Emplacing Tasks of Magic: Hand, Land, and the Generation of Fantasy Taskscape in Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching Series

Abstract

This article studies the celebrated British fantasy writer Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching series in order to unpack its particular variety of the supernatural. It argues that Pratchett’s magic is decidedly “emplaced” in nature, in that it springs from a worked landscape where human and non-human actors play significant, mutually realized roles. Focusing on the agriculturally inspired roles of the shepherdess-witch protagonist Tiffany Aching, as well as the dynamic interplay of natural elements composing her beloved homestead of Chalk, the article pushes for a consideration of magic in terms of practiced and performed “tasks.” These tasks infuse a labored aliveness in the supernatural realm and create what the anthropologist Tim Ingold has termed as a “taskscape”—a domain of activities geared toward everyday dwelling. By regarding the fantastical literary terrain as a taskscape, we can arrive at a sophisticated understanding of magic whose ethical orientation is rooted in a concerted regard for geography.

本文通过对英国著名奇幻作家Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching系列作品的研究，揭示了其独特的超自然类型. 它认为购买力平价的魔力在自然界中被明确地“安置”了，因为它源于一个人类和非人类演员扮演重要的、相互实现的角色的工作环境. 这篇文章关注的是受农业启发的女牧民Tiffany Aching的角色，以及构成她心爱的粉笔家园的自然元素之间的动态相互作用，这篇文章从实践和执行“任务”的角度推动了对魔法的思考. 这些任务为超自然领域注入了一种费力的活力，并创造了人类学家Tim Ingold所说的“任务景观”一个面向日常居住的活动领域. 通过将奇幻文学领域视为一个任务景，我们可以对魔法有一个复杂的理解，其伦理取向植根于对地理的一致关注.

Este artículo estudia la serie Tiffany Aching del célebre escritor británico del género fantástico, Terry Pratchett, con la intención de descifrar su particular variedad sobre lo sobrenatural. Se arguye que la magia de Pratchett está decididamente “emplazada” en la naturaleza, en cuanto ésta brota desde un paisaje trabajado donde actores humanos y no humanos juegan roles significativos y mutuamente realizados. Enfocándose en los roles inspirados con visión agrícola de la protagonista, la bruja zagala Tiffany Aching, lo mismo que en la interacción dinámica de los elementos naturales que componen su amada propiedad de Chalk, el artículo presiona por una consideración de la magia en términos de “tareas” practicadas y representadas. Estas tareas inculcan una elaborada viveza en el reino sobrenatural y crean lo que el antropólogo Tim Ingold ha denominado un taskscape, un “paisaje de tareas” ––un dominio de actividades engranadas hacia la morada cotidiana––. Al considerar el terreno de la fantasía literaria como un paisaje de tareas, podemos llegar a un entendimiento sofisticado de la magia cuya orientación ética está anclada en una estimación concertada para la geografía.

Key Words:

• hand
• labor
• landscape
• taskscape
• witchcraft

关键词:

• 的手
• 劳动
• 景观
• 巫术

Palabras clave:

• brujería
• mano
• paisaje
• paisaje de tareas
• trabajo

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful to my PhD supervisor Professor Maria Nikolajeva, for having guided my research on fantasy for the past half a decade. My gratitude to Professor Brian Attebery and Dr. Robert Macfarlane as well, whose enthusiasm and support provided me much encouragement. Finally, my thanks to my esteemed friend Jen Aggleton, who helped me develop my argument in the initial stages of research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Siddharth Pandey

SIDDHARTH PANDEY is an independent researcher based in Delhi, India. E-mail: [email protected]. He recently earned his PhD in Fantasy Literature and Materiality Studies from the University of Cambridge, UK. His research interests include fantasy literature, colonial hill stations of South Asia, nature writing, cinema studies, visual arts and architecture, and heritage conservation.