The Dark Fantastic

Posted on by

Reveals the diversity crisis in children s and young adult media as not only a lack of representation, but a lack of imaginationStories provide portals into other worlds, both real and imagined The promise of escape draws people from all backgrounds to speculative fiction, but when people of color seek passageways into the fantastic, the doors are often barred This problem lies not only with children s publishing, but also with the television and film executives tasked with adapting these stories into a visual world When characters of color do appear, they are often marginalized or subjected to violence, reinforcing for audiences that not all lives matter The Dark Fantastic is an engaging and provocative exploration of race in popular youth and young adult speculative fiction Grounded in her experiences as YA novelist, fanfiction writer, and scholar of education, Thomas considers four black girl protagonists from some of the most popular stories of the early 21st century Bonnie Bennett from the CW s The Vampire Diaries, Rue from Suzanne Collins s The Hunger Games, Gwen from the BBC s Merlin, and Angelina Johnson from J.K Rowling s Harry Potter Analyzing their narratives and audience reactions to them reveals how these characters mirror the violence against black and brown people in our own world In response, Thomas uncovers and builds upon a tradition of fantasy and radical imagination in Black feminism and Afrofuturism to reveal new possibilities Through fanfiction and other modes of counter storytelling, young people of color have reinvisioned fantastic worlds that reflect their own experiences, their own lives As Thomas powerfully asserts, we dark girls deserve , because we are . Best Read [ The Dark Fantastic ] By [ Ebony Elizabeth Thomas ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr I m going to write a longer review for Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, but I want to put a shorter one here since I just finished it about 30 minutes ago.As a Black girl nerd, I was beyond excited when I heard that this book was going to be a thing I truly felt seen, like someone was going to finally present some of the conversations that me and my friends have been having in private or in closed social media groups I want to say that I was NOT ready for this awesomeness First, the I m going to write a longer review for Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, but I want to put a shorter one here since I just finished it about 30 minutes ago.As a Black girl nerd, I was beyond excited when I heard that this book was going to be a thing I truly felt seen, like someone was going to finally present some of the conversations that me and my friends have been having in private or in closed social media groups I want to say that I was NOT ready for this awesomeness First, the scholar in me had my pen out, underlining key phrases that I could use to bolster and or ground some of my current work Second, as a nerd who has many conversations online, I greatly appreciated the way that Thomas infused the words of university academics and public scholars I do this in my own work, but I don t see many people who will quote tweets, blogs, fan fiction, etc There are everyday people ...3 1 2 starsTHE DARK FANTASTIC points out the shortcomings, failures, and the too slow expansion of diversity and authors of color getting much needed exposure and support This did read much like a timely academic study with a few personal anecdotes added If you are a fan of literary criticism and or looking for an academic exploration of the impact of race and racism on fan art and fan fiction this is one that I would recommend, it s readable literary criticism for anyone.Where you can find m 3 1 2 starsTHE DARK FANTASTIC points out the shortcomings, failures, and the too slow expansion of diversity and authors of color getting much needed exposure and support This did read much like a timely academic study with a few personal anecdotes added If you are a fan of literary criticism and or looking for an acade...I came to this book for two reasons One is that I m a fan of BBC Merlin , and I was happy to see the show finally being considered in an academic work The other is that I m a writer, and a White person, who is interested in writing non White characters and mixed race relationships and theI learn, theI realise I still need to learn Back in 2008 when Merlin first screened, I was delighted by the ways in which the showrunners mixed things up Arthur wasn t a noble and just king, I came to this book for two reasons One is that I m a fan of BBC Merlin , and I was happy to see the show finally being considered in an academic work The other is that I m a writer, and a White person, who is interested in writing non White characters and mixed race relationships and theI learn, theI realise I still need to learn Back in 2008 when Merlin first screened, I was delighted by the ways in which the showrunners mixed things up Arthur wasn t a noble and just king, but a spoiled brat prince Merlin was a na ve youth of the same age as Arthur...Exceptional Thought provoking Importanttl dr Forget you Read this.Ebony Elizabeth Thomas is a well known scholar, so I am not surprised her book is fantastic She does what the best of academics should do reframe what we think we know The book is ostensibly about literature But, really, it is about our society, and the ways literature reaffirms social norms, many of which are pernicious and racist Her book is powerful and truthful My favorite part of this book is how she subverts sur Exceptional Thought provoking Importanttl dr Forget you Read this.Ebony Elizabeth Thomas is a well known scholar, so I am not surprised her book is fantastic She does what the best of academics should do reframe what we think we know The book is ostensibly about literature But, really, it is about our society, and the ways literature reaffirms social norms, many of which are per...Both engaging and scholarly, this is a passionate, urgent, and extremely timely study of the depiction of race in young adult fantasy One aspect that I find particularly useful for adoption in a college curriculum is the fact that Thomas does not limit herself to the written word she investigates fandoms and both television and film in popular culture She is an avowed fan, but she is a literature scholar, as familiar with theoretical terminology as she is with social media This book cannot h Both engaging and scholarly, this is a passionate, urgent, and extremely timely study of the depiction of race in young adult fantasy One aspect that I find particularly useful for adoption in a college curriculum is the fact that Thomas does not limit herself to the written word she investigates fandoms and both television and film in popular culture She is an avowed fan, but she is a literature scholar, as familiar with theoretical terminology as she is with so...Disclaimer I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review I was totally drawn to this title by the beautiful cover, and by the fact that I to fangirled hard over Harry Potter and the Hunger Girls The other fandoms covered here Vampire Diairies and Arthur I honestly have not been able or interested in watchingthan the pilots which I thought were cheezy and lame Though I didn t care for the last two fandoms Thomas writing on the subjects was strong Disclaimer I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review I was totally drawn to this title by the beautiful cover, and by the fact that I to fangirled hard over Harry Potter and the Hunger Girls The other fandoms covered here Vampire Diairies and Arthur I honestly have not been able or interested in watchingthan the pilots which I thought were cheezy and lame Though I didn t care for the last two fandoms Thomas writing on the subjects was strong enough to keep me going with the book This is a tad academic in style, the topics make a bitaccessible to people who may not have read extensively on philosophy, literature, feminism, critical race ...I read this book courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for a review.I am not entirely sure that I found each example used by Thomas to advance her argument equally persuasive for instance, is Gwen the best choice for who what haunts Merlin and if not, just acknowledge it and make your point regardless In addition, I didn t really enjoy the chapter on Harry Potter, which felt incomplete and cut short while still containing what seemed to me to be a too long and somewhat misleading preamble conce I read this book courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for a review.I am not entirely sure that I found each example used by Thomas to advance her argument equally persuasive for instance, is Gwen the best choice for who what haunts Merlin and if not, just acknowledge it and make your point regardless In addition, I didn t really enjoy the chapter on Harry Potter, which felt incomplete and cut short while still containing what seemed to me to be a too long and somewhat misleading preamble concerning the author s own fandom life I was in HP fandom for part of the period described by the Author and it was far larger and fragmented th...Dare I say it The Dark Fantastic Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Thomas is my second favorite nonfiction of the year First off, this cover is stunning Now that I m done drooling over this cover let s get to this review Thomas is straightforward in her research and observation in the adventure to dystopian futures She highlights the race cycle that appears throughout each chapter in The Hunger Games Rue , Merlin Gwen , The Vampire Diaries Bonnie Be Dare I say it The Dark Fantastic Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Thomas is my second favorite nonfiction of the year First off, this cover is stunning Now that I m done drooling over this cover let s get to this review Thomas is straightforward in her research and observation in the adventure to dystopian futures She highlights the race cycle that appears throughout each chapter in The Hunger Games Rue , Merlin Gwen , The Vampire Diaries Bonnie Bennett Harry Potter Angelina To quote Thomas When youth grow up without seeing diverse images in the mirrors, windows, and doors of children s and young adult literature, they are confined to sing...

The Dark Fantastic
  • 04 April 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 240 pages
  • 1479800651
  • Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
  • The Dark Fantastic