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Fantasy
Definition: Fantasy is any story of the impossible--a tale including events that contradict the laws of the natural world.
- Fantasy is an original story that can be traced to an original text and author.
- Fantasy, compared to the folktale is more complex in structure, has more character development, has more detailed settings, and is generally more polished in literary style.
- Fantasy contains some form of enchantment and can be classified according to the predominant type of enchantment in the tale.
Types of fantasy:
- Literary fairy tale
- conventional setting
- predominantly flat and stereotyped characters
- acceptable magic element
- happy ending
- Animal fantasy
- focuses on animals possessing human traits, especially human feelings -- from which we can learn something about our selves
- animals exist in a predominantly human world only they can talk and feel human emotions
- Toy fantasy
- talking toys (i.e. dolls, stuffed animals) are the major characters
- some involve transformation to human form; others are content with being toys
- Eccentric and extraordinary characters
- rely on wild exaggeration
- usually a central character possessing magical or extraordinary powers
- Enchanted journeys and imaginary lands
- goes back before Homerıs Odyssey
- sending characters on a journey
- from a ³real world² into an ³other world²
- into a world of miniaturized characters (note similarity to childrenıs relation to their world)
- journey may have some purpose
- Heroic or quest fantasy or high fantasy
- ero or heroine engages in monumental struggles against a seemingly all-powerful evil and the fate of an entire civilization depends on the outcome of that struggle
- real world threatened by dark forces
- passage from a primary world into a secondary world
- takes place entirely in imaginary worlds inhabited by imaginary creatures
- quests often are for identity of the hero or heroine
- plot typically consists of a series of remarkable adventures, humor is either absent or a secondary element, do not shy away from tragedy (good is not accomplished without some significant sacrifice)
- Supernatural and time fantasy (including ghost and witch stories)
- set in the primary world with fantasy element often a disturbing aspect that must be corrected by the end of the story
- Science fiction and space fantasy
- First: Mary Shelleyıs Frankenstein (1818)
- usually focuses on life in the future
- some devoted to dramatizing the wonders of technology (instead of magic)
- often involves a struggle between the forces of good and evil
- many are didactic in undertone, dealing with ethical problems (technology: for human good or destruction)
Special characteristics of fantasy:
- Characteristic demanded by the reader (according to Zilpha Snyder):
- No nonsense
- No treachery
- The fantasy worlds are presented in the story as if they were real; certain rules are established--and adhered--by the author that operate within the fantasy world
- The fantasy remains past the end of the story--that is, the characters do not, for example, awake to find it was all just a dream
- Originality:
- Fantasy is an original work of fiction and not a retelling of a folktale
- Believability, achieved by:
- Massing of detail--vivid descriptions
- Maintaining consistency--for example, can only enter special world through the wardrobe in the attic
- Restraining the fantastic--there are limits to powers, etc.
- Rooted in reality and human nature
Rewards of fantasy
- Writers can explore complex ideas on a symbolic level
- Exploration of philosophical issues on a level that children can understand and appreciate
- Challenges our perceptions of reality
- Develops and exercises the imagination
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