跨叙事人物与文学系列

神话与未知之境

欧洲北部地区的黄金储量远胜其他地域，但获取方式我未能确知。传说独眼族阿利玛斯皮人从狮鹫兽处盗取黄金，然此说亦令我难以信服——我无法相信存在独眼人族群，其外貌竟与常人别无二致。但值得注意的是，那些环绕并包裹其他国度的极远之境，确实孕育着世人公认最珍稀瑰丽的物产。[5]

南方大陆，这片巨大的南部大陆，在大众想象中占据了地球最遥远和最神秘的区域。一个南方的 Terra Incognita（“未知土地”）被包含在二世纪希腊地理学家托勒密绘制的世界地图上，他的作品在十五世纪被重新发现。托勒密接受了亚里士多德（公元前384-322年）提出的理论，即由于地球是对称的，南方必须存在冰冻土地以平衡北方的土地。在1569年由伟大的佛兰德制图师杰拉杜斯·墨卡托绘制的世界地图上，一片巨大的南方大陆（拉丁文字面意思是“南部陆地”）占据了世界的南端。直到十八世纪末詹姆斯·库克环绕南极航行，南方大陆的神话才最终被打破。[6]

我自负地渴望为后世留下些什么，既然无权利剥夺他人享有的创作自由，又因平生庸碌无可载之真，便转向虚构——却是更具一致性的虚构。此刻我作出你们将听闻的唯一真话：我是个说谎者。此告白即是对一切责难的最佳辩护。我的题材既非亲眼所见、亲身经历、道听途说，亦非现实存在或可能存在之物。恳请读者诸君切勿轻信。[7]

由于其强烈的模仿特性，这部叙事作品绝不能简单归为讽刺文学或系列文学戏仿。如同现代科幻作家，卢奇安运用当时已知的科学与其他认知体系，构建出能够冲击读者思维定势的异世界，使他们意识到自身对宗教信条、审美判断、哲学理论等领域的固有认知多基于刻板思维。主人公游历的“地点”实为思想场域，卢奇安笔下的地理图景更多具有象征意义。我们实则跟随叙述者穿越一系列观念与思辨，这些内容以讽刺批判的笔触映照着现实世界中人类的思维习惯。[8]

旅行者故事与大航海时代

十三世纪期间，随着君士坦丁堡的沦陷和经黑海路线的开通，特别是蒙古入侵后中亚地区的稳定与安全，关于东方的新知识不断涌入。通过乔瓦尼·柏朗嘉宾、鲁布鲁克的威廉和波代诺内的奥多里克等首批造访鞑靼帝国的旅行者著作，一个崭新的东方形象即将呈现。马可·波罗同样受益于通往中国更安全的商路。到曼德维尔时代，马穆鲁克的扩张和金帐汗国可汗皈依伊斯兰教再度限制了基督徒前往东方的通道，但这反而增强了人们对那些地域的兴趣。前往圣地的朝圣路线也日益流行。正是在这种充满地理热情与好奇的时代氛围中，《约翰·曼德维尔爵士之书》应运而生。[12]

从各类手稿和早期印刷版目录中频繁出现的约翰·曼德维尔爵士作品来看，我推测这位英国骑士虚构的奇闻异事比马可·波罗真实严谨的见闻拥有更广泛的流行度和传播力。在夸里奇书店1870年11月的最新目录中，马可·波罗的旧版仅存一种，而曼德维尔的作品竟有九种。183年大英图书馆编目收录的曼德维尔手稿达十九部，如今马可·波罗手稿仅存五部。15世纪至少刊印了二十五版曼德维尔著作，而马可·波罗仅得五版。[13]

作者的权威并非基于文字记载的权威性，而是依托于约翰爵士这一旅行者形象。如鲁比斯与埃尔斯纳所言：“马可·波罗之后，旅行者的权威取代了书籍的权威；只有当记载旅行者见闻的书籍本身具有权威时，该书才具备权威性。”《曼德维尔游记》的作者由此塑造了一个性格鲜明的旅行者形象，为这部未标注出处的编纂作品赋予了独特声音。尽管今人皆知此人纯属虚构，但“约翰·曼德维尔爵士”通过串联各类记载并持续强化其真实性，极大地促进了该书的接受度……“约翰·曼德维尔爵士”不断在叙事中插入个人评注，描述自身经历（曾效力于埃及苏丹与契丹皇帝），强调亲眼见证诸多奇迹……在匠心独运的真实感营造中，本书作者甚至让“曼德维尔”否认目睹某些奇观，以此增强其他陈述的可信度。他俏皮地解释某些地域与“多样事物”的遗漏，称意在留待他人记述。[14]

我穿行于岩石般的牙齿之间，一路向上攀登，最终来到其中一颗牙齿上。在那里，我发现了世界上最惬意的处所——宽阔的网球场、精致的回廊、芬芳的草地、成片的葡萄园，以及无数意大利风格的田野避暑别墅，处处充满欢愉与雅趣。我在那里停留了整整四个月，享受了生平未曾有过的盛宴。之后我沿着后侧牙齿向下，准备前往唇边。但途中经过耳际地带的一片大森林时，遭遇了盗匪抢劫。继续前行不久，我偶然来到一座精致的小村庄——实在记不得它的名字了——那里的欢愉更胜从前，我还找到了谋生的门路。你猜是何营生？靠睡觉挣钱。当地人按日雇佣人睡觉，打鼾轻微者每日可得六便士，鼾声如雷者至少能挣九便士。我将山谷遇劫的经历禀告了当地议员，他们坦言那片地区的居民确实品行不端，天生惯于偷盗。我这才恍然大悟：正如我们世界有山南与山北之分，这里也存在“齿前国”与“齿后国”之别。不过齿前国生活更舒适，空气也更清新。此时我不禁想起那句谚语确实精辟：“世人永远不知彼岸生活几何。”在我之前从未有人记载过这片土地——这里除了广袤荒原和一道海峡，还分布着二十五个有人居住的王国。为此我撰写了专著《咽喉国史》，题名源于这些国度皆坐落于我的主人庞大固埃的咽喉之中。[16]

当异域尚属鲜为人知时，旅行书写因其承载珍贵稀有的信息而备受推崇……而后，随着环球旅行的普及与事实数据的易得，旅行者将更多探索精力投入叙事方式的创新。在十六世纪末至十七世纪，许多作者开始更聚焦于自身作为叙述者与主角的角色，致力于发展独特的旅行写作诗学。简而言之，个性化的旅行叙事本身已成为与旅途事实要素同等重要的研究对象。[18]

他们的影响极为深远——其中一位谎言家曾让全球报刊耗费大量笔墨报道巴塔哥尼亚的九英尺巨人种族；另一组谎言家竟能说服巴黎科学院花费数小时讨论一条伪造的西北航道；历史学家引用他们的记述，制图师根据他们修改地图，伏尔泰等文人运用他们的素材，读者因他们获得娱乐，布丰等哲学家亦依赖他们的描述。[19]

当作者无法满足需求时，出版商毫不犹豫地为已有盛名的虚构主角改名换姓。例如众多案例中，《吉尔·布拉斯》（1715）变为《西班牙的鲁滨逊》（1726），《克林克·凯斯梅斯》（1708）变为《荷兰的鲁滨逊》（1721），《弗朗索瓦·勒瓜》（1707）变为《法兰西的鲁滨逊》（1723）。连本应属实的航行记述亦未能幸免：安东尼奥·祖凯利的《刚果航行与传教报告》（1712）变成了《神圣的鲁滨逊》（1723）。[20]

我的下一步工作是察看这片土地，寻找一个合适的住所，并将我的货物存放起来，以防可能发生的任何意外；我尚不清楚自己身处何地，是在大陆还是岛屿上，是否有人居住，是否有野兽的危险。离我不到一英里处有一座山，陡峭高耸，似乎高过其他一些向北延伸的山脉；我取出一把火枪、一把手枪和一角火药，全副武装地前往探索山顶。经过极大的艰辛和困难登上山顶后，我悲痛地看清了自己的命运，即我身处一个四面环海的岛屿，除了远处的一些岩石和两个比这更小、位于西面约三里格的小岛外，不见任何陆地。[22]

但我不会用更多此类描述来抢先满足读者，因为我将它们留待一部更宏大的著作，那部作品现已几乎付梓；其中包含对这个帝国从初建至今、历经漫长君主系列的全貌描述，详细记述了他们的战争与政治、法律、学术与宗教；他们的动植物、独特的风俗习惯，以及其他极为新奇而实用的事项；我当前的主要意图仅是叙述在那帝国居住约九个月期间，发生在公众或我本人身上的事件与经历。[23]

此时，更多这样的水精灵如潜鸟般浮起，全都注视着我，并将我投下的石头重新捡起，令我大为惊讶。其中为首者，衣着如纯金银般闪耀，向我抛来一颗鸽子蛋大小、绿如翡翠般透明的闪亮石头，并说道：“收下此物，以便你能讲述我们和我们的湖泊之事。”我刚拾起石头放入口袋，便觉得空气仿佛要令我窒息或淹没，使我无法站立，只能像线球般翻滚，最终落入湖中。然而一入水，我便恢复过来，凭借身上的石头之力，我能在水中呼吸而非依赖空气：不仅如此，我还能轻松地与水精灵一同在湖中漂浮，甚至随它们潜入深处；这让我不禁联想到一群鸟儿从高空盘旋而下，落在地面的景象。[24]

您知道，从不同物体反射的光线会构成图像，在所有光滑表面——例如眼睛的视网膜、水面和玻璃上——绘制出反射的影像。精灵们试图固定这些转瞬即逝的图像；他们制造出一种精微物质，能瞬间形成画面。他们将一块画布涂上这种物质，将其置于待摄物体前方。这块布最初的效果类似于镜子，但凭借其黏性特质，处理过的画布与镜子不同，能够保留图像的精确复本。镜子能忠实呈现影像，却无法留存；我们的画布同样忠实地反映影像，却能全部保留。这种影像的烙印是瞬间完成的。随后将画布取下存放于暗处。一小时后烙印干涸，您就得到了一幅连最高超技艺都无法模拟其真实性的珍贵图画。[27]

这类文学的黄金时代随着汽船和蒸汽机车的出现而终结，当真实的旅行者变得如此之多，以至于虚构旅行者既不再必要也更易被揭穿。但18世纪炉边旅行者的影响仍在延续……从斯摩莱特的《蓝登传》到库珀的《岸与海》再到瓦尔塔里的《埃及人》，历史与冒险小说都从笛福学派中学到：通过运用学者的工具，他们能为英雄足迹所至的土地增添色彩、具体性与真实感。[29]

但这种影响超越了纯文学领域。在宽容、民主与相对性变得重要的时代，任何思想家或历史学家都离不开旅行文学的启迪——它们揭示了每个民族都有独特甚至合宜的生活方式。它们激发了比较宗教、比较自然史和比较政治学的研究。尽管其丰富的例证材料常使历史学家诟病其缺乏“思想”，但其中原创思想家的比例无疑与任何作家群体一样高。[30]

乌托邦与反乌托邦

虚构的航行常为乌托邦主义者提供双重机遇。旅行者的本土向导——那个负责教授语言并解释习俗的传统角色——通常会讲述其联邦建立的故事；如果当地人是欧洲人后裔，其起源往往涉及更早的航行与海难。因此，乌托邦主义者（或许本身对小说创作并无艺术兴趣）发现，虚构航行是其乐观精神与对间接正义向往的最便捷载体——尤其在17、18世纪。[31]

西方乌托邦思想大多与欧洲半岛民族对已知世界的开拓密切相关……虚构社会往往沿着实际征服、发现与探索的路径分布。随着亚历山大大帝进军亚洲腹地，希腊化时期的作家欧赫墨罗斯在印度洋的潘凯亚岛上发现了良性社会秩序。商人伊安布洛斯（可能是叙利亚计量官）被埃塞俄比亚俘虏作为祭品抛入大海后，讲述了他的小船如何漂至非洲东岸附近的太阳群岛。其他希腊作家则宣称知晓极北乐土之民与欧洲大陆边缘的终极图勒人……整个中世纪期间，来自欧洲与非洲以西海域的新土地不断被纳入乌托邦的世界地图。[32]

《乌托邦》并非地理著作。莫尔笔下的社会场景与其描述的社会结构几乎无必然关联，因此本文所载地图仅基于少量文字描述。正如萨茨所指，该书的流行版本或应更名为《最佳联邦政体》，因书中多数内容的效果并不依赖虚构的乌托邦地理设定。[34]

在16至17世纪，模仿《乌托邦》的描述性作品被称作乌托邦（首字母小写），它们或多或少沿用了莫尔本人从萨莫萨塔的卢奇安那里继承的传统文学手法，而卢奇安又是从希腊化时期小说中汲取这些手法（其中许多现已失传）。印刷术的发明使得这类特质的故事能轻松地在欧洲各语言间互译，逐渐形成一个不断扩大的文本体系，其中固定套路和概念可被历史性追溯，其演变轨迹亦可被勾勒。核心要素包括：船只失事或偶然登陆理想国度、返回欧洲、以及汇报所见所闻。若按时间顺序排列这些被文献学家视为‘正统乌托邦’的作品，可明显看出它们对前作的模仿痕迹。[36]

城邦主体建于一座高耸山丘之上，山丘延展于辽阔平原，但数道环形城区延伸至山麓之外。城邦规模宏大，直径逾两英里，周长约七英里。因山势呈驼峰状，其实际直径较平原建城更为绵长。 城邦划分为七重环状城区，以七行星命名。各城区通过四条朝向四方位的街道与城门相连。其建造精妙之处在于：若攻破第一重城区，攻陷第二重需耗费双倍兵力；攻克第三重则需再加倍；逐层推进皆需倍增军力。是故欲夺取此城，须如连破七关。然以我观之，首重城墙已难攻克——其上筑有厚重土垒，胸墙、塔楼、火炮与壕沟皆固若金汤。[39]

克里斯蒂安诺波利斯的总体描述堪称早期现代理想居所的典范：例如，屋顶每隔一段距离设有防火墙分隔，所有建筑均采用烧制砖砌成以防范火灾；窗户采用双层设计，“一层玻璃一层木制，巧妙嵌入墙体，可随意开合”，并配有起重装置——很可能类似至今在阿姆斯特丹仍可见的样式——用于将重物吊运至上层（第23章）。纯净的泉水被引入社区，先分流至各街道，再接入每户住宅；湖泊的出水通过地下管道流经排污系统，每日清除住户污物（第95章）。简而言之，这里的居住安排虽简朴如斯巴达，却完全符合早期现代欧洲的最新标准。[40]

此后两百年间，文学航行者与异族相遇的虚构叙事，始终与航海家们在美洲和亚洲的真实冒险亦步亦趋。有时乌托邦的构想甚至预言性地早于地理发现：在17世纪后期，当南海诸岛和澳大利亚仍未被探索时，乌托邦主义者超越了水手，胡格诺派信徒加布里埃尔·德·福瓦尼和丹尼斯·韦雷塞在南方大陆建立了王国。对一些人来说，美洲海岸线已不再充满足够的神秘感。幸福在他们不在的地方，在地平线之外。在接下来的一个世纪里，理想社会在太平洋的温和地区——塔希提岛和新基西拉岛——激增，这些异国情调的梦想由詹姆斯·库克船长和路易·安托万·德·布干维尔在同一地区的真实航行所孕育。1800年后，向旅行者开放的美国西部荒野在隐蔽的山谷、广阔的平原和高原上孕育出乌托邦世界。新领土逐渐被并入乌托邦，直到整个地球表面被覆盖，人们不得不另寻他处。[41]

在16和17世纪，模糊认知的美洲或澳大利亚大陆仅仅提供了一个移植伦敦或巴黎的背景。到了18世纪，这些国家开始拥有自己的生命力，旅行者或传教士在那里发现的人民习俗被纳入乌托邦的框架中。我们还发现，虽然乌托邦曾试图代表一个完全平等的社会，但其中许多现在关注于构建一个自由社会。例如，狄德罗的塔希提岛居民既不知道政府也不知道法律。乌托邦曾提供充足的食物和衣物、舒适的房屋和良好的教育，但作为交换，它们要求个人完全服从于国家及其法律；现在它们首先追求的是摆脱法律和政府的自由。[43]

十八世纪末，在日益去基督教化的欧洲，当传统的孤岛幽谷式乌托邦与新兴的觉醒者梦境式乌托邦仍在被不断复述时，另一种乌托邦思想分支日益凸显——它摒弃虚构背景，突破具体空间限制，直指整个人类物种的革新……至十九世纪初，创新的乌托邦思想几乎完全摆脱了封闭空间。那些描绘封闭式乌托邦图景的小说，尽管直至当代仍保持数百万册销量，其内容却常停留于革命性乌托邦理论的残余衍生物。[44]

我先前提及的那个委员会还讨论了用餐次数、进食时间、用餐时长、菜肴道数、食材性质及上菜顺序，并持续进行调整——不仅随季节月份变化，甚至每日更新，确保整周每餐皆不相同。清晨六点，所有工人（即全体公民）在开工前于各自工场的餐厅集体享用简易早餐，由工厂食堂统一备餐供膳。 九点钟，他们在工场共进午餐，而他们的妻儿则在家用餐。 下午两点，同一条街的所有居民会在共和餐厅共进晚餐，由共和国的餐饮供应商之一准备。 每晚九点至十点之间，每个家庭都会在家中享用由家庭妇女准备的晚餐。 在所有这些餐宴中，第一杯祝酒总是献给光荣的伊卡——工人的恩人、家庭的恩人、公民的恩人。[47]

科幻与奇幻的文学类型

关于月球宜居性的讨论在普鲁塔克之后沉寂了近1500年。多元世界问题的核心转向一个完全不同的理念：在无限宇宙中，“我们的世界”与无数（或许是无限个）拥有行星和陆地的世界同时存在。这一思想源自原子论者——阿布德拉的德谟克利特和米利都的留基伯（公元前5世纪）。根据这一概念，每个此类宇宙都是由大量原子随机聚集形成的。当时几乎不存在“辩论”：亚里士多德坚决反对多元世界，中世纪哲学家和神学家也持相同立场；原子论思想甚至成为禁忌。但在哥白尼理论的影响下，“唯一世界”的意识形态发生了剧变——英国人托马斯·迪格斯（1576年）以及可能受其影响的不幸的乔尔丹诺·布鲁诺（1583年及之后），构建了宏伟而富有远见的图景：恒星皆是太阳，周围可能环绕着行星，而我们的太阳亦是其中一颗恒星。[52]

将传统叙事框架应用于严肃推想作品时面临多重障碍。旅行者故事即便在最理想的乌托邦模式下，也沾染着一种根深蒂固的轻浮气质——当旅程延伸至舟楫徒步无法抵达之境时，这种特质愈发显著。文学梦境即便承载着最沉重的寓言，本质上终究是想象的幻影，总会在苏醒时瓦解。道德寓言向伏尔泰式哲理小说的转型，则受制于其传统场景与典范人物刻意营造的虚构成分。随着进步哲学将未来催生为亟待探索的想象疆域，这些问题愈发尖锐。自路易-塞巴斯蒂安·梅西耶在《公元2440年》（1771）开辟道路后，乌托邦推想进入“优时主义”模式——此举很快催生了更具怀疑精神的未来叙事，如库桑·德·格兰维尔的《最后的人类》（1805）——但除梦境外，通往未来的唯一途径只剩下长眠不醒。若获得的见闻无法传回当下，这对当代叙述者便毫无意义。设计合宜叙事框架以承载科学哲理小说的难题，在十九世纪不可避免地凸显，且绝非易事。[53]

正当她思索着该何去何从时，一股强劲海流将船推向极地。船被推得越来越远，最终抵达了极点。在那里，她平静地驶入一个与之相邻的世界。那世界与我们的地球仅以极光为界，而极光既非发光体也非反射体，而是一片密集凝聚的大气。这片大气层如同一个世界，或者说如同一道环绕这个世界的球状星环。[54] ... 这并非人们冻死的原因；他们不仅被驱赶到这个世界的极点，甚至抵达了另一个与之紧密相连的异世界极点。双重极地交汇处的严寒具有双倍强度，令人无法承受。最终，船只继续前行，被迫进入了另一个世界——因为从一极到另一极环绕这个星球是不可能的，如同我们从东向西环行那般；另一个世界的两极与此界相连，阻断了沿此方向环绕世界的去路。任何人抵达任一极点，要么被迫折返，要么踏入异界。若您对此存疑，认为若真如此，极地居民理应同时看见两个太阳，或如常人所信连续六个月不见日光，则需知：每个世界皆有专属太阳照耀，各自沿独特轨道运行。这种运动精准有序，互不干扰，因其均不逾越回归线。即便它们相遇，此界居民亦难以察觉——我们太阳的光芒更近，遮蔽了异界太阳的辉光。彼界太阳过于遥远，非肉眼所能窥见，除非借助精良望远镜。借助此类仪器，娴熟的天文学家常能同时观测到两三个太阳。[54]

但众精灵继续说道：我们感到奇怪的是，既然您能随心所欲地创造一个天界世界，为何还要渴望成为尘世的女皇？女皇问道：凡人之躯也能成为造物主吗？精灵答道：正是如此；因为每个凡人都能在头颅之内，创造出一个完全由非物质生物居住、充满非物质臣民（如我们这般）的非物质世界；不仅如此，他还能随心塑造世界的形态与制度，赋予其中造物以运动、形态、色彩、感知，按自己心意制造漩涡、光晕、压力与反作用力；他甚至可以创造一个布满血管、肌肉与神经的世界，并让这一切随一次震动而运转；他也能随意改造那个世界，将其从自然世界变为人工世界；他可以创造理念世界、原子世界、光之世界，或任何想象力指引的国度。既然您拥有创造这等世界的能力，又何须冒着生命、声誉与安宁的风险去征服粗鄙的物质世界呢？[55]

我不知自己是否会化为行星或卫星，在永恒的旋转中回旋。但随着逐渐适应这种运动，我的勇气又回来了。风轻柔而清新，我并不太饥渴；但想起口袋里有块小饼，便取出品尝。然而第一口就令人不适，我将其抛开了。那饼不仅悬在空中，更令我惊异的是，它开始绕着我盘旋。此时我领悟了真正的运动定律：所有物体在平衡状态下必会做圆周运动。 我在最初被抛入的轨道上停留了三天。由于持续绕着离我最近的行星运行，我能清晰分辨昼夜——能看到地心太阳的升降。不过这里的黑夜并不像我们世界那样黑暗。我观察到，太阳下沉时，天穹会被一种奇特明亮的光辉照亮。我认为这是阳光从地球内部拱顶反射形成的现象。[56]

我也了解到，在这个比我们自己的星球更非物质化的星球上，身体的构造与地球身体的构造毫无相似之处。受孕和出生在那里以完全不同的方式进行，类似于但以灵性形式的花朵受精和绽放。快乐没有苦涩。他们对地球人所承受的重负或痛苦一无所知。一切都更加灵性、更加空灵、更加非物质。人们可能称火星人为思考和生活的带翼花朵。但确实，地球上没有任何东西可以用来比较，从而形成对他们形态和生活方式的构想。[59]

他构建了充满意象与激情的完整世界，其中任何一个都足以让其他作家写成一整本书，却又将每个世界撕成碎片并加以嘲弄。书中层出不穷的物理危险在此无足轻重：真正令我们与作者共同穿行的是使物理危险显得微不足道的精神险境。这类创作没有固定法则，但部分秘诀在于作者（如同卡夫卡）正在记录一场活生生的辩证。他的托尔曼斯是精神的疆域。他是首位发现“异星”在小说中真正价值的作家——若要呈现太空旅行的故事中我们始终试图捕捉的“他异性”，仅靠物理奇观或空间距离远远不够，必须潜入另一个维度。要构建令人信服且动人的“异世界”，唯有从我们唯一熟知的真实“异界”——即精神世界——汲取养分。[60]

虽然两部传奇的地理设定超脱现实，但并未完全成为核心虚构世界传统的先驱；它们是鲜活的梦境而非故事，角色穿行的奇异国度也并非通过严谨详实的建构来营造真实感的虚构环境——而这正是该类型的先决条件。然而这些作品依然深邃、瑰丽而奇特：它们激发思维运转，无疑是奇幻杰作。[62]

“这有点难，我承认，”诺亚先生说。“但是，你看，你在两个世界中建造了那些城市。在这个世界里它被拆毁了。但在另一个世界里它还在继续。” “我不明白，”菲利普说。 “我以为你不会明白，”诺亚先生说；“但尽管如此，这是真的。人们在那个世界里制造的一切都会永远继续。” “但我是怎么进来的？” “因为你属于两个世界。而且你建造了这些城市。所以它们是属于你的。”[66]

必须致敬鲍姆的独创性。《绿野仙踪》不仅是美国儿童文学史上首部异世界奇幻作品，更是整个儿童文学领域第一个完整构建的想象世界。更非凡的是，在他的祖国，几乎没有任何路标能为鲍姆指引“黄砖路”的方向。查尔斯·金斯利在《水孩子》中运用了自然水下场景，乔治·麦克唐纳在《公主与哥布林》中借鉴了熟悉的民间传说世界，卡罗尔的《爱丽丝》系列以具象物品为前提；但正如多萝西在《绿野仙踪》结尾被问及来历时所说：“从奥兹国来”。奥兹是一个真实存在的国度。诚然，完整的奥兹宇宙观直至后续作品才逐渐成形（雷琳·摩尔在《神奇巫师，奇妙国度》中有详细阐述），但首部作品已通过足够精妙的细节让人确信奥兹的存在。[67]

多特与托特从未像多萝西那样感受到迫切的归家愿望。他们的旅途中没有真正的障碍，除遇见女王外，他们从未真正融入快乐王国的奇异地域与人群。这本书被称作旅行见闻录，但更像穿梭于马戏团杂耍展区，观众接连走过各种奇观，始终驻足旁观而非亲身参与。[68]

大众传媒的崛起

在这些以如此明确而具体的方式表达纯粹想象的记录中潜行，是一种奇特的体验。人们逐渐熟悉了一个梦境的自然地理...毫无疑问，在几周时间里，艾兰迪亚的真实感对我来说至少与堪察加的幻象同样清晰，后者仅在地图上为人所知，远不及奥斯汀·赖特笔下逐渐展开的地图那样激动人心。[70]

在每一次夜游中，小尼莫都更深地潜入梦境。他相继遇见即将成为同伴与向导的角色：绿色怪笑的侏儒弗利普带他卷入越来越危险的冒险；食人族印比、小狗斯利弗斯、皮尔医生，还有公主及其父莫菲斯国王。在麦凯笔下，小尼莫展开了一场真正的方法论式梦境探索；他逐渐向我们揭示梦境的逻辑、语言与神话景观。在这些元素影响下，小尼莫悄然改变：那个胆怯而惊奇的小男孩变得愈发自信，在与梦境世界日益亲密的交融中成长。最终，当学会掌控梦境力量并解读其法则时，小尼莫成为了自己梦境的主宰。[71]

科幻小说诞生之初，所有作者都极其严肃地对待它。几乎在所有案例中，作者都将故事建立在坚实的科学基础之上。如果作者对某些未来科技手段进行描述，通常会严格遵循当时已知的科学可能性。许多现代科幻作家却毫无此类顾虑。他们毫不犹豫地抛弃科学合理性，转而奉行我称之为“科学魔术”的创作方针——即既不合理也不可能的伪科学。这实际上已与童话故事重叠，甚至常常比童话更荒诞。这种状况令人遗憾。我坚信所有科幻作者都应避免此类倾向，否则科幻文学将难以存续。[80]

纸浆杂志已消失，如同被进化抹去的恐龙；它们被更小巧、整洁、低调的摘要型期刊所取代。商业贪婪造成的这场浩劫，实际上在很大程度上只是暂歇，等待着复兴。新兴且不断扩张的市场正蓬勃发展——那就是平装书。旧式纸浆杂志以其永不满足的需求培养了大批作家，并留下了一个强大而卓越的群体，成为现代科幻小说的核心与灵魂。[81]

相比二十年前我轻率放弃未知权利的那些简单日子，如今已发生诸多变化，伴随新权利诞生。今天我刚签署广播合约，授权我的故事通过电台进行戏剧化呈现。这与二次杂志版权已是天壤之别。一年内，我目睹电视条款被加入某部电影合约；如今我像关注其他权利一样密切关注电视版权——因为在我的版权到期之前，电视权利早已价值连城。[89]

本小说仅呈现了伊斯坦迪亚文稿的一部分。原始小说篇幅近六十万字，因体量过于庞大而难以出版，尤其在战时纸张短缺时期。原稿以七厚册弹簧活页夹装订成形…… 这些厚重的书稿，我自己一个人实在搬不动，最终被出版社接受了……在法勒与莱因哈特出版社的编辑马克·萨克斯顿敏锐而贴心的帮助下，我将小说删减了约三分之一。这便是它如今的面貌。正如我在原版注释中提到的，我父亲对约翰·朗所见每一处景致的地质成因都了然于胸，并乐于描述这些细节。删减的部分多为这类从容的观察……父亲对这个国度如此熟悉，是因为他曾以多种身份游历并思考过这片土地。其中一种身份中，他构建了它的历史——一部学术著作《伊萨兰迪亚：历史与描述》，作者是M.让·佩里尔，读者会认出他是伊萨兰迪亚的首任法国领事。 这份约13.5万字的文献是未出版的伊萨兰迪亚文稿中的主要部分。此外，还有大量历史附录，包括伊萨兰迪亚语词汇表、参考文献、多张人口统计表、各省地名志及各自历史、总督、法官、首相等的列表、完整的历史贵族名录、历法与气候笔记，以及一些伊萨兰迪亚文学样本。还有十九幅地图，其中一幅是地质图。[95]

《魔戒》与托尔金的影响

他不仅满足于创作宏篇巨著，更执着于确保每个细节都能完美契合整体格局。地理、年代与命名体系必须完全自洽。在绘制故事地貌的精细地图时，其子克里斯托弗曾提供协助...但仅有地图远远不够，他还进行了无休止的时空演算，绘制详尽的叙事事件图表，标注具体日期、星期几、时刻，甚至包括风向与月相。这既源于他追求完美的天性，也出于对‘次级创造’乐趣的沉醉，但最重要的是展现令人全然信服的图景。[96]

这项工作自然耗费大量心血，因为我必须建立与《霍比特人》的关联，但更重要的是与背景神话体系的衔接。神话体系本身也需要重写。《魔戒》仅是一部创作于1936至1953年间、篇幅近乎两倍的作品的终章（我原希望按时间顺序完整出版，但事实证明不可行）。而语言系统更需精心雕琢！若我更多顾及个人喜好而非潜在读者的承受能力，书中本会出现更多精灵语。但即便是现有片段，若要赋予其意义，就需要两套完整的音系语法体系和大量词汇。[98]

但一场意外的盛宴始于1965年——J.R.R.托尔金在美国掀起并经久不衰的狂热浪潮，最终席卷全球。 三大因素促成此现象：其一是时代精神，那个嬉皮士运动、越战、社会异议、示威游行、良知觉醒与社群意识迸发的年代，人们向往如夏尔般温暖、自然、无拘无束的醇美自由之境。 另一个因素是美国的亲英文化。从车载收音机到电影院再到时尚杂志，不列颠自1964年起便主宰了流行文化。 但主要原因在于1965年6月由纽约科幻公司艾斯图书出版的授权平装本。[99]

新宇宙的诞生与媒体产业链的崛起

从一开始他就决心掌控影片及其衍生品的销售权。“通常你只需与制片厂签订标准合同，”他说，“但我们想要商品化权、续集权等所有权益。我没有多要100万美元，只要商品化权。福克斯认为这是公平交易。”乔治·卢卡斯于1971年7月创立的卢卡斯影业，“早已建立了与二十世纪福克斯同等规模的衍生品部门，且运作更高效。我在洽谈电影合约时，就已聘请专人负责相关事务。” 卢卡斯有理由争辩，他是在保护自己两年研究与写作的投资成果；同时也在守护从《美国风情画》获得的30万美元收益份额——这笔钱被他与制片人加里·库尔茨用作《星球大战》的启动资金。“我们发现福克斯公司为了宣传效果，正在免费赠送商品化权利，”他回忆道，“他们甚至与某大型快餐连锁企业开展联动促销，实际上还倒贴钱请对方操盘大型推广活动。我们指出这种行为的荒谬性，经过不断施压，最终争取到多项有利条款。”电影上映后，相关数字呈现爆发式增长：单月T恤销售额达10万美元，星际主题泡泡糖创收26万美元，即食甜味麦片广告预算高达300万美元——这还未计入黑色数字手表、民用波段无线电设备及个人喷气飞行器的销售数据。[101]

互动世界

步入计算机时代

作为艺术与思想实验的世界

许久之后，一种新的游戏性虚构在现代性的旗帜下登场。其形式多样，既包括超现实主义者自发而时而稚拙的尝试，也涵盖博尔赫斯与后现代作家精心构建的虚构机制。这些实践的共性在于：通过建构虚构世界来揭示虚构作品的特性并探索其潜能。博尔赫斯用不可能之物与矛盾情境填充他的故事，以致读者在领略《阿莱夫》或《巴别图书馆》后再无回归常规世界的可能。建立这些虚构空间的目的，与其说是增衍传统智慧，不如说是拓展我们对虚构可能性的认知。因此，应当区分两类虚构殖民地：一类作为往返现实世界的基地而建立，另一类则为冒险与探索而扎根——恰似破釜沉舟后的远航。[115]

当旅人从任何方向接近此地时，他的行动会越来越缓慢。心跳间隔逐渐拉长，呼吸变得微弱，体温下降，思绪衰减，直至抵达绝对中心而完全静止。因为这里是时间的中心。从此处出发，时间以同心圆状向外流淌——中心静止不动，随着直径增大逐渐加速。 谁会前往时间中心朝圣？牵着孩子的父母，与相爱的恋人。 于是，在时间凝滞之地，人们看见父母紧搂着子女，凝固定格在永不松开的拥抱中。那个蓝眼金发的美丽少女将永远保持此刻的微笑，双颊永不褪去柔和的粉晕，永远不会生出皱纹或感到疲惫，永远不会受伤，永远不会遗忘父母的教诲，永远不会产生父母未知的念头，永远不会认知邪恶，永远不会对父母说出不爱之言，永远不会离开她那间看得见海的卧室，永远不会停止此刻与父母的相触。[116]

合成世界本质上是这种研究方法的理想工具。为支撑广阔持久的虚拟环境，服务器需追踪海量数据……所有这些信息都可以存储，并用于挖掘玩家行为的聚合趋势……除了跟踪和存储大量行为数据外，合成世界还允许实验者拥有很大的控制权……我们认为这些观察结果很重要，因为它们发生在固有的复杂社会环境中。[119]

注释

1. From the “Prooemium” section of Philostratos the Younger, Imagines, third century AD, translated by Arthur Fairbanks, available at http://www.theoi.com/Text/PhilostratusYounger.html (accessed January 23, 2009).
2. Margaret Cavendish, “To the Reader” in The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-World, printed by A. Maxwell in London, 1666.
3. Published histories of these areas often value and emphasize different things from those that are useful to an analysis of world-building. Thus, some of the texts that are important to those histories will not be important to the analysis in this chapter, while other works that are important to a history of world-building may not meet their criteria for importance.
4. Diskin Clay, “The Islands of the Odyssey”, Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 37:1, Winter 2007, pages 141–161.
5. Herodotus, Histories, Book III, translated by George Rawlinson, from The Internet Classics Archive, available at http://classics.mit.edu//Herodotus/history.html (accessed January 26, 2009).
6. James Patrick, Renaissance and Reformation, Tarrytown, New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2007, page 384.
7. From the end of the “Introduction” of Lucian of Samosata, The True History, translated by H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler, Oxford, England: The Clarendon Press, 1905, available at http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl211.htm (accessed January 27, 2009).
8. From S. C. Fredericks, “Lucian’s True History as SF”, Science Fiction Studies, No. 8, Volume 3, Part 1, March 1976, available at http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/8/fredericks&art.htm (accessed January 27, 2009).
9. David Marsh, Lucian and the Latins: Humor and Humanism in the Early Renaissance, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1999.
10. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayy_ibn_Yaqdhan and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_al-Nafis#Theologus_Autodidactus (both accessed February 2, 2009).
11. From the “Introduction” of Rosemary Tzanaki, Mandeville’s Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371–1550), Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing, 2003, page 1.
12. Ibid., page 6.
13. As quoted in John Ashton, editor, The Volage and Travayle of Sir John Mandeville, Knight, London, England: Pickering and Chatto, 1887, page vii.
14. From the “Introduction” of Rosemary Tzanaki, Mandeville’s Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville (1371–1550), Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing, 2003, page 7.
15. Andrew Hadfield, Literature, Travel, and Colonial Writing in the English Renaissance 1545–1625, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1999.
16. François Rabelais, Les horribles et épouvantables faits et prouesses du très renommé Pantagruel Roi des Dipsodes, fils du Grand Géant Gargantua, “Chapter XXXII. How Pantagruel with his tongue covered a whole army, and what the author saw in his mouth”, translated by Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty and Peter Antony Motteux, available online at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Pantagruel/Chapter_XXXII (accessed February 10, 2009).
17. See “Antilla”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antilla, and “Isle of Seven Cities”, http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Isle-of-Seven-Cities (both accessed February 26, 2009).
18. Nathalie Hester, Literature and Identity in Baroque Italian Travel Writing, Ashgate Publishing, 2008, page 3.
19. Percy G. Adams, Travelers and Travel Liars, 1660–1800, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1962, pages 17–18.
20. Philip Babcock Gove, The Imaginary Voyage in Prose Fiction: A History of Its Criticism and a Guide for Its Study, with an Annotated Checklist of 215 Imaginary Voyages from 1700 to 1800, London, England: The Holland Press, 1961, pages 124–125.
21. Ibid., page 136.
22. Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, New York: Greenwich House Classics Library, distributed by Crown Publishers, Inc., 1982, page 71.
23. From Part One, Chapter Four of Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, 1726, reprinted by Sandy Lesberg, editor, New York: Peebles Press International, Inc., page 62.
24. From Book V, Chapter xii, of Hans Jacob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, Der Abenteurliche Simplizissimus Teutsch, 1668, available at http://web.wm.edu/history/rbsche/grimmelshausen/bk5-chap12.html (accessed March 4, 2009).
25. A number of “Hollow Earth” theories are collected and summarized at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_Earth (accessed March 6, 2009).
26. According to Peter Fitting, editor, Subterranean Worlds: A Critical Anthology. Middleton, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2004, page 8.
27. As quoted in Paul Burns, The History of the Discovery of Cinematography, available at http://www.precinemahistory.net/1750.htm (accessed March 12, 2009).
28. The case of Neo in The Matrix (1999) even reverses this idea, as he must leave the secondary world in order to be made aware of it; and the Primary World that we know is revealed to be only a secondary world within the ruined and rebuilt “real world” controlled by the machines.
29. Percy G. Adams, Travelers and Travel Liars, 1660–1800, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1962, page 131.
30. Ibid., page 224.
31. Philip Babcock Gove, The Imaginary Voyage in Prose Fiction: A History of Its Criticism and a Guide for Its Study, with an Annotated Checklist of 215 Imaginary Voyages from 1700 to 1800, London, England: The Holland Press, 1961, page 159.
32. Frank E. Manuel and Fritzie P. Manuel, Utopian Thought in the Western World, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979, page 21.
33. See Brian R. Goodey, “Mapping “Utopia”: A Comment on the Geography of Sir Thomas More”, Geographical Review, Vol. 60, No. 1, January 1970, pages 15–30.
34. Ibid., page 18.
35. See the edition of More’s Utopia in the Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought series, edited by George M. Logan and Robert M. Adams, New York and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
36. Frank E. Manuel and Fritzie P. Manuel, Utopian Thought in the Western World, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979, pages 1–2.
37. Thus, any division that one could attempt to make between utopias and dystopias would reveal particular beliefs and agendas; the only solution is to consider them both together as potential social structures.
38. Some worlds were guilty of female chauvinism; Marie Anne de Roumier Roberts’s Les Ondins (1768) features the country of Castora, ruled by a queen, from which all men have been banished. Any visiting men who stay longer than a day are sacrificed to the goddess Pallas, the Protectoress of Castora.
39. Tommaso Campanella, The City of the Sun, 1602, available from Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2816/2816-h/2816-h.htm (accessed April 9, 2009).
40. Edward H. Thompson, “Christianopolis—The Human Dimension”, paper presented at the Table Ronde “Publicists and Projectors in 17th-Century Europe” at the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, February 1996, and available at http://homepages.tesco.net/ eandethomp/andpro.htm (accessed April 16, 2009).
41. Frank E. Manuel and Fritzie P. Manuel, Utopian Thought in the Western World, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979, page 22.
42. See the discussion of the sale of one of the only four remaining copies of Morgan’s book at http://antiques-collectibles-auction-news.com/2008/02/27/14th-century-work-of-art-by-the-italian-painter-allegretto-muzi-1315-1373-soars-to-295000-at-philip-weiss-auctions-multi-estate-sale-held-feb-23-24-2008/ (accessed April 17, 2009).
43. Marie Louise Berneri, Journey Through Utopia, Berlin, Germany, and New York, New York: Schocken Books, 1950, page 177.
44. Frank E. Manuel and Fritzie P. Manuel, Utopian Thought in the Western World, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979, page 3.
45. See the entry “Bodin, Félix” by Paul K. Alkon in Samuel L. Macey, editor, Encyclopedia of Time, New York: Routledge Press, 1994, pages 67–68.
46. According to Lyman Tower Sargent, who claims there were “160 utopias published between 1800 and 1887” and “the same number of utopias written between 1888 and 1895 as in all the previous 87 years.” From Lyman Tower Sargent, “Themes in Utopian Fiction in English Before Wells”, Science Fiction Studies, Number 10,
47. From Etienne Cabet, Voyage to Icaria, reprinted in Marie Louise Berneri, Journey Through Utopia, New York: Schocken Books, 1950, page 229.
48. A list of over 2900 uchronias can be found online at “Uchronia: The Alternate History List” at http://www.uchronia.net/ (accessed April 28, 2009).
49. The next century would see even more distant uchronias, like Olaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930) which covers about 2 billion years, and his Star Maker (1937) which covers even more.
50. The term “science fiction” appeared in Chapter 10 of William Wilson’s A Little Earnest Book upon a Great Old Subject (1851). “Scientist” was a deliberate coinage, appearing in print in 1840, and it appears to have been first suggested, along with “science”, in the 1830s, according to Raymond Williams’s Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, page 279.
51. See Philip Babcock Gove, The Imaginary Voyage in Prose Fiction: A History of Its Criticism and a Guide for Its Study, with an Annotated Checklist of 215 Imaginary Voyages from 1700 to 1800, London, England: The Holland Press, 1961, page 205.
52. Tibor S. J. Herczeg, “The Habitability of the Moon”, in G. Lemarchand and K. Meech, editors, A New Era in Bioastronomy, ASP Conference Series, Vol. 213, 2000, page 594.
53. See Brian Stableford, “Science fiction before the genre” in Edward James and Farah Mendleson, editors, The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003, page 18.
54. Margaret Cavendish, The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-World, printed by A. Maxwell in London, 1666. Also available at http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/newcastle/blazing/blazing.html (accessed June 4, 2009).
55. Ibid.
56. Baron Ludwig Holberg, “Chapter I. The Author’s Descent into the Abyss” from Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum (1741), available at http://www.archive.org/stream/nielsklimijourne00holb/nielsklimijourne00holb_djvu.txt (accessed June 4, 2009).
57. All titles of poems and section headings are taken from the DAW Books translation that appeared in C. I. Defontenay, Star (Psi Cassiopeia): The Marvelous History of One of the Worlds of Outer Space, Encino, California: Black Coat Press, 2007.
58. According to Pierre Versins’s “Introduction” to the 1975 reprint of Star, that also appeared in the 2007 reprint cited earlier.
59. From Part III, Chapter III of Camille Flammarion’s Uranie, translated from the French by Mary J. Serrano, available at http://fiction.eserver.org/novels/uranie/default.html (accessed July 9, 2009).
60. From C. S. Lewis, “On Stories” in Essays Presented to Charles Williams, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1947, and reprinted in Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories, edited by Walter Hooper, New York and London: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1966, page 12.
61. See the “Vril” page of Wikipedia, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vril (accessed July 10, 2009).
62. Lin Carter, Imaginary Worlds: The Art of Fantasy, New York: Ballantine Books, 1973, page 19.
63. See “Upmeads”, http://manchesterhistory.net/edgarwood/upmeads1.html (accessed May 28, 2009).
64. According to Sheila A. Egoff, Worlds Within: Children’s Fantasy from the Middle Ages to Today, Chicago and London: American Library Association, 1988, page 45.
65. The 596-word digression reads thus: In old, old, olden times, when all our world was just loose earth and air and fire and water mixed up anyhow like a pudding, and spinning around like mad trying to get the different things to settle into their proper places, a round piece of earth got loose and went spinning away by itself across the water, which was just beginning to try to get spread out smooth into a real sea. And as the great round piece of earth flew away, going around and around as hard as it could, it met a long piece of hard rock that had got loose from another part of the puddingy mixture, and the rock was so hard, and was going so fast, that it ran its point through the round piece of earth and stuck out on the other side of it, so that the two together were like a very-very-much-too-big spinning top. I am afraid all this is very dull, but you know geography is never quite lively, and after all, I must give you a little information even in a fairy tale—like the powder in jam. Well, when the pointed rock smashed into the round bit of earth the shock was so great that it set them spinning together through the air—which was just getting into its proper place, like all the rest of the things—only, as luck would have it, they forgot which way around they had been going, and began to spin around the wrong way. Presently Center of Gravity—a great giant who was managing the whole business—woke up in the middle of the earth and began to grumble. “Hurry up,” he said. “Come down and lie still, can’t you?” So the rock with the round piece of earth fell into the sea, and the point of the rock went into a hole that just fitted it in the stony sea bottom, and there it spun around the wrong way seven times and then lay still. And that round piece of land became, after millions of years, the Kingdom of Rotundia. This is the end of the geography lesson. And now for just a little natural history, so that we may not feel that we are quite wasting our time. Of course, the consequence of the island having spun around the wrong way was that when the animals began to grow on the island they all grew the wrong sizes. The guinea pig, as you know, was as big as our elephants, and the elephant—dear little pet—was the size of the silly, tiny, black-and-tan dogs that ladies carry sometimes in their muffs. The rabbits were about the size of our rhinoceroses, and all about the wild parts of the island they had made their burrows as big as railway tunnels. The dormouse, of course, was the biggest of all the creatures. I can’t tell you how big he was. Even if you think of elephants it will not help you at all. Luckily there was only one of him, and he was always asleep. Otherwise I don’t think the Rotundians could have borne with him. As it was, they made him a house, and it saved the expense of a brass band, because no band could possibly have been heard when the dormouse was talking in his sleep. The men and women and children in this wonderful island were quite the right size, because their ancestors had come over with the Conqueror long after the island had settled down and the animals grown on it. From Edith Nesbit, “Uncle James, or The Purple Stranger” in The Book of Dragons (1900), reprinted by Chronicle Press, 2001, pages 25–26. Also available at http://www.online-literature.com/edith-nesbit/book-of-dragons/2/ (accessed June 1, 2009).
66. From Edith Nesbit, The Magic City, London: MacMillan and Company, 1910, page 84. Also available at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20606/20606-h/20606-h.htm (accessed June 2, 2009).
67. Sheila A. Egoff, Worlds Within: Children’s Fantasy from the Middle Ages to Today, Chicago and London: American Library Association, 1988, page 73.
68. Michael O. Riley, Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, Lawrence, Kansas: The University Press of Kansas, 1997, page 62.
69. In some cases, stories were presented as being already mediated; for example, John Kirkby’s The History of Automathes (1745) is itself being read from a manuscript by the narrator.
70. Leonard Bacon, “Introduction” in Austin Tappan Wright, Islandia, New York and Toronto: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1942, page viii.
71. Pierre Couperie and Maurice C. Horn et al, A History of the Comic Strip, translated from the French by Eileen B. Henessy, New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1967, pages 27–28.
72. Ibid., page 155. The study discussed was conducted by F. E. Barcus.
73. Michael O. Riley, Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, Lawrence, Kansas: The University Press of Kansas, 1997, page 42.
74. Ibid., page 47.
75. Ibid., pages 98–99.
76. Ibid., page 150.
77. David Kyle, A Pictorial History of Science Fiction, London and New York: Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, 1976, page 117.
78. The Hall of the Mist is from Donald Wandrei’s “The Red Brain” in Weird Tales, October 1927; Ulm is from S. P. Meek’s “Submicroscopic” in Amazing Stories, August 1931; Valadom is from Donald Wandrei’s “Colossus” in Astounding Stories, January 1934; the Pygmy Planet is from Jack Williamson’s “The Pygmy Planet” in Astounding Stories, February 1932; Vulcan is from Ross Rocklynne’s “At the Center of Gravity” in Astounding Stories, June 1936; Soldus is from Nat Schachner’s “The Sun-world of Soldus” in Astounding Science-Fiction, April 1938; Lagash is from Isaac Asimov’s “Nightfall” in Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1941; Logeia is from Fletcher Pratt’s novel The Undesired Princess, first serialized in Unknown, beginning in February 1942; Hydrot is from Arthur Merlyn’s “Sunken Universe” in Super Science Stories, May 1942; Placet is from Fredric Brown’s “Placet is a Crazy Place” in Astounding Science-Fiction, May 1946; and Aiolo is from Murray Leinster’s “The Plants” in Astounding Science-Fiction, January 1946.
79. Philip Francis Nowlan’s future Earth first appeared in “Armageddon, 2419 A.D.” in Amazing Stories, August 1928; Zothique first appeared in Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Empire of the Necromancers” in Weird Tales, September 1932; Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age first appeared in “The Phoenix on the Sword” in Weird Tales, December 1932; the Lensman universe first appeared in E. E. Smith’s Triplanetary (serialized in Amazing Stories, January—April, 1934); Nehwon first appeared in Fritz Leiber’s “Two Sought Adventure” in Unknown magazine, August 1939; the Future History Universe first appeared in Robert Heinlein’s “Life-Line” in Astounding Science-Fiction, August 1939; the Foundation universe first appeared in Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” in Astounding Science-Fiction, May 1942, while his Galactic Empire universe first appeared in “Blind Alley” in Astounding Science-Fiction, March 1945; Ray Bradbury’s version of Mars first appeared in “Rocket Summer” in Planet Stories, Spring 1947; the Psychotechnic League universe first appeared in Poul Anderson and John Gergen’s “The Entity” in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1949; the Viagens Interplanetarias universe first appeared in L. Sprague de Camp’s “The Animal-Cracker Plot” in Astounding Science Fiction, July 1949; the Instrumentality of Mankind future history universe first appeared in Cordwainer Smith’s “Scanners Live in Vain” in Fantasy Book #6, 1950; and the Terro-Human Future History universe first appeared in H. Beam Piper’s “Uller Uprising” in The Petrified Planet (1952).
80. Hugo Gernsback, “Reasonableness in Science Fiction”, Wonder Stories, December 1932, reproduced in David Kyle, A Pictorial History of Science Fiction, London and New York: Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, 1976, page 80.
81. David Kyle, A Pictorial History of Science Fiction, London and New York: Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, 1976, page 147.
82. Anatevka was originally named “Boyberik” in Sholem Aleichem’s fictional memoir Teyve and His Daughters (1894).
83. From the voiceover for the 1939 trailer for MGM’s The Wizard of Oz. The trailer can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNugTWHnSfw (accessed October 14, 2011).
84. Oakdale, Illinois is from As the World Turns (1956–2010); Central City is from The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959–1963); Bay City, Illinois is from Another World (1964–1999); Salem is from Days of Our Lives (1965–present); Collinsport, Maine is from Dark Shadows (1966–1971 and 1991); Llanview, Pennsylvania is from One Life to Live (1968–2011); Pine Valley is from All My Children (1970–2011); Genoa City, Wisconsin is from The Young and the Restless (1973–present); Hazard County, Georgia is from The Dukes of Hazzard (1977–1985); Corinth, Pennsylvania is from Loving (1983–1995); Cabot Cove, Maine is from Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996); Twin Peaks, Washington is from Twin Peaks (1990–1991); Cicely, Alaska is from Northern Exposure (1990–1995); Capeside, Massachusetts is from Dawson’s Creek (1998–2003); and Harmony is from Passions (1999–2008).
85. Mayfield appeared in Leave it to Beaver (1957–1963), Still the Beaver (1985–1986), and The New Leave it to Beaver (1986–1989); Mayberry, North Carolina appeared on The Danny Thomas Show in 1960, The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968), and Mayberry, R. F. D. (1968–1971); Hooterville appeared in Petticoat Junction (1963–1970) and Green Acres (1965–1971); Port Charles, New York is from General Hospital (1963–present), Port Charles (1997–2003), and General Hospital: Night Shift (2007–2008); and Fernwood, Ohio is from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976–1977), Forever Fernwood (1977), and *Fernwood 2-Night* (1977–1978).
86. For example, the Neighborhood of Make-Believe in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood has an unusually elaborate geography for a children’s program (including non-Euclidean spaces); characters that occupy a broad ontological spectrum; and in at least one episode, an intertextual reference referring to an event (the fire in Corney’s factory) that occurred 21 years earlier on the show, which could only be remembered by adults who had seen the show during their own childhood.
87. The city of Opar appears in The Return of Tarzan (1913); Pal-ul-don, a kingdom in Zaire, in Tarzan the Terrible (1921); the village of Alali and the region of Minuni in Tarzan and the Ant Men (1924); the cities of Castra Sanguinarius and Castrum Mare in Tarzan and the Lost Empire (1929); the African country of Midian in Tarzan Triumphant (1932); the lands of Omhar and Thenar in Tarzan and the City of Gold (1933); and the city of Ashair in Tarzan and the Forbidden City (1938).
88. Other worlds of his include Maxon’s Island in the South China Sea in A Man Without a Soul (1913); the island of Flotsam in The Cave Girl (1913); Lutha, a country in Southern Europe in The Mad King (1914); and Lodidhapura, a city in the jungles of Cambodia, in The Jungle Girl (1931).
89. From Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Protecting the Author’s Rights”, The Writers 1932 Year Book & Market Guide, reprinted in Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All (Third Edition), compiled by Jerry L. Schneider, Amazon.com: CreateSpace, 2008, page 160.
90. According to Lin Carter, Imaginary Worlds: The Art of Fantasy, New York: Ballantine Books, 1973, page 44.
91. In letters 19 and 294 in J. R. R. Tolkien, The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter, Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981, pages 26 and 375, respectively.
92. In the Storisende edition published by McBribe, at least, in which several works can form a single volume; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Biography_of_Manuel for the list of books.
93. The state of Winnemac is the setting for Babbit (1922), Arrowsmith (1925), Elmer Gantry (1927), The Man Who Knew Coolidge (1928), and Dodsworth (1929).
94. Helen Batchelor, “A Sinclair Lewis Portfolio of Maps: Zenith to Winnemac”, Modern Language Quarterly, December 1971, Volume 32, Issue 4, pages 401–429. Another example of an American locale outside the realm of fantasy and science fiction is
95. From Sylvia Wright’s “Introduction” in the 1958 edition of Austin Tappan Wright, Islandia, New York, New York: New American Library, pages v–vi.
96. Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien: A Biography, Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977, pages 194–195.
97. From Tolkien’s “Foreword” to The Lord of the Rings, Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1966, page 5.
98. From a draft of a 1955 letter to W. H. Auden, in The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter, Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981, page 216.
99. Mike Foster, “America in the 1960s: Reception of Tolkien” entry in Michael D. C. Drout, editor, J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment, New York, New York, and London, England: Routledge, 2007, page 14.
100. For the dates, creators, and works of first appearance of these worlds, see the Appendix.
101. From Michael Pye and Lynda Miles, The Movie Brats, Geneva, Illinois: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston (now Holt MacDougal), 1979, as reprinted in Sally Kline, editor, George Lucas: Interviews, Jackson, Mississippi: University of Mississippi Press, pages 79–80.
102. According to Alex Ben Block and Lucy Autrey Wilson, George Lucas’s Blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success, New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010, page 624.
103. See Matthew Kirschenbaum, “War Stories: Board Wargames and (Vast) Procedural Narratives” in Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin, editors, Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2009, pages 357–358.
104. Some examples are Christoph Weickhmann’s New-Erfundene Große König-Spiel (The Newly Invented Great King’s Game) (1650), and Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig’s Versuch eines aufs Schachspiel gebauteten taktischen Spiels von zuver und mehreren Personen zu spielen (Attempt at a Tactical Game for Two and More Persons, Based on Chess) (1780), according to Rolf F. Nohr’s “war” entry in Mark J. P. Wolf, editor, Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming, Westport, Connecticut: ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Press, 2012.
105. Begun in 1919, the Marx Toy Company made metal playsets during the 1930s and 1940s, like the Sunnyside Service Station (1934) and the Roadside Service Station (1935). With the advent of plastics, production became easier and less expensive, and the number of playsets increased as did their popularity. In the 1950s, Marx produced more generic sets, like Cowboy and Indian Camp (1953) and Arctic Explorer Play Set (1958), as well as sets based on actual events like the Civil War and real places like Fort Apache (1951) and Fort Dearborn (1952). Other sets were adaptations of existing properties in other media, like the Roy Rogers Ranch Set (1952), Lone Ranger Rodeo (1952), Walt Disney’s Davy Crockett at the Alamo (1955), and Gunsmoke Dodge City (1960). The transmedial nature of these sets, which played on the popularity of existing franchises, encouraged the sale of playsets in general.
106. Although many LEGO sets are based on other franchises (like Star Wars), the LEGO system universe has its own settings and narratives. For example, in the LEGOLAND Idea Book of 1980, we find: This book is presented like a story. Just follow our two Mini-Figures™. Mary and Bill, as they build their LEGOLAND home and community and then move on to other adventures by car, on foot, and finally by spaceship. Along the way you’ll find lots of ideas for building, designing and combining: how to build an airport, or a spaceship, how to put on a circus, how to light up your town at night. (From the LECOLAND Idea Book, Hamburg, Germany: Mühlmeister & Johler, 1980.) The 82-page narrative, which is laid out between graphical building instructions of the models seen in the story, follows Mary and Bill as they build their home, go into town for the day, and return to find their house on fire, which is quickly extinguished by the fire department. They then travel to see a circus, stay overnight at a windmill, visit a seaside town where they have a new house and buy furniture for it, have their car towed and fixed near an airport, and take part in other activities. Later they go to a movie theater where a movie about astronauts is playing, and when they leave the theater at night, they don space helmets and air tanks and fly off in their own spaceship. They travel to a moon base, and with another astronaut, they go to answer an SOS signal, which turns out to be coming from a downed alien spaceship. They meet the aliens, tow their spaceship back to the moon base, and help repair it. The aliens leave and Mary and Bill follow them to the aliens’ planet, where they see strange buildings, vehicles, and other varieties of aliens. After their stay, Mary and Bill fly off in their spaceship, returning to Earth, where they arrive at a medieval castle (implying that their journey involves time travel as well as space travel, though this is never stated explicitly). They are brought to the castle in a horse and carriage, explore it and meet another couple there (who appear to be the lord and lady of the manor), and together the two couples attend a jousting tournament (where, oddly enough, two spacemen wearing medieval helmets are sitting among the crowd). After a brief tour of another, smaller castle, Mary and Bill are off again in their spaceship, waving goodbye as they often do when leaving a location. On the last page, they are shown looking out of their spaceship and waving goodbye to the reader as well. On the front and back cover of the book, Mary and Bill are pictured back in a town, telling the townspeople about their adventure (images of which appear in dialogue balloons). On the back cover, however, the medieval castle can be seen just over the hill, implying nearby proximity.
107. According to the Wikipedia page on David Wesely found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wesely (accessed January 29, 2010).
108. See “Historia de los CRPGs”, Meristation Zonaforo, at http://zonaforo.meristation.com/foros/viewtopic.php?p=15403838 (accessed February 1, 2010); Matt Barton, “The History of Computer Role-Playing Games Part 1: The Early Years (1980–1983)”, Gamasutra, at http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20070223a/barton_pfv.htm (accessed February 1, 2010); and Rusty Rutherford, “The Creation of PEDITS”, Armchair Arcade, available at http://www.armchairarcade.com/neo/node/1948 (accessed February 1, 2010). Also see Matt Barton, Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games, Wellesley, Massachusetts: A. K. Peters, 2008.
109. Sources seem to vary (especially on the Internet) as to whether Ultima was released in 1980 or 1981; however, The Official Book of Ultima by Shay Addams, with a preface by Richard Garriott, says it was “published by California Pacific in 1980”. See Shay Addams, The Official Book of Ultima, Radnor, Pennsylvania: COMPUTE Publications, 1990, page 15.
110. Dan Koeppel, “Massive Attack: Fasten Your Seat Belts: Peter Jackson’s Second Lord of the Rings Installment Will Feature One of the Most Spectacular Battle Scenes in Film History, a Product of the Digital Dark Arts”, Popular Science, January 23, 2003, page 44.
111. For example, see the Wikipedia page for “Simulated Reality” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulated_Reality (accessed February 2, 2010).
112. As quoted in Benjamin Svetkey, “The New Face of Movies”, Entertainment Weekly, #1086, January 22, 2010, page 34.
113. See Chris Baker, “Master of the Universe”, Wired 16.09, September 2008, page 136.
114. See the “Preserving Virtual Worlds” page at http://pvw.illinois.edu/pvw/ and the Library of Congress’s page http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/partners/pvw/pvw.html (accessed February 3, 2010).
115. Thomas G. Pavel, Fictional Worlds, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1986, pages 84–85.
116. Alan Lightman, Einstein’s Dreams, New York, New York: Warner Books, pages 71–72.
117. These worlds can be found in Bob Shaw’s Orbitsville (1975), Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson’s Farthest Star (1975), Robert Forward’s Dragon’s Egg (1980), Larry Niven’s Ringworld (1970), Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic (1983), and Sontow Sucharitkul’s Mallworld (1984), respectively.
118. From “A First Note” at the beginning of Ursula K. LeGuin’s Always Coming Home, New York and London: Bantam Books, 1985. Perec’s apartment building may be too small to be considered an imaginary world by some, but I include it here (and in the Appendix) due to the high degree of development and detail that the building and its apartments are given (which is certainly more than such buildings receive in traditional literature), and the importance of the spaces to the narratives contained in the book.
119. Edward Castronova, Mark W. Bell, Robert Cornell, James J. Cummings, Matthew Falk, Travis Ross, Sarah B. Robbins and Alida Field, “Synthetic Worlds as Experimental Instruments”, in Bernard Perron and Mark J. P. Wolf, editors, The Video Game Theory Reader 2, New York and London: Routledge, 2008, pages 284–285.