Part II: WORLD BUILDING

In any Fantasy, the construction of the fantastic world (whether it is immersive, intrusive, or reached through a portal) is of prime interest. When it is characteristic or original, it is usually a great source of pleasure for the reader, and can even supersede notions of plot.¹When it is badly done however, the plot itself and the characters lose credibility, and therefore the story loses its interest.² For the critic, the building of the fantastic world should be an important part of the study since it is the main tool setting up thought experiments. Indeed no choice can be said to be innocent or irrelevant since “in fantasy there is nothing but the writer’s vision of the world.”³ In this respect the choice not to include certain elements is as important as the choice to include them, therefore this study will also try to take into account the influence on the redefinition of gender of the potentials which are not actualised by The Left Hand of Darkness and Enchantment. The focus will first be on language and names—which might be the most conspicuous aspect but not necessarily the most striking for the reader—before shifting to the society presented in the fantastic world. Finally, the introduction of a new race, the androgynous Gethenians, will be studied in order to reveal how Ai’s presentation of it is falsely immersive.