel.livejournal.com]

For some reason you got me on a chatty day. :) Be forewarned.

Australian fantasy... the idea of setting one at Melbourne -> old buildings ->cool, but why not simply set it in Europe? What's the difference?

Well, Australia has a different dynamic and culture than Europe. I mean, you can't hop a train to France from Sydney, and that changes things. But, NZ is right around the corner, and so's Tanzania, and Antartica's close. I know that HP Lovecraft set a lot of stories in Antarctica -- especially given that it's winter I know I'd be semi-freaked and wondering what's sleeping 'neath the ice, so to speak. :)

But what's the alternative? Aboriginal Sacred Sites -> v. unclassy; not in depth, treats a spiritual site with flippancy.
Why not set it in regular Melbourne? Too mundane, too boring.

All of the above are true, but I've got to say that my favorite artists, fantasy or non, take locations that I've thought would be mundane and given them a spin - either fantastic or terrifying. e.g. mall food court, suburban tract house, etc.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

To put this in context: I am a Melburnian, and I am enrolled at Melbourne Uni ("the idea of setting one at Melbourne" was referring to the Uni, not the city).

It does... I must say that I approach fantasy with a very Anglocentric attitude... probably coloured by my BBC cultural binge as a child, and my love of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

My preference is also for urban fantasy, but when I look at the places I want to set it (I'm thinking about Old Arts/Old Law buildings at Melbourne, which is faux-Gothic architecture), I wonder what the point is - why not simply set it in London or similar?

I must say I've never thought of Tanzania being close... more our NZ and our Asian cousins.

I actually just read a short horror story set in Antarctica, and I must now wonder whether it was inspired by Lovecraft... Less mystical than HPL's work, though.

I should get around to making the mundane terrifying... but I'm lazy. *adds to ever-lengthening "to-write" list*

(And you're so not too chatty. :)

whatev.

[xpicturetaken.livejournal.com]

could it be worse than here?
u are interesting

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

I don't think there's anything wrong with Melbourne. I quite like it here. It's actually a post trying to work out how to use Melbourne/Australia within a fantasy setting for writing.

And thanks...