Online Encyclopedia
Fantasy
- For other definitions of fantasy see fantasy (psychology).
In literature, fantasy is a form of fiction, usually novels or short stories, though fantasy role-playing games comic books and movies are also popular.
In its broadest sense, fantasy fiction covers an immense number of works by many authors, from ancient myths and legends, to some recent works embraced by mainstream literary audiences (such as Neil Gaiman's best-selling novel American Gods) and much in-between.
Perhaps the most common sub-genres of fantasy--or at least most commonly associated with the term "Fantasy"--are sword and sorcery and high fantasy, two closely related forms that typically describe tales featuring magic, brave knights, damsels in distress, and/or quests, set in a world or worlds quite different from modern-day Earth and usually inhabited by mythical creatures such as dragons and unicorns. Works by J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber and others are sometimes classified as either Sword and Sorcery or High Fantasy.
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Definition
There is no universally accepted definition of fantasy fiction, and furthermore, the characteristics of the form and its many overlapping sub-genres are the subject of debate among some fans and writers.
A critical characteristic is that the world feature some difference from Earth that is not a result of science or technology, but rather the result of magic or other anomalous phenomena. But, again, definitions and opinions on the proper classification differ.
As a genre, fantasy is both associated and contrasted with science fiction and horror fiction. All three genres feature elements of the fantastic, of making radical departures from reality or radical speculations about what reality might be like, or might have been like. Some writers and critics prefer the term speculative fiction due to the frequent crossover from one genre to another.
Further blurring the definition, some suggest there is a distinction between "Fantasy" proper as a genre, and "the fantastic," the latter being a fantasy-like element in other fiction.
History
The genre has a long and distinguished history, with beginnings in Greek mythology and Roman mythology (famous examples are Homer's Odyssey) and other epics such as Beowulf, and a very strong influence from medieval romance . The legend of King Arthur, with its magic, swordplay, and romance is another clear precursor of contemporary fantasy.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, much fantasy was published in the same magazines as science fiction (and often written by the same authors). After the great popularity, in the mid-20th century, of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, as well as of C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series, fantasy writing saw renewed popularity, often influenced by these seminal works and, like them, borrowing from myth, epic, and medieval romance.
Comic fantasy -- especially the works of Terry Pratchett -- should also be mentioned here, which parodies the above ideas as well as ideas outside the genre, in a postmodern manner. This category might also include the so-called 'worst science fiction story ever published' The Eye of Argon.
Role playing
This fiction and its older predecessors in turn gave birth to fantasy role-playing games, probably in the late 1960s or early 1970s. Dungeons & Dragons is arguably the most successful and influential role playing game.
Role playing games in turn spawned more fiction in the genre. Game companies have published fantasy novels set in their own fictional game universes; the Forgotten Realms and Battletech series are some of the more popular.
Similarly, series of novels based on fantasy films and TV series have found their own niche.
See list of fantasy authors for information about individual authors who write in this genre.
Gatherings
Fans of fantasy get together yearly at the World Fantasy Convention. The first was held in 1975 and it has occurred every year since. The convention is held at a different city each year.
Subgenres
Since the rise of popular fantasy fiction in the twentieth century, the fantasy genre has subdivided into a number of branches:
- High fantasy
- Sword and sorcery
- Contemporary fantasy
- Dark fantasy
- Comic fantasy
- Romantic fantasy
- Historical fantasy
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- Fantasy films (as distinct from science fiction films)
- Superhero fantasy - A related genre usually closely mixed with elements of science fiction as well as other genres.
See also
- List of fantasy authors
- Fairy tales
- Horror fiction
- Science fiction
- Speculative fiction
- Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase
- Themes in Fantasy
External resources
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America website: http://www.sfwa.org/