Essay On Explanatory Synthesis

Michael Saler’s in his book “As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Pre-History of Virtual Reality” examines the changing alignments in the fictitious world experienced from the 18th century to the modern times. In chapter one ad two, I tried to differentiate between the “imagined world,” “imaginary world,” and the “virtual world.” Saler’s uses fiction to portray the situation in the “imagined world.” The late 19th century marked the beginning of a new style of literary fantasy that introduced the platform to discuss the “imaginary worlds” commonly referred to as the “virtual worlds.” According to the author, there were two main differences between the imaginary and the imagined worlds. First, the imaginary worlds were subjected to literary realism that based its ideas on impartial accounts of reality. The realist writers were against romanticism and this motivated other to revive literary romance in the 19th century. I intend to show that there is a clear a significant relationship between the imaginary worlds and the real world, while the virtual world is growing addictive than the real world.
Saler reveals that the imaginary worlds have become so enchanted to the extent that the people are now getting appealed by the virtual and even getting addictive. The author suggests that this has been as a result of modern-day works of history that is richly detailed and logically structured. As a result, this provides evidence, that the imaginary world of contemporary fantasy is carefully attached to the research from the historical works. In chapter one, the fantasy realism is empirically detailed, logically and cohesively structured by the use of the scholarly techniques. Such techniques involve “footnotes, glossaries, appendices, maps, and tables” (Saler 25).Similarly, Chapter two provides an insight of the development of this fantasy in the New Romance. The New Romance is logically and cohesively structured by the pretexts such as “footnotes, charts, appendices, photographs” and other apparatuses (p.61).
According to the author, the imagination embroiled in the western world has been fundamental in the advent of the virtual reality concept. The imaginary worlds are influenced by the ideas of “virtual and vicarious and the disenchantment and re-enchantment discussions (p.27). In comparison to the imagined world, the late 19th century marked a new kind of an imaginary world that had a degree of fantasy with realistic characteristics. During this time, the imaginary worlds converted into conceptual possibilities, and it was popularly referred to as antidotes to disenchantment (p.57). This type of literature was characterized by a new form of modern literature embedded in symbolism and decadence.
In the virtual world, the narrator develops into a successful “sub-creator. “He develops a secondary world attractive to the mind. In most instances, a person finds himself fantasizing with the world because it the virtual world relates to some aspects of reality entangled in fanaticism. The willing suspension of disbelief confuses the target audience, and it becomes difficult for them to distinguish between the primary and the secondary world (p.32). The virtual world tries to align itself with the laws of the world. As a result, it traps individuals as they develop a passion about it and believes in it. The realists protest against the elements incorporated in the virtual world because of their disbelief. Whenever suspicion is dragged in the imaginary world, the spell is broken, and the art fails to deliver its intended objective. When the realists analyzes the primary world at a critical angle, the disbelief linked to the secondary world is suspended, and the magic becomes intolerable. The imagined world is disenchanted with the suspension of disbelief because it substitutes the reality (p.38). It should be noted that a large population has been addicted to the fantasy associated with the imaginary world and spend most of their precious time thinking about the imaginary world.
Another important element of the emergence of the imaginary world is the public spheres of the imagination. In the mid-18th century, reading had become intensive but from that point forward, it developed a more extensive feature that made people read a lot of materials. The growing interest in reading made writing about the fictitious world become more popular as demonstrated by Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. The intrinsic gift of Doyle’s made the stories of the imaginary world to become more popular compared to the imagined world (p.39). Doyle’s created virtual stories because of his ability to develop clever plots, charming characters, with some human characteristics. On the other hand, extrinsic factors were also important in the imagined world since they shaped the approval and longevity of the characters. The competition between the virtual and real world led to the development of innovative strategies that guaranteed reader’s loyalty. In the western literature, Sherlock Holmes began the practice of transforming the imaginary worlds into virtual worlds. The late 19th century welcomed the virtual world, and this was boosted with the advancement of technology that lacked in the 18th century.
Saler also observed the in the contemporary world there is nothing wrong for an adult to turn a life into the modern imaginary world because it can be applied as a “hobby.” Therefore, inhabiting and creating the imaginary world similar to the hobbies that spend on leisure. This explains why majority of people are turning into the imaginary and spending more of their time in such worlds compared to the real world. It is due to this reason that Saler suggests that people should not be “surprised that adults turned to imaginary worlds at that time than that they turned to stamp collecting” (p.26). Chapter two has also emphasized that the virtual world is getting more appealing to the adults similar to the children. In other words, the modern imaginary world is getting enchanting not only to children but also to the adults. For instance, the New Romance has created a “contemporary ‘society of the spectacle,’ presenting empirically detailed imaginary worlds appealing to adults no less than children” (p.69). In addition, adults feel comfortable in the imaginary worlds because the reason and fancy within these realms can be connected to the real world. For this reason, the adults find the imaginary world a good ground to think about the major issue revolving around the social and political spheres (p.99). Therefore, relating the imaginary world to the real world raises concerns and significant debates that shape the future of the human race. For instance, the science fiction can be considered as the “literature of ‘cognitive estrangement,’” that present the reader into the future and help them “to view the present from the unfamiliar vantage” (p.99). In this way, the relationship between the real and the virtual world makes the modern imaginary worlds more appealing than the real world.
In conclusion, Saler have provided an insight of how the modern imaginary worlds have become enchanted comparing to the real world. In the contemporary world, people are increasingly embracing the virtual world and abandoning the real world. For instance, the virtual communities through the social networks have become more addictive that the real communities. As discussed above, the imaginary world has been carefully and empirically detailed, logically and cohesively structured to compete with the real world. This implies that there is a clear a significant relationship between the imaginary worlds and the real world, while the virtual world is growing addictive than the real world.