Chivalric Tradition in 21st Century Fantasy Literature

Modern fantasy is the generic revival of the chivalric romance. The quest motif, adventures to other worlds, imaginary characters, exotic settings, battles between light and darkness, circular plot patterns, and anachronism all highlight a substantial common point between these genres. The quest for I, or self, prepares the ground to analyze these texts from Lacanian and Saidian vantage points: Subjectivity (in Lacanian epistemology) and configuration of national markers (in Saidian frame) display themselves clearly in Sir Perceval of Galles (on a subjective level) and Guy of Warwick (on a social level) as chivalric romances and Belgariad (on both levels) as a modern fantasy sequel by David Eddings. Thus, in this book, the intertextuality between these two genres is laid bare within a variety of theoretical perspectives to construct a theoretical framework in an attempt to explain a generic affinity between these two genres. This serves as the book's main focus, the quest for Identity, and Lacanian Psychoanalysis and Saidian Postcolonial theory with touches on Kristevan abject and Cohens Monster Theory, all of which serve to understand the other/Other in a quest for Identity as a recurrent theme both in chivalric romances and the modern fantasy genre.