Product Code Database
Escapist fiction, also known as escape fiction, escapist literature, or simply escapism, is fiction that provides escapism by immersing readers in a "new world" created by the author.Galgut, E. (2019). Literary Form and Mentalization. In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychoanalysis (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. The genre aims to compensate for a real world the reader perceives as arbitrary and unpredictable compared to the clear rules of the constructed "new world". Typically, an author of escapist fiction offers structure, rationality and resolution to real world problems throughout their medium. The genre facilitates mentalisation; that is, escapist fiction encourages psychological engagement from the reader. Escapist fiction is often contrasted with realism, which confronts the reader with the harsh reality of war, disease, family dysfunction, crime, foreclosure, death, etc.Crossen, C. (2012). Escapist Fiction. The Wall Street Journal. Eastern Edition. It encompasses a number of different genres within it; any fiction that immerses the reader into a world different from their own is fundamentally escapist fiction.MasterClass. (2021). What is Speculative Fiction? Defining and Understanding the Different Genres of Speculative Fiction. Escapist literature aims to give readers imaginative entertainment rather than to address contemporary issues and provoke serious and critical thoughts.Hasa. (2016). What Is Escapist Literature. Pediaa.com.
Historically, the arts, and literature in particular, have been acknowledged for its ability to distract readers from the hardships of reality. During the Great Depression, readers turned to escapist fiction as it provided them a mental escape from the bleakness of the economy during that period of time.Cappello, M. (2017). How We Escape It: An Essay. JSTOR Daily. Fiction books and novels were an affordable and easy means for readers to escape into another world, so people used escapist fiction to provide them with a temporary psychological escape from the realities of their world.
Labelling a work "escapist fiction" can be to minimise it. Those who defend works described as escapist either assert that they are not escapist—for example, that a science fiction novel's satiric aspects address real life—or defend the notion of "escape" as such, not "escapism".
Escapist fiction does not have a formal literary definition and can variously be used as a synonym for genre fiction, commercial fiction, popular fiction, or formula fiction. Genres that can function as escapist fiction include:
J. R. R. Tolkien, a linguistic scholar, is one of the essential figures in escapist fiction. He is the author of The Lord of the Rings, which is a classic example of escapist fiction. He wrote it to illustrate the meaning of his essay "On Fairy-Stories". He admitted that fairy stories were something of an escape, he believed people should be provided an escape from the world of factories, machine guns and bombs.Special to The New York Times. (1973). J. R. R. Tolkien Dead at 81; Wrote Lord of the Rings: Creator of a World Escapist Literature. New York Times (1923-Current File), p. 18-. Though fairy-stories are by no means the only medium of escape, they are one of the more obvious and (to some) outrageous forms of "escapist" literature.Tolkien, J. R. R. (1947). On Fairy Stories. Essays Presented to Charles Williams. The popular titles such as the Harry Potter series by written by J. K. Rowling, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, are examples of escapist fiction. Each of these novels allow the reader to essentially escape into a fantasy world that is not their own. It can be argued that these novels, and similar novels, add to the understanding that escapist fiction is not a negative thing stating that literary fiction critics misunderstood the term as denial or evasion of real life issues instead of layered and complex way of looking at the world and that escapism and realism are not mutually exclusive. Literary or Not - The Reality of Escapist Fiction — The Missing Slate
These novels can provide readers with a moral compass or teach them lessons, they can be interpreted as a medium to represent and overcome an individual's personal fears, shortcomings, and, at times the need for this "escape". The secondary world, or fantastical one, is something that closely mirrors the primary one and would not be successful or satisfying if readers could not imagine it as realistic and relatable.Mazour, A. (2018). The Reality of Escape in Fantasy. Honors Theses, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 54. Escapist fiction employs narrative strategies that engage and immerse readers whilst also distancing reader from their world and society. Escapist fiction seeks to engage readers in reflective and inquisitive processes encouraging readers to question and challenge their own cultural and social realities. A key element in escapist fiction is using techniques that encourage readers to enter into a new world whilst dually constructing a position of critical engagement. That is, a position whereby readers are encouraged to think critically and reflect upon contemporary social ideologies; identity, agency, the environment, social constructs, politics etc.
The designation of escape in literature, known as escapist fiction, dates back to the 1930s. The word "escapism" was born in the 1930s and grew rapidly in usage. In the 1940s and the 1950s the term escapism in terms of literature was largely criticised. In the 1960s and 1970s the concept of "escape" in literature emerged as a mode of dealing with imperfect existence where the reader could temporarily escape reality. The conceptual idea and intention of escapist literature is to erase difference and to free readers of the intricacies and responsibilities of historical specificity.
On the other hand, some literary critics hold escapist fiction in high regard, expressing it as a genre possessing a thematic depth and ideological complexity that is both appealing to readers and influential. These people argue against the negative connotations associated with escapist fiction. They argue that through encouraging readers to "escape" escapist fiction has the ability to position its readers to be perceptive to didactic and potentially formative ideological assumptions. Those who advocate for escapist fiction as a genre believe it holds a formative value for adolescents as they mature and can therefore offer similar socialising value to readers. For a long time creators and consumers of escapist fiction have been placed (and still are placed) in a position of inferiority, therefore, escapist fiction is an excluded genre from recognition and scholarship.Ravasi, M. (2019). 'Getting Constructively Lost:' Narratives of Escapism in Contemporary American Fiction. Department of English Literature, University of Reading. The ideological views presented in escapist fiction are often implicit, that is, representations throughout escapist literature are informed and structured according to the accepted cultural and societal constructions.
Escapist literature aims to create a relatable and believable alternate world, where the inhabitants struggle with dilemmas that the reader may encounter. Escapist fiction contains elements of reality, self-improvement and deep-seated truths, and can explore moral and ethical themes within an entertaining medium. There is an intrinsic need for escape that is embedded within humans to maintain sanity, escapist literature allows a window for readers to view historical and instinctual lessons. Escapist fiction can be a representation for how things ought to be in the world, encouraging readers to understand underlying problems and challenges of the real world within the context of an alternate world.
As a multifaceted literary from containing several genres, escapist fiction contains thematic depth and complex ideologies that seek to persuade the reader to reconsider their views of the world. Escapist fiction uses techniques that seek to encourage readers engagement and fulfilment of "escape" through the use of closely focalised narration. The use of present tense narration is also prevalent in escapist fiction as it invites readers to engage directly with character, story and setting. Narration is a significant feature of escapist fiction as it is imperative for maximum engagement, as such, the displacement of readers into another world affects ideological interpellation and interpretations.
|
|
