“We do not know what the dragon means, just as we do not know the meaning of the universe, but there is something in the image of the dragon that is congenial to man’s imagination… It is, one might say, a necessary monster” – Jorge Luis Borges.

Imaginary beings, from the winged horse Pegasus to the monstrous creature in Alien, have consistently been a key feature of the fantastic. Noel Carroll, in A Philosophy of Horror, argues that monsters horrify us because they are “categorically interstitial, categorically contradictory, incomplete, or formless” (32), and so they combine forms or states that violate our sense of ontologically distinct categories, such as the living dead or the werewolf. Yet the same fusion of categories can also be a source of wonder, such as mermaids or superheroes. In some narratives, the same being can be either wondrous or terrifying, as the dragon is. In this issue we welcome original articles on the role of imaginary beings in classical and contemporary narratives. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• The imaginary being as a human correlate.
• Design and interpretation of imaginary beings.
• Imaginary beings and emotions.
• Gender, class and diversity perspectives.
• Imaginary beings as main protagonists or sidekicks in games.
• Focalization and other narratological or response-oriented functions related to imaginary beings.
• The ergodicity of imaginary beings.
• Othering, orientalism and colonialism in fantastic fiction.
• Imaginary beings as sources of horror and wonder.
• The transformation in how particular imaginary beings are designed and represented, such as Frankenstein’s monster or the vampire

Length

5000-8000 words, Chicago style (in text), please keep notes to a minimum. Illustrations are welcome, 300 dpi at print size, .jpg. Authors are responsible for all illustration copyrights.

Deadline for issue 3

A 500-800 word synopsis by June 30, 2023. A first draft article by Nov. 1, 2023. Published Spring/Summer 2024. The finished article should include 125-150 word abstract and 5 - 7 keywords. Articles will be double blind peer-reviewed, edited and published online as they are submitted to the journal.