Books Quote by Ursula K. Le Guin
““Critics and academics have been trying for forty years to bury the greatest work of imaginative fiction in English. They ignore it, they condescend to it, they stand in large groups with their backs to it - because they're afraid of it. They're afraid of dragons. They have Smaugophobia. "Oh those awful Orcs," they bleat, flocking after Edmund Wilson. They know if they acknowledge Tolkien they'll have to admit that fantasy can be literature, and that therefore they'll have to redefine what literature is. And they're too damned lazy to do it.””
About This Quote
Source Interview: The Guardian, 2002
Literary gatekeepers dismiss fantasy out fear of its power, revealing bias and a reluctance to expand the canon.
In simple terms: People reject fantasy because it challenges their ideas of literature.
Key Takeaway
Challenge the bias that excludes imaginative genres.
Themes
literature
bias
fantasy
canon
Mood
critical
defiant
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- teaching literature
- publishing
- book clubs
- academic curricula
Key Concepts
Smaugophobia
gatekeeping
genre hierarchy
Questions to Reflect On
- Why do we fear stories that seem “immature”?
- How would literature change if fantasy were embraced?
A Different Perspective
Fantasy can be serious art; dismissing it limits cultural growth.
