Neil Gaiman's techniques of immersion in fantasy and magical realism across different mediums

Abstract

Neil Gaiman is an author who is highly praised in the literary community and has been presented with several awards for his contributions to the genres of magical realism and fantasy, amongst others. This project will try to determine whether genre influences the concept of immersion in a reader or whether it is perhaps the medium which is used that does so. Magical realism can be said to be much more closely related to our own world, whereas fantasy is more independent in its worldbuilding. However, regardless of worldbuilding, another variable is introduced in my research which deals with whether novels are more immersive than graphic novels since they lack the visual elements that graphic novels use as their foundation. Neil Gaiman is an author who has experimented with both mediums profoundly whilst creating fictional worlds that defy or even provoke reality. Whilst it is true that visual elements in graphic novels aid different target audiences than novels which lack these elements, immersion must also be attributed to the imagination of the individual engaging with the text. It must be said that some readers do not visualise a text as easily as others without visual elements, while others might be more entertained if art plays a role alongside the text. Additionally, this project also deals with academic elitism and how graphic novels are regarded in comparison to the canon. This dissertation principally deals with the graphic novel series The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and makes reference to novels such as American Gods and Good Omens by the same author. The notions of genres, deployed mediums, immersion, and canonicity are prevalent and discussed respectively in the coming chapters.