The guiding question of this study is how the theme of knowledge is realized in the genre of
fantasy. Drawing from the research fields of literature and knowledge theory of fantasy
narratology and memory orality studies CHINA MIÉVILLE TERRY PRATCHETT KAZUO ISHIGURO AND
THE AMBIVALENCE OF KNOWING: AN ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR THE REPRESENTATION OF KNOWLEDGE IN FANTASY
LITERATURE furthermore investigates how societal struggles over knowledge are negotiated in
contemporary fantasy literature with specific foci on the depiction of technology and risk in
China Miéville's The Scar culture and identity in Terry Pratchett's Nation and memory and
repression in Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant. The study finds that while the worldviews the
novels espouse with regard to their attitude to knowledge differ considerably they all contain
the general notion that knowledge can be dangerous in that the discovery or revelation of
hitherto secret knowledge threatens the stability of the society itself or the personhood of
individuals. Knowledge conflicts are staged by means of contrasting worldviews which are
realized through the novels' character systems. This particularly pertains to the questions of
whether it is better to remember or to forget and whether the old or the new society is to be
preferred. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction9 2. Literature and knowledge13 2.1 Preliminary
considerations14 2.2 Ways of conceptualizing the relationship between literature and
knowledge15 2.3 Knowledge as a theme of fantasy literature19 3. Fantasy and genre23 3.1
Defining fantasy24 3.2 Fantasy and structuralism26 3.2.1 Fantasy as mode genre and formula29
3.2.2 Fantasy structuralism and character knowledge30 3.3 Rhetorics of fantasy32 3.3.1 The
narrative trajectory of the portal-quest fantasy33 3.4 Conclusion: Theorizing fantasy35 4.
Narratology37 4.1 Characte37 4.1.1 Character knowledge39 4.2 Plot43 4.2.1 Story plot and
fantasy44 4.3 Space45 4.3.1 The division of narrative space48 4.4 Conclusion: Narratology49 5.
The literary realization of individual and collective knowledge51 5.1 Memory in literature52
5.1.1 Collective memory: Communicative and cultural memory53 5.1.2 The rhetoric of collective
memory55 5.2 Orality in literature57 5.2.1 The constitution and forms of oral knowledge58 5.2.2
The thematic integration of oral knowledge60 5.3 Conclusion: Memory and orality in literature63
6. The analytical schema65 7. China Miéville's The Scar69 7.1 Character knowledge in The Scar71
7.1.1 Krüach Aum73 7.1.2 Bellis Coldwine75 7.2 The public discourse of knowledge79 7.3 Reality
and perception81 7.4 Places of knowledge85 7.4.1 Armada85 7.4.2 Grand Gears Library88 7.4.3 The
island of the anophelii91 7.5 Interim conclusion: Knowledge in The Scar95 8. Terry Pratchett's
Nation97 8.1 Character knowledge in Nation99 8.1.1 Mau100 8.1.2 Daphne108 8.2 Orality and
story-telling in Nation117 8.2.1 Pilu122 8.3 Collective memory and identity124 8.4 The
reconciliation of science and belief131 8.5 Interim conclusion: Knowledge in Nation136 9. Kazuo
Ishiguro's The Buried Giant137 9.1 Character knowledge in The Buried Giant141 9.1.1 Wistan and
Gawain142 9.1.2 Axl and Beatrice144 9.2 Orality and story-telling in The Buried Giant150 9.3
Places of memory156 9.4 Exhuming in the darkness159 9.4.1 Awakening in the light163 9.5 Interim
conclusion: Knowledge in The Buried Giant165 10
