Political Unconscious of the Fantasy Sub-Genre of Romance

“Burger sets out to examine the social and historical contexts of these influential stories [The Wood Beyond the World, The Lord of the Rings, The Mists of Avalon] in keeping with his conviction that all stories are the products of their historical/political/cultural moments; in order to accomplish this goal, he first very usefully provides such a context for fantasy itself, situating its roots in the medieval romance form and tracing the development. . . a genre history and a methodology of reading which suggest fruitful approaches to the heterogeneous range of contemporary fantasy, as well as a convincing argument for its continuing relevance as cultural production. . . . Burger successfully undertakes a revisionary examination of modern fantasy that demonstrates its ongoing political and social relevance even (or especially) in the face of contemporary Western culture’s technological and instrumental modes of being-in-the-world.” – from the preface by Veronica Hollinger

Table of contents:
Preface by Veronica Hollinger
Introduction
1. The Romance Genre
2. Theoretical Methodology: Fredric Jameson’s Political Unconscious
3. William Morris, the Advent of Fantasy, and Interpretation of The Story of the Glittering Plain and The Wood Beyond the World
4. Overview of Fantasy from 1894 to 1954
5. J. R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, and Interpretation of “The Scouring of the Shire”
6. Overview of Fantasy from 1955 to 1982
7. Interpretation of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon
8. Conclusion
Bibliography; Index