”Popular fantasy or science fiction stories like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games lack a strong enough reality to be discussed as transrealism. Apparently realistic narratives that sometimes contain fantastic elements, like the high-tech gizmos of spy thrillers, also fail as transrealism because their plots and archetypal characters are very far from real. Transrealism aims for a very specific combination of the real and the fantastic, for a very specific purpose, that seems to have become tremendously relevant for contemporary readers.
The potential list of transrealist authors is both contentious and fascinating. Margaret Atwood for The Handmaids Tale and her novels from Oryx and Crake onwards. Stephen King, when at his best describing the lives of blue-collar America shattered by supernatural horrors. Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo and David Foster Wallace, among other big names of American letters. Iain Banks in novels like Whit and The Bridge. JG Ballard, as one of many writers originating from the science-fiction genre to pioneer transrealist techniques. Martin Amis in Time’s Arrow, among others.”
Citerat ur ”Transrealism: the first major literary movement of the 21st century?” av Damien Walter i The Guardian, 24 oktober 2014. Spännande artikel om, som titeln säger, något som eventuellt är seklets första stora litterära rörelse, transrealismen, som framstår som ett mellanting mellan fantasy/sciencefiction och realism. Här kan du ladda ned Rudy Ruckers essä från 1983, A Transrealist Manifesto.
Ola Wihlke
BearBooks 