The genre known today as ‘fantasy’ has been around for many years. At times, stories that fall under this genre can share similar aspects with other genres such as science fiction. This post will discuss certain aspects that can be used to best describe fantasy and differentiate from others.
An article produced by Attebery (1980) importantly highglights stories such as the Lord of the Rings, Narnia and Alice in Wonderland as they exhibit key themes throughout that correlate with that of which a fantasy piece can be defined as.
Attebery goes on to support a claim made by Irwin (1976), in that an important feature in the fantasy genre is an “overt violation of what is generally accepted as possibility”.
Futhermore, Attenbery states that “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.” This can be exemplified by objects or “things” that we know don’t exist in our world such as dragons or wizards. In addition to this, fantasy authors may decide to give inanimate objects such as trees the ability to move their branches freely to hit those who trespass or grant a hat the ability to talk, all features that challenges the reality of the world we live in. Fantasy provides stories and establishes rules that makes this all a bit more plausible.
Moreover, Attenbery (1980) describes that with all these rules and absurd details that are often included in fantasy stories that it is vital that these all remain consistent from begining to end to ensure the reader shows the same commitment. He continues on and claims that a fanatasy piece can be similar to a game wherein one must immerse themself completely and show an uncompromising acceptance of terms of the game (Attenbery, 1980). By doing so, it often rewards the readers with an escape from the natural world and allowing them to enjoy the wonders of the fantasy world.
In addition to this Attenbery acknowledges Rabkin’s (1976) defintion of what “true fantasy” is, which can be loosely described as fantasy that contradicts itself and it’s own story rather than the world that we live in.
Lastly, fantasy stories have a habit of making the impossible appear familiar and the familiar appear unheard of and new (Attenbery, 1980). This can be highlighted by having a normal garden, however by placing a ‘unicorn’ in this garden it changes the whole dynamic. The unicorn becomes the primary aspect of the piece and transforms this garden into something more majestic and creates a ‘wonder’ (Attenbery, 1980).
Referennce list:
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.
Good Excellent understanding of the secondary reading. Sad you didn't relate one or more of these definitions back to the primary text. But overall, good.
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