Betraying Reality: Defamiliarization’s Effect on Fantasy Worlds
Betraying Reality: Defamiliarization’s Effect on Fantasy Worlds

Summary/Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between reality and fantasy worlds by applying the concept of defamiliarization, seen as a defining element for the construction of the marvellous imaginary. Using Viktor Shklovsky’s and Darko Suvin’s theories as a starting point, my paper focuses on the manner in which a completely new perception of space is created through the transfer of known and possible reality onto secondary universes. Fantasy constantly betrays and reconfigures images attached to reality, aiming at building ontologically valid and autonomous worlds. These universes grant new meanings to reality and even help recuperate lost or forgotten ones. Defamiliarization, as a key ingredient, delivers the nature of fantasy worlds, which I will explore by using relevant findings in the study of the utopian genre.

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