S. T. Joshi on Machen and Dunsany
Dec. 22nd, 2006 02:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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darkling_talesLJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY dfordoom)
In The Weird Tale S. T. Joshi argues that weird tales are not so much a genre as the articulation of a particular worldview. Of course this is true to an extent of most writing, but Joshi considers it to be especially true of the weird tale, and even more especially true of the six practitioners of that art that he deals with in this book – Arthur Machen, Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, H. P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce and M. R. James. So far I’ve read the chapters on Machen and Dunsany and what has really struck me is that both these authors share a worldview with which I have very little sympathy indeed and yet I love their writing. Both Machen and Dunsany detested the modern world, disliked industrialisation, idealised rural life and hearkened back to a golden age (mythical of course) in which we supposedly lived in harmony with nature. In fact Dunsany’s idea of living in harmony with nature involved blowing away as many small furry creatures as he could line up in the sights of his gun, which makes me glad I don’t live in harmony with nature!
This rejection of the modern world and all its works is something that seems to be rather common among writers of fantasy and weird fiction. Tolkien being a prime example. I'm not sure if it's something that it's also characteristic of horror and/or gothic fiction. Perhaps it's more a feature of certain sub-variants of fantasy/weird fiction, such as epic fantasy? Do you think horror tends to be a type of writing that reflects a particular worldview? Is horror fundamentally conservative, being concerned with the neutralisation of threats to the status quo?
dfordoom)In The Weird Tale S. T. Joshi argues that weird tales are not so much a genre as the articulation of a particular worldview. Of course this is true to an extent of most writing, but Joshi considers it to be especially true of the weird tale, and even more especially true of the six practitioners of that art that he deals with in this book – Arthur Machen, Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, H. P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce and M. R. James. So far I’ve read the chapters on Machen and Dunsany and what has really struck me is that both these authors share a worldview with which I have very little sympathy indeed and yet I love their writing. Both Machen and Dunsany detested the modern world, disliked industrialisation, idealised rural life and hearkened back to a golden age (mythical of course) in which we supposedly lived in harmony with nature. In fact Dunsany’s idea of living in harmony with nature involved blowing away as many small furry creatures as he could line up in the sights of his gun, which makes me glad I don’t live in harmony with nature!
This rejection of the modern world and all its works is something that seems to be rather common among writers of fantasy and weird fiction. Tolkien being a prime example. I'm not sure if it's something that it's also characteristic of horror and/or gothic fiction. Perhaps it's more a feature of certain sub-variants of fantasy/weird fiction, such as epic fantasy? Do you think horror tends to be a type of writing that reflects a particular worldview? Is horror fundamentally conservative, being concerned with the neutralisation of threats to the status quo?
