Power and Society in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld: Building a Fantasy Civilization (Perspectives on Fantasy) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1350465313 ISBN 13: 9781350465312

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2025

Synopsis

A critical deep-drive into conceptions of power and society in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, this book brings together experts in fantasy literature, political sciences, economics, philosophy, history, and journalism to consider the intricate social tapestry of one of the most intricate worlds in modern fantasy. Surveying the Discworld's institutionalised power structures from government and police to civil services, banks and societies, it explores ideas such as language, translation, humour, crowds, community, justice and coercion in the series' major works. Featuring analyses of novels such as Men at Arms, Equal Rites, Carpe Jugulum, Guards! Guards!, Jingo, Night Watch, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad and many more, this collection illuminates how Pratchett juxtaposed his narratives with contemporary reflections on social constructs. Broken down into parts looking at social power dynamics, building and destroying worlds and the power of language, the book offers a much-needed corrective to the dearth of scholarship on one of fantasy literature's worldbuilding titans.

About this title

About the Authors

Justine Breton is Associate Professor in Literature at Reims University, France. She has written books on T. H. White, the Monty Python, and The Witcher and has contributed to several books on fantasy including Dictionnaire de la fantasy (2018), Fantasy et Moyen Âge (2023).

Matthew Sangster is Senior Lecturer in Romantic Studies, Fantasy and Cultural History at the University of Glasgow. He has published widely on authorship, literary institutions, city writing, media culture, and digital humanities. He is particularly interested in Fantasy histories, communities and transmedia. He is external curator for the British Library's 2022 Fantasy exhibition.

Dimitra Fimi is Senior Lecturer in Fantasy and Children's Literature at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She has published monographs on J.R.R. Tolkien and Celtic-inspired children's Fantasy, as well as articles and essays on myth and Fantasy, medievalism, world-building, adaptation, artlangs, and visual culture. She has co-edited Tolkien's manuscripts on invented languages, and has won awards for her books and essays. She sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Tolkien Research and co-edits the Perspectives on Fantasy series.

Brian Attebery is Professor of English at Idaho State University, USA and Editor or the Journal of the Fantastic in Art. His publications include Stories about Stories: Fantasy and the Remaking of Myth (2019) and Ursula K. Le Guin: Always Coming Home (2019). In 2019 he was Leverhulme Visiting Professor of Fantasy at the University of Glasgow.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1350465313
• ISBN 13: 9781350465312
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 242
• Editor: Breton Justine