Tzvetan Todorov
The Fantastic

1. pp. 24-25 How does Todorov explain the fantastic as a genre in these pages?  What questions does a person in the story ask himself?   How does Le Diable Amoureux illustrate the genre?

2.  pp. 25-26  In the philosopher Solovyov's definition, what is the effect of the fantastic's ambiguity on our explanations of external reality?

3.  26-27 What is the role of choice in the fantastic?  31 What leads us beyond the fantastic?

4.  31-32 Does the fantastic’s uncertainty and choice implicate only the character or does it implicate the reader too?  How?  Is it necessary for a character to experience the fantastic for the reader to experience it? In other words is identification with a character necessary? Why?

5.  32-33 What type of reading is required for a reading to be caught up in the fantastic? [an allegorical reading in Todorov’s use of the discloses a hidden meaning that is certain; a poetic reading has no need of realism for Todorov].

6.  33 What is Todorov’s definition of the fantastic?

7. Is The Crimson Curtain fantastic?  Why or why not?  What about The Legend of St. Julian?  Why or why not? And The Sandman?