Date of Award
2015
Publisher
North Dakota State University
Document Type
Master's Paper
Degree Awarded
Master of Arts (MA)
Program
English
Department
English
College
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Faculty Advisor
Theile, Verena
Description
In this paper, I will be discussing hybridity, Othering, and agency in China Miéville’s fantasy novels set in the world of Bas-Lag. I will be expanding upon Joan Gordon’s concept of “literalized metaphors” which suggests that fantasy fiction is able to comment on metaphorical concepts by literalizing those concepts into physical representations. Miéville’s novels offer commentary on the nature of the postcolonial concept of hybridity through the physical realities of the nonhuman xenians and the criminal Remade. I argue that, through these literalized metaphors, the Bas-Lag novels suggest that hybridity leads to Othering, but it also leads to greater agency than would otherwise be possible.
Recommended Citation
Thorstad, Kai Jerome, "Literalized Metaphors in China Mieville’s Bas-Lag Novels" (2015). English. 74.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/english/74
Rights
NDSU Policy 190.6.2
Rights Link
https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf
Handle Identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/10365/25232