Communities of fate: magical writing and contemporary fabulism

Warner, Marina (2024) Communities of fate: magical writing and contemporary fabulism. In: Hölter, A. (ed.) The Languages of World Literature. The Many Languages of Comparative Literature. De Gruyter, pp. 31-50. ISBN 9783110574333.

Abstract

Prophecies or curses often open a myth or fairy tale, and the story sub-sequently unfolds in accordance with what they have announced. Classical tragicmyth, for example about Oedipus or Dido, takes place in this form of predestinedtime and includes such speech acts; the plots of fairy tales, especially the storiesofThe Thousand and One Nights, also frequently turn on spells and oracles. Thisfatalism, as it has been called, has been generally criticized and often associatedwith passivity and superstition, both perceived as“oriental.”Can these narrativedevices be looked at in a different light? And do the stories themselves act as mag-ical writing, with purposes of preventing harm and averting danger? Writers ofcontemporary“world literature”are increasingly turning to myth and fable be-cause the forms offer them ways of commenting, Cassandra-like, on the fate oftheir countries and communities.

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