Literature Review #1

The Necessity of Dragons and Fairies - James Hamby



Hamby, James. “The Necessity of Dragons and Fairies.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 30,          no. 3, The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, 2019, pp. 412–77


Summary:

This source describes the need for dragons and fairies, even though may people may not necessary believe that these creatures exist. Both creatures are used to explore the natures of humans, fairies as a powerful and better version of ourselves and dragons as the darker side of people. Dragons in particular have varying connotations through their vast reach in cultures. Hamby briefly discuses the 'nature vs culture' point that Martin makes in his book. 


Author:

James Hamby is a writer who has written many scholarly articles discussing and reviewing other people's work. He goes into a deep discussion between three books, making him relatively knowledgable on the topic of dragons and fairies. 


Key Terms:

A key term from this source is 'human psyche'. Hamby discusses a theory in the beginning of his writing that dragons are viewed based on the human psyche, and so are many other creatures. Another key concept is the 'nature vs culture' point, talking about the very opposite interpretation by others. This concept will be discussed in more detail in Martin's book.


Three Quotes:

"stories about fantastic persons and monsters, sometimes other-worldly and sometimes jarringly similar to us...[we] experience them vicariously" (412)

"Fairy tales are so fluid and malleable that they may be filled with a number of different meanings and interpreted in myriad ways." (412)

"dragons are a wide-spread phenomenon imbued with deep metaphorical significance" (415)


Value:

This material goes in depth for the reasons for dragons and their differing perception through the cultures. This can connect to the reason why people have been so intrigued and interested in dragons for centuries. The phenomenon the author talks about can also be used to categorize the types of dragon myths I may later come across. 


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