The Third Hemisphere. Lord Dunsany’s Journeys between the Real and the Fantastic

Abstract

The following article considers the peculiarity of fantastic settings in Lord Dunsany’s fantasy fiction. In contrast to many canonical examples of the genre, Dunsany’s works, though openly rejecting realism, never fully exclude reality, creating instead a continuous dialogue between the two dimensions. The article examines the status of Dunsany’s fantasy settings as extensions of reality, as parts of the world beyond the reach of common knowledge, rather than self-standing cosmologies. It studies the role of the first-person narrator, a narrative device frequently employed by Dunsany to present the fantastic tale as a personal experience and to involve his readers in the story. Finally, it analyses the use of irony in Dunsany’s fiction and its importance in prompting reflections on the nature and role of fantasy literature.