Everything about Fantasy totally explained
Fantasy is a
genre that uses
magic and other
supernatural forms as a primary element of
plot, theme, and/or
setting. The genre is usually associated with the overall look, feel and
themes of the
European Middle Ages (including
architecture,
dress and
technology), while the actual setting is often a fictional
plane or planet where magic and magical beings are commonplace.
Fantasy is generally distinguished from
science fiction and
horror by the expectation that it steers clear of technological and
macabre themes, respectively, though there's a great deal of overlap between the three (collectively known as
speculative fiction).
In its broadest sense, fantasy comprises works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians, from ancient
myths and
legends to many recent works embraced by a wide audience today.
Traits of fantasy
The identifying traits of fantasy are the inclusion of fantastic elements in a self-coherent (internally
consistent) setting. Within such a structure, any location of the fantastical element is possible: it may be hidden in, or leak into the apparently real world setting, it may draw the characters into a world with such elements, or it may occur entirely in a
fantasy world setting, where such elements are part of the world.
Within a given work, the elements must not only obey rules, but for plot reasons, must also contain limits to allow both the heroes and the villains means to fight; magical elements must come with prices, or the story would become unstructured.
American fantasy, starting with the stories chosen by
John W. Campbell, Jr. for the magazine
Unknown, is often characterized by internal logic. That is, the events in the story are impossible, but follow "laws" of magic, and have a setting that's internally consistent.
The genre of fantasy doesn't usually include children's stories about characters such as
Frosty the Snowman, nor does it include
sexual fantasy; fantasy fiction may include sexual themes, but must have some element of fantasy other than the fantastic endowment and endurance of the characters.
History
Beginning perhaps with the
Epic of Gilgamesh and the earliest written documents known to humankind, mythic and other elements that would eventually come to define fantasy and its various subgenres have been a part of some of the grandest and most celebrated works of literature. From
The Odyssey to
Beowulf, from the
Mahabharata to
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, from the
Ramayana to the
Journey to the West, and from the
Arthurian legend and medieval
romance to the
epic poetry of the
Divine Comedy, fantastical adventures featuring brave
heroes and
heroines, deadly
monsters, and secret
arcane realms have inspired many audiences. In this sense, the history of fantasy and the history of literature are inextricably intertwined.
There are many works where the boundary between fantasy and other works isn't clear; the question of whether the writers believed in the possibilities of the marvels in
A Midsummer Night's Dream or
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight makes it difficult to distinguish when fantasy, in its modern sense, first began.
Although pre-dated by
John Ruskin's
The King of the Golden River (1841), the history of modern fantasy literature is usually said to begin with
George MacDonald, the Scottish author of such novels as
The Princess and the Goblin and
Phantastes (1858), the latter of which is widely considered to be the first fantasy novel ever written for adults. MacDonald was a major influence on both
J. R. R. Tolkien and
C. S. Lewis. The other major fantasy author of this era was
William Morris, a popular English poet who wrote several novels in the latter part of the century, including
The Well at the World's End.
Despite MacDonald's future influence with
At the Back of the North Wind (1871), and Morris's popularity with his contemporaries, it wasn't until the turn of the century that fantasy fiction began to reach a large audience. Edward Plunkett, better known as
Lord Dunsany, established the genre's popularity in both the novel and the short story form. Many popular mainstream authors also began to write fantasy at this time, including
H. Rider Haggard,
Rudyard Kipling and
Edgar Rice Burroughs. These authors, along with
Abraham Merritt, established what was known as the "lost world" sub-genre, which was the most popular form of fantasy in the early decades of the 20th century, although several classic children's fantasies, such as
Peter Pan and
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, were also published around this time.
Indeed,
juvenile fantasy was considered more acceptable than fantasy intended for adults, with the effect that writers who wished to write fantasy had to fit their work in a work for children.
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote many early works verging on fantasy, but in
A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, intended for children, wrote fantasy. For many years, this and successes such as
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), created the circular effect that all fantasy works, even the later
The Lord of the Rings, were therefore classified as children's literature.
In 1923 the first all-fantasy fiction magazine,
Weird Tales, was created. Many other similar magazines eventually followed, most noticeably
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The pulp magazine format was at the height of its popularity at this time and was instrumental in bringing fantasy fiction to a wide audience in both the U.S. and Britain. Such magazines were also instrumental in the rise of
science fiction, and it was at this time the two genres began to be associated with each other.
By 1950 "
sword and sorcery" fiction had begun to find a wide audience, with the success of
Robert E. Howard's
Conan the Barbarian and
Fritz Leiber's
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories. However, it was the advent of
high fantasy, and most of all the popularity of J. R. R. Tolkien's
The Hobbit and
The Lord of the Rings in the late 1960s, that allowed fantasy to truly enter the mainstream. Several other series, such as C. S. Lewis's
Chronicles of Narnia and
Ursula K. Le Guin's
Earthsea books, helped cement the genre's popularity.
The popularity of the fantasy genre has continued to increase in the 21st century, as evidenced by the best-selling status of
J. K. Rowling's
Harry Potter books. Several fantasy film adaptations have achieved blockbuster status, most notably
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by
Peter Jackson.
Media
» For more details on this topic, see fantasy art,
fantasy literature,
fantasy film, and
fantasy television.
Fantasy is a popular genre, having found a home for itself in almost every medium. While fantasy art and recently fantasy films have been increasingly popular, it's fantasy literature which has always been the genre's primary medium.
Fantasy
role-playing games cross several different media. The "pen & paper" role-playing game
Dungeons & Dragons was the first and is arguably the most successful and influential, though the pseudo-
science fantasy role-playing game series
Final Fantasy has been an icon of the
console role-playing game genre. Role-playing games have in turn spawned much new art, literature, and even music in the genre. Game companies have published fantasy novels set in their own fictional game universes; the
Forgotten Realms and
Dragonlance series are two of the more popular.
Similarly, series of novels based on fantasy films and TV series have found their own niche.
Subgenres
Modern fantasy, including early modern fantasy, has also spawned many new subgenres with no clear counterpart in mythology or folklore, although inspiration from mythology and folklore remains a consistent theme. Fantasy subgenres are numerous and diverse, frequently overlapping with other forms of speculative fiction in almost every medium in which they're produced. Noteworthy in this regard are the
science fantasy and
dark fantasy subgenres, which the fantasy genre shares with science fiction and horror, respectively.
Subculture
Professionals such as publishers, editors, authors, artists, and scholars within the fantasy genre get together yearly at the
World Fantasy Convention. The
World Fantasy Awards are presented at the convention. The first WFC was held in 1975, and it has occurred every year since. The convention is held at a different city each year.
Additionally, many science fiction conventions, such as Florida's FX Show or
MegaCon, also cater to fantasy and horror fans; and
anime conventions, such as
JACON or
Anime Expo frequently feature showings of fantasy, science fantasy, and dark fantasy series and films, such as
Cardcaptor Sakura (fantasy),
Sailor Moon (science fantasy),
xxxHolic (dark fantasy), and
Spirited Away (fantasy). Many science fiction/fantasy and anime conventions also strongly feature or cater to one or more of the several subcultures within the main subcultures, including the
cosplay subculture (in which people make and/or wear costumes based on existing or self-created characters, sometimes also acting out skits or plays as well), the
fan fiction subculture, and the fan vid or
AMV subculture, as well as the large internet subculture devoted to reading and writing prose fiction and/or
doujinshi in or related to those genres.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Fantasy'.
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