Threats or Victims: The Ambiguous Nature of Supernatural Creatures in Andrzej Sapkowski’s and George R. R. Martin’s Fantasy

Sviatoslav Piven

doi:10.18778/2353-6098.3.03

Authors

Sviatoslav Piven National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2353-6098.3.03

Keywords:

supernatural creatures, the Other, fantasy, George R. R. Martin, Andrzej Sapkowski

Abstract

Many postcolonial readings of fantasy fiction focus on exploring complicated relationships between different fantastic races that inhabit a certain secondary world. However, such studies often overlook interactions of these races with the supernatural animals and beasts that live alongside them. Fantasy narratives like Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher Saga and George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire depict fantastic settings where the relationship between the inhabitants of the world and the supernatural creatures is just as important as the interracial relations because it is based on similar principles of interaction between the Familiar and the Other and can be used to characterize them. Therefore, this article will address the following issues: how the supernatural creatures are perceived in their respective secondary worlds; what attitude prevails in this perception; and why it prevails above other reactions.

References

Bauman, Zygmunt. Мыслить социологически. Trans. A. F. Filippov and S. P. Bankovskaya. Moscow: Aspekt Press, 1996. Print.

Hartinger, Brent. “A Different Kind of Other: The Role of Freaks and Outcasts in A Song of Ice and Fire.” Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons. Ed. James Lowder. Dallas: Smart POP, 2012. 153-67. Print.

Langer, Jessica. Postcolonialism and Science Fiction. 2011. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Print. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230356054

Lowder, James, ed. Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons. Dallas: Smart POP, 2012. Print.

Martin, George R.R. A Clash of Kings. 1999. New York: Bantam Books, 2011. Print.

Martin, George R.R. A Dance with Dragons. New York: Bantam Books, 2011. Print.

Martin, George R.R. A Feast for Crows. 2005. New York: Bantam Books, 2011. Print.

Martin, George R.R. A Game of Thrones. 1996. New York: Bantam Books, 2011. Print.

Martin, George R.R. A Storm of Swords. 2000. New York: Bantam Books, 2011. Print.

Mendlesohn, Farah. Rhetorics of Fantasy. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2008. Print.

Roszczynialska, Magdalena. Sztuka fantasy Andrzeja Sapkowskiego. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Pedagogicznego w Krakowie, 2009. Web. 15 Sep. 2014.

Said, Edward. Orientalism. 1978. London: Penguin Books, 2003. Print.

Sapkowski, Andrzej. Krew Elfów. Warszawa: SuperNOWA, 2011. Print.

Sapkowski, Andrzej. Chrzest Ognia. Warszawa: SuperNOWA, 2011. Print.

Sapkowski, Andrzej. “Kraniec świata.” Ostatnie życzenie. Warszawa: SuperNOWA, 2011. 171-212. Print.

Sapkowski, Andrzej. “Ziarno prawdy." Ostatnie życzenie. Warszawa: SuperNOWA, 2011. 43-72. Print.

Sapkowski, Andrzej. “Wieczny ogień.” Miecz Przeznaczenia. Warszawa: SuperNOWA, 2011. 119-68. Print.

Scoble, Jesse. “A Sword without a Hilt: The Dangers of Magic in (and to) Westeros.” Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons. Ed. James Lowder. Dallas: Smart POP, 2012. 123-40. Print.