AustLit

'Enchantment is "when the heart is overwhelmed by beauty and the imagination is electrified by some haunting quality in the world" (Moore, 1997, p. ix). Yet the modern world is famously described as disenchanted, and beauty and the imagination are disvalued to the point of being lost. This theoretical examination of seven noted fantasy authors: Peter S. Beagle, Susan Cooper, Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Patricia McKillip, Garth Nix, and J. R. R. Tolkien, investigates the role that fantasy literature plays in re-enchanting the world.

'The study includes multiple texts from each author, as well as an investigation into theories of re-enchantment. In a world that is struggling with the potential breakdown of eco-systems and social systems; where the privileging of head over heart, mind over body, and material over soul is no longer acceptable to many people, fantasy literature can offer us insight into what we need to reclaim.' (Abstract)