Close Readings Fiction and the Fantastic: A Taxonomy
Dec 18, 2025
Join Edwin Frank, editorial director at New York Review Books and author of Stranger Than Fiction, as he dives into the thrilling world of fantastic literature. The discussion explores the flexible definitions of the fantastic, proposing categories like changes in physics and language. Edwin and the panel investigate ghostly apparitions, the chilling ambiguity in Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, and the surge of ghost stories in the 19th century. They also unveil how demonic figures can serve as sharp social critiques in fiction.
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Taxonomy As Operations
- The fantastic can be usefully mapped as a set of 'operations' that disturb reality rather than a fixed category.
- Adam Thirlwell proposes four major alterations: physics, biology, empiricist history, and language.
Todorov's Indecision Principle
- Svetlana Todorov defined the fantastic as the moment of indecision between rational and supernatural explanations.
- Thirlwell and guests treat that indecidability as one important strain but avoid strict categorical limits.
Turn Of The Screw's Indeterminate Ghosts
- Marina Warner discusses The Turn of the Screw as a ghost story that preserves radical indecidability.
- She notes that staged versions weaken the effect by making apparitions visibly real.