Freud and Fantasy in Contemporary Fiction

The novel of fantasy is seen as the most noteworthy innovation in contemporary Western fiction & is discussed re its positive & negative sides as they appear in the works of several authors. The naturalism of E. Zola & the realism of G. Flaubert permit a negative definition of fantasy, by contrast, as a rejection of verisimilitude. A more positive side is presented in other examples. Investigation shows the novel of fantasy to have its roots in 2 of the earliest novels, ie, in J. Swift's Gulliver's Travels & M. Cervantes Don Quixote. J. Heller is regarded as an excellent current example of fantasy in the service of soc criticism, whereas Swift is the best of the earlier examples of this. F. Kafka pursued the same theme as Heller in The Trial, but from a diff stance. Some of Kafka's other works, however, illustrate a diff use of fantasy. J. Joyce's Ulysses is the most completely Freudian novel we have seen, while Finnegans Wake draws heavily on the mysticism of K. Jung. Both, through stream of consciousness & other techniques, are strongly fantasy novels. T. Pynchon's V. A Novel & W. Gaddis The Recognitions are cited as brilliant works using fantasy to depict the alienated lunatic fringe. Although their action is largely located in the US, their anarchism & other qualities make them more applicable to the Western world as a whole than L. Durrell's Alexandria Quartet, which seems& 'priggishly & prissily British ' by comparison. S. Sontag's The Benefactor, in effect, crosses the fantasy Rubison by complete indiff to the distinctions between fantasy & actuality. Her work is criticized as ambiguous, the characters as psychol'ly unsubstantial, the interpretations as casual, & the presentation as inconclusive. G. Grass' The Tin Drum, which uses a similar basic structure of events, has greater insight into the dynamics of personality. M. Farber.