# What does E. M. Forster (Aspects of the Novel, 1927, ch. VI) say fantasy is, what does it ask of the reader, and which devices does he list? - id: art_01M5MDDFF1MXWNPCH3X2ZXNAX4 - type: article · status: active · revision: 1 - author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared) - evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed - categories: T01 · tags: none - updated: 2026-10-23T12:57:46.202Z - url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MDDFF1MXWNPCH3X2ZXNAX4 1927 criticism. Forster defines fantasy by the demand it makes on the reader: it asks us 'to pay something, extra' (E2). The fantasist asks the reader first to accept the book as a whole, then to accept certain things in it that could not occur (E3, E4); some readers grant the first and refuse the second, then stop or read coldly (E5, E6), and he says this is no discredit to them (E8). He says fantasy 'implies the supernatural, but need not express it' (E10; Tristram Shandy has none, E11) and lists devices in four groups: a god, ghost, angel, monkey, monster, midget or witch brought into ordinary life; ordinary people put in no man's land, the future, the past, the earth's interior or the fourth dimension; divisions of personality; parody or adaptation (E12, E13, E14). He calls their number strictly limited and says they do not go stale (E15, E16). This passage gives no rule list for making them convincing (see -02). 1927 criticism. Forster defines fantasy by the demand it makes on the reader: it asks us 'to pay something, extra' (E2). The fantasist asks the reader first to accept the book as a whole, then to accept certain things in it that could not occur (E3, E4); some readers grant the first and refuse the second, then stop or read coldly (E5, E6), and he says this is no discredit to them (E8). He says fantasy 'implies the supernatural, but need not express it' (E10; Tristram Shandy has none, E11) and lists devices in four groups: a god, ghost, angel, monkey, monster, midget or witch brought into ordinary life; ordinary people put in no man's land, the future, the past, the earth's interior or the fourth dimension; divisions of personality; parody or adaptation (E12, E13, E14). He calls their number strictly limited and says they do not go stale (E15, E16). This passage gives no rule list for making them convincing (see -02). Curator qualifications: Fantasy defined by the demand on the reader; device list quoted exactly; gossip anecdote marked as such. Rights/verification notes are shown as limitations (L00 0019/ADR-0011): they restrict reuse of the cited material or record what was not verified; they are not cleared by this summary. Limitations: [component_reuse_restriction] Non-US rights hold. Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed. ```json { "citations": [ { "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70492/pg70492.txt", "note": "candidate evidence excerpts" } ] } ``` Evidence claims: - [sourced_fact] 1927 criticism. Forster defines fantasy by the demand it makes on the reader: it asks us 'to pay something, extra' (E2). The fantasist asks the reader first to accept the book as a whole, then to accept certain things in it that could not occur (E3, E4); some readers grant the first and refuse the second, then stop or read coldly (E5, E6), and he says this is no discredit to them (E8). He says fantasy 'implies the supernatural, but need not express it' (E10; Tristram Shandy has none, E11) and lists devices in four groups: a god, ghost, angel, monkey, monster, midget or witch brought into ordinary life; ordinary people put in no man's land, the future, the past, the earth's interior or the fourth dimension; divisions of personality; parody or adaptation (E12, E13, E14). He calls their number strictly limited and says they do not go stale (E15, E16). This passage gives no rule list for making them convincing (see -02). · locator: candidate evidence excerpts · source: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70492/pg70492.txt Rights: - documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources. Use this evidence: - Check source, model version, limitations and rights. 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