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Acolyte, v. 3, issue 2, whole no. 11, Summer 1945
Page 8
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the side-splitting satire of Owen Johnson's The Coming of the Amazons to the tender sardonicism of Hope Mirrlees' unforgettable Lud-in-the-Mist (which last, incidentally, is one of the very best pure fantasies I have yet had the pleasure of reading). Of perhaps lower artistic stature than genuine satire is unadorned humor. Humor in fantasy, to my mind, is wellnigh the least acceptable of any secondary motivations. This is not to deny the very genuine place in general literature of humor; it is merely to state that so-called fantastic humor seems of questionable value except, perhaps, for occasional bits worked now and then into serious stories. At this moment, no piece of all-out fantastic humor comes to mind which approaches the quality of stories cited as examples elsewhere in this article. Perhaps this is partly due to definition. Thorne Smith, for example, is satiric fantasy throughout, with frequent interludes of all-out slapstick. L. Sprague de Camp is frequently admired as a writer of humorous fantasy, but an analytical reading of such masterpieces as The Land of Unreason or The Incomplete Enchanter leaves little justification for listing them as other than serious fantasy. It is true that each of these writers has an exquisite knack of limning fantastically absurd and amusing incidents which abound in all their stories, but these are incidents rather than being the chief components of the stories themselves. John Kendrick Bangs wrote many volumes of humor, both fantastic and mundane, in the 1890's, but the writing style unfortunately dates these tales badly. A. M. Phillips' The Mislaid Charm is the best available example of fantasy humor, and it suffers exceedingly by comparison with Thorne Smith, whom its author owes a great deal. Since it is a blend of Smith's fantastic plots and mundane slapstick incidents without Smith's subtle and delightful satire, it seems rather emasculated by comparison. A whole article might well be devoted to the place of humor in fantasy; perhaps I am dismissing it too curtly. But it seems to me that in a branch of literature devoted to soaring ideals, brilliant imagination, powerful mood creation, prophecy of the future, and similar lofty topics mere laughter for laughter's sake is out of place. Furthermore it is wellnigh impossible to find any humor, even in fantastic settings, which does not owe its power of amusement solely to mundane factors. For these reasons, I tend to object to fantasy humor, always differentiating between mere humor and genuine satire. This extremely sketchy outline of secondary writing motivations is far from complete. The vast ramifications of the fantasy field would necessitate a large and complex volume to give an adequate critical discussion of them, especially if comprehensively documented. The present article is intended only to scratch the surface, so to speak, and give The Acolyte's readers some bones to chew on, with the hope that some of them may find themselves moved to give their views on the matter. And, it seems to me, any discussion arising from this article should be of considerably more importance to fantasy fans than mere bullfesting. All of us are constantly passing judgement on the stories we read, frequently by intuition alone. The field needs a generally acceptable list of criteria, against which we can measure any given piece of fantasy and say with reasonable assurance that it is, or is not, acceptable. If this article provokes the writing of any rebuttals or amplifications which in turn prove to be foundational contributions to such a list of criteria, its purpose will have been more than fulfilled. In the event a rubber-stamped "JUL 15" appears to the left of this paragraph, it indicates that your subscription has expired. No other notice will be sent. -- 8 --
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the side-splitting satire of Owen Johnson's The Coming of the Amazons to the tender sardonicism of Hope Mirrlees' unforgettable Lud-in-the-Mist (which last, incidentally, is one of the very best pure fantasies I have yet had the pleasure of reading). Of perhaps lower artistic stature than genuine satire is unadorned humor. Humor in fantasy, to my mind, is wellnigh the least acceptable of any secondary motivations. This is not to deny the very genuine place in general literature of humor; it is merely to state that so-called fantastic humor seems of questionable value except, perhaps, for occasional bits worked now and then into serious stories. At this moment, no piece of all-out fantastic humor comes to mind which approaches the quality of stories cited as examples elsewhere in this article. Perhaps this is partly due to definition. Thorne Smith, for example, is satiric fantasy throughout, with frequent interludes of all-out slapstick. L. Sprague de Camp is frequently admired as a writer of humorous fantasy, but an analytical reading of such masterpieces as The Land of Unreason or The Incomplete Enchanter leaves little justification for listing them as other than serious fantasy. It is true that each of these writers has an exquisite knack of limning fantastically absurd and amusing incidents which abound in all their stories, but these are incidents rather than being the chief components of the stories themselves. John Kendrick Bangs wrote many volumes of humor, both fantastic and mundane, in the 1890's, but the writing style unfortunately dates these tales badly. A. M. Phillips' The Mislaid Charm is the best available example of fantasy humor, and it suffers exceedingly by comparison with Thorne Smith, whom its author owes a great deal. Since it is a blend of Smith's fantastic plots and mundane slapstick incidents without Smith's subtle and delightful satire, it seems rather emasculated by comparison. A whole article might well be devoted to the place of humor in fantasy; perhaps I am dismissing it too curtly. But it seems to me that in a branch of literature devoted to soaring ideals, brilliant imagination, powerful mood creation, prophecy of the future, and similar lofty topics mere laughter for laughter's sake is out of place. Furthermore it is wellnigh impossible to find any humor, even in fantastic settings, which does not owe its power of amusement solely to mundane factors. For these reasons, I tend to object to fantasy humor, always differentiating between mere humor and genuine satire. This extremely sketchy outline of secondary writing motivations is far from complete. The vast ramifications of the fantasy field would necessitate a large and complex volume to give an adequate critical discussion of them, especially if comprehensively documented. The present article is intended only to scratch the surface, so to speak, and give The Acolyte's readers some bones to chew on, with the hope that some of them may find themselves moved to give their views on the matter. And, it seems to me, any discussion arising from this article should be of considerably more importance to fantasy fans than mere bullfesting. All of us are constantly passing judgement on the stories we read, frequently by intuition alone. The field needs a generally acceptable list of criteria, against which we can measure any given piece of fantasy and say with reasonable assurance that it is, or is not, acceptable. If this article provokes the writing of any rebuttals or amplifications which in turn prove to be foundational contributions to such a list of criteria, its purpose will have been more than fulfilled. In the event a rubber-stamped "JUL 15" appears to the left of this paragraph, it indicates that your subscription has expired. No other notice will be sent. -- 8 --
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