Fun With Genres, a video in which I discuss this book.One of the finest and clearest works of literary criticism I have ever read. A blueprint suggesting how to approach genres, impossible to ignore whether you agree with Todorov's methodology or not. Also great fun to readers outside academia (!).

This is one of the classic academic books on the subject. While it focuses on a small slice of the genre of speculative fiction (Todorov defines the fantastic as a kind of hesitation between deciding whether a supernatural event is real or imagined, rather than uncanny where the event turns out to have a "real world" explanation, or the marvelous, where the supernatural event has a supernatural explanation), there are many points about the genre that carry over into the greater category.He also

I liked his arguments in the first few chapters, but I quickly lost interest in chapter five and onwards.

This essay attempts to define “the fantastic” genre by what I can only define as a process of elimination. By endeavoring to explicate what “it is not”, Todorov not only defines the genre in question, but also sheds light on other, adjacent genre (such as the marvelous, the mysterious and even some styles such as the poetic or the allegorical). It was a very interesting and enlightening read, if a little challenging. It is not, though, an entry level text, because, for all of its clarity, it pre...

It just doesn't get any better than this in the realm of theoretical prose.

An analytical view of the fantastic and its contribution to literature as a whole. I find this book delightfully philosophical about my favorite topic: literature. Todorov's theories about defining the fantastic are direct, correct, and applicable. Sometimes I read things on literary analysis, and I wonder why it matters, but, for some reason, I was completely drawn into Todorov's arguments and never once questioned why I couldn't just enjoy a book for what it's worth and move on. He inspired an...

I had to try this book as I have a paper to write, but more than that, I kept hearing about its "revelatory" powers when it came to this dubious genre called FANTASY. It is a surprisingly short book. It barely fills 200 pages. It is readable. It is not that great as it is too much theory and too little "practicality". There are some critics that are mentioned at times and they are analyzed, but the examples of Fantasy novels are scarce or old or so vague that they get lost in the general foggine...

First 70-80 pages were great. The rest was just bleh.

A frustrating read. Very few parallels are drawn to the fantastic genre and Todorov's rather simple theory is hidden beneath a mountain of academics. Still - most chapters are very good while a few (like chapter VIII) are almost unreadable.

Todorov's comprehensive report on the definition of fantastic literature wrapped in an exhaustive introduction to structuralist narratology is a classic example of structuralist finickiness producing interesting theory of limited practical use. The concepts he introduces are entertaining exercises in mental athletics: In order to qualify as genuine fantastic literature a text has to be right on the edge between the real and imaginary world. The hint of the supernatural and marvelous has to be be...

It was really easy to read, but I absolutely have no use for Todorov's Definition of the Fantastic.

In The Fantastic, Tzvetan Todorov first gives the definition of literary genres, the concepts on which they should be designed and critical view on the genre studies prior to his. It is about the use and abuse of the generic theory since we cannot recognise the uniqueness except as a deviation from some norm. Afterwards, by examining separate fantastic texts narrows down the key concepts of the fantastic and formulates his own definition. While doing so, Todorov also draws structural parallels b...

A beautiful example of the overlap of philosophy and literature; in theoretical shape.Anybody intrigued by the philosophical potentialities of literature, as well as the literary potentialities of philosophy, should read this essay. It might be so Derridaean and deconstructionist as to the point of becoming instantly blasé, but the serious study of literature might indeed be the next step in the development of philosophy. More so than any kind of dry logic ever will. Indeed, logic limits itself

Todorov takes on a double task within this text, to both explore the generic structures of the fantastic, and to challenge previous interpretations of genre, viz. Northrop Frye, in order to develop a structural interpretation of genre and literature. In doing so, he attempts to move away from a static understanding of genre built off of non-literary categories, to produce a dynamic understanding of the structures of literature that builds a vocabulary from its internal dynamics. This itself dra

Recommended to me by my PhD supervisor, Professor Lucie Armitt, I cannot believe that I haven’t encountered this work until now.It’s been a revelation. It offers a compelling analysis of the Fantastic as a genre with much to offer students of the Gothic as well as the Fantastic.I would recommend this book without hesitation (the irony of this statement will only be clear to this already familiar with Todorov’s work).

Todorov's coverage of his genre is slick, and he does a very good job of establishing the specific type of fantasy he's dealing with. Some of his omissions raise an eyebrow, but for an academic book this is exceptionally concise and readable.

NOTE: This review first appeared at The King of Elfland's 2nd Cousin on January 3rd, 2012. If you enjoy it, you'll find more stuff like it there!Happy New Year! Now that the formalities are out of the way, I thought I'd take a few moments to share with you what I did between Christmas and New Year's: In addition to remodeling our library, and turning our dining room into a library annex, I also spent the week slowly and carefully reading Tzvetan Todorov's classic book of genre criticism, app...

This book came to me highly recommended by a friend of the uncanny, and has truly become one of my most trusted reach-to favorites. You know that ailment that's been bugging you, but you didn't have the name for it and didn't know how a bunch of symptoms were actually related until you went and saw a specialist? Todorov's structuralist breakdown of the marvelous, the fantastic, and the uncanny--with the fantastic mediating in the middle through uncertainty--was the holy grail of aha! moments for...

One of the more amazing works on the fantastic in literature, and an excellent entry point into narratological analysis! Thoroughly enjoyable reading.

This book shifted my perspective on what makes up "the fantastic" in narrative, separating the idea of specific elements from genre and was interesting for that. However, I found the writing itself to require extra attention and careful re-reading such that, for a short book, it took multiple reading periods. Also, the fantastic, for this author, was comprised of a specific time period and the literature referred to was, for this particular reader, completely unfamiliar. As an aside, I would hav...