The Passing of Tzvetan Todorov

Surprised and a little saddened that Tzvetan Todorov, the literary theorist, passed away yesterday. In terms of fantasy criticism, he's obviously most widely known for The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, a foundational work on the subject (even if it's cited more often than it's employed). I always admired Todorov for the clarity of his style at a time when many literary theorists seemingly delighted in being obscure. No idea he was still around, although apparently he was only 77, which is a ripe old age but not that ripe of an old age. Anyway, shame to see him go.

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