Earthsea - Fantasy

How does Attebery (1980) define Fantasy? Find at least five definitions.

The fantasy genre has been around for centuries, and originated from fairy tales, folk lore, myths and legends. The publication of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien played a big role in influencing the start of fantasy as a literature genre.

Attebery (1980) uses stories from other authors to define what different subdivisions of fantasy is. Some of these titles include: The Lord of the Rings, The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, and The Princess and the Goblin. These stories all touch on themes such as: existential absurdism, science fiction and utopia. These themes share characteristics with fantasy, which helps Attebery with defining what fantasy is.

• Attebery cites Irwin (1976) who points out the primary feature of a fantasy genre is “an overt violation of what is generally accepted as possibility” (p. 3)
• “Any narrative which includes as a significant part of its make-up some violation of what the author clearly believes to be natural law – that is fantasy.” (p. 3). Therefore a story that includes for example: beings that which could not possibly exist, magical objects, and events like two people fighting painlessly, would be categorised as fantasy. Fantasy allows us to believe that such things could actually exist.
• “Fantasy is a game of sorts, it demands that one play whole-heartedly, accepting for the moment all rules and turns of the game.” (p. 3). The fantasy story must remain consistent. This is to ensure that readers remain in that fantasy world for the entire story.
• Attebery cities Rabkin (1976) who explores “fantasies which contradict, not our accepted model of the world, but rather the model generated within the story itself.” (p. 4). These stories overturn the stories own ground rules or foundation, an example being Alice in Wonderland.
• “Fantasy invokes wonder by making the impossible seem familiar and the familiar seem new and strange.” (p. 4). Fantasy, like any other genre, engages our attention.

Reference

Attebery, B. (1980). The fantasy tradition in American literature: From Irving to Le Guin. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Irwin, W. R. (1976). The Game of Impossible: A Rhetoric of Fantasy. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.

Rabkin, E. R. (1976).The Fantastic in Literature. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.