Gitte Holten Ingerslev
Associate Professor, Ph.d.
Danish School of Education
Aarhus University
164 Tuborgvej
DK2400 Copenhagen NV
+45] 88 88 98 77
Cell phone: +45] 26 21 21 62
ghi@dpu.dk
Young people’s reading of Fantasy Literature
as a way to Personal Insight and Reflection
A study of literary reception
The Danish contribution to the study of literary reception in the Baltic Sea Region was carried out
in the last year of lower secondary school (year 9) among 16/17-year-olds and in the first year of
upper secondary school (year 10, the Danish gymnasium) – among 18/19-year-olds.
The two texts which were read were Ursula leGuin: Kerastion (1994), which was the common text
in all Baltic Sea Region projects, and Ray Bradbury: He who waits (1964).1
Fantasy literature is being read quite extensively in Denmark among young people as well as older
generations. The stories about the fight between the good and the evil seems to appeal to all generations as a mirror of every persons inner fights and conflicts, so some of the choices people make
might be recognised in the fantasy literature. Quite a general attitude is that by reading fantasy you
can get wiser and gain insight into yourself and the world around you.
Head of department at the Furesø-libraries in the outskirts of Copenhagen, librarian Beth Høst
(BH), gives a portrait of the development within fantasy-reading in Denmark2. In the 60s there was
not such a thing as fantasy. Everything was catalogued as Science Fiction. That tendency has
changed dramatically over the years. Now a lot of readers have read for instance Harry Potter and
Philip Pullman. BH asks the question: Why are Danes attracted to fantasy literature?
BH states that the interest grew tremendously in the early 90s when William Gibson’s cyberpunktrilogy The Sprawl Trilogy (also known as the Neuromancer, Cyberspace and Matrix trilogy) was
translated into Danish. Anne Rice’s books about the both humorous and sexy vampire, which are
primarily for grown ups, also had many readers. LeGuin’s The Wizard of Earthsea has been read
extensively over the years as has Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicals of Prydian, but The Lord of the
Rings beats them all, and the interest has grown after the film production. In the introduction to Ursula leGuins essay collection The Language of the Night (1978), the editor Susan Wood writes that
the human being would like to believe that he or she lives in the light, but the fact is that one half of
1
2
See a brief summary in attachment 1
http://www.furesoebibliotekerne.dk/forside/inspiration/boeger/bogcaf_2009/beth_hoest
the world is always in the dark, and just like poetry fantasy uses the language of the dark, so fantasy
is not only about noble knights that fight forceful dragons in the honour of their queen, it also contains the dread of the dark forces.
Most of Stephen King’s books belong to this category and make it possible for the reader to live
through the deepest, most personal dread and anguish.
Another important reason for reading fantasy is the never ending dialogue in a reader’s mind on
ethics and life values. C.S. Lewis’ Narnia is a good example of that, but the examples are legio;
Lyra for instance in the Pullman trilogy matures and realises that not till she stops lying, will she
proceed.
The reader of good fantasy literature identifies and learns with the protagonists and is completely
absorbed – and is that not what it is all about? – to be able to find yourself, a free space and a passage to another part of the world from where you can return as a freer and happier individual?
I Denmark the reading of fantastic literature has a long history as Hans Christian Andersen’s ”Eventyr og Historier” (Fairy Tales and Stories) from the early 1800 are regarded as fantastic stories.
The Snow Queen for instance (Danish: Snedronningen) is a fairy tale, it was first published in 1845,
and centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by a little boy and girl, Kai and
Gerda. The story is one of Andersen's longest and is considered by scholars, critics, and readers
alike as one of his best. It has been read and read aloud to many Danish children. It has a double
focus on reality and on a magic (evil, cold) world. A lot of the motives you find in the fantastic tale
are also to be found in the fairy tale. However, the fairy tale tends to have a basic structure, and the
fantastic story is more unpredictable and open to interpretation. The same difference can be pointed
out between the fantastic story and fantasy literature.
Fantasy literature in Danish schools
Fantasy literature does not have a well defined place in the Danish school curricula, fantasy and
science fiction. It is the teachers’ decision whether those genres are introduced to the students of the
age level of our study or not.
An ongoing discussion is whether or not one should work with fantasy literature in the teaching of
Danish at all. Maybe the teacher should just leave that initiative and choice to the children? Maybe
joy of reading belongs to the children’s spare time reading? But the opposite point of view is also
put forward and more positive in a school connection: Why not take advantage of the children’s
interest in fantasy literature as a start of engaging literature teaching? The teacher can take advantage of the children’s knowledge about - and interest in – for instance Harry Potter.
An argument in the discussions is that reader-response teaching methods are very well suited and
challenged especially in connection with these texts.
The Baltic Ring project
The aim of the Baltic Ring project is to promote the cooperation between authors, translators and
researchers in the Baltic countries, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. The research questions were as
follows:
 How is fantasy literature read in the countries in question?
 What can be deducted from the young people’s answers in relation to big prevailing themes
in society, such as:
-
Globalisation
-
Nationality
-
Media
-
Values
-
Cultural clashes
-
Individualisation
Two school classes of 16-19 year-olds3 in the countries in question were
-
asked about their reading habits
-
asked to read a fantasy text by Ursula LeGuin, Kerastion, from A Fisherman of the Inland
Sea, 1994)4
-
asked to read a fantasy text chosen in the country in question. The text chosen in Denmark,
was Ray Bradbury: The one who waits (1964)
The Ray Bradbury text was chosen because it is a complex story with no simple answers.
The questions which were asked all students in the study were:

What is the story about in your opinion?

Which feelings does this story awake in you?

Do you like the story? Why? Why not?
All students gave written answers.
3
In Denmark one class from last year of lower secondary school and one class from first year of upper secondary
school (Gymnasium)
4
The text was handed out without the author’s name and without year of publication
The texts were read in class, and the teachers approach was reader-response oriented in order to
give the opportunity for open, reflective answers from the students. (cf. Urpo Kovala 2003, 198).
REFERENCE!!!!!
The reason for choosing fantasy texts for the project was
The popularity of fantasy is strongly related to Anglo–American popular culture, including the vast success of fantasy in films. Also the fan activities connected with these cultural phenomena are increasing, not to mention the number of people participating in
those via the internet. Thus, fantasy can perhaps be seen as a response to some deeper
needs of young readers in a way that reflects the changes of society and the individually
experienced but collectively shared processes. Fantasy, especially in the form of folk tales, has been seen as a carrier of shared archetypes, values and utopian impulses.( Irma
Hirsjärvi, Jyväskylä University) REFERENCE!!!!!
Research questions
The research areas which should be covered during reading the students’ texts were
Individuality, family and society in the story
A) Narrative: construction of stories from the text
B) Expression of emotions in the responses
C) Identification of genre, and the effect of previous reading on the reception
D) Locating the story
F) Notions of ‘good literature’ in the responses
G) The effects of gender on the responses
Before entering into the students’ reading of the above mentioned texts, it could be interesting to
look at the student’s reading habits in year 9.
Reading habits among the 16/17 year-olds (Year 9, Lower Secondary School)
The class consisted of 19 pupils. 15 were 16 year old, and 4 were 17 year old. They were 8 girls and
11 boys. They all live in the countryside.
Reading and TV-habits: Among them four pupils wrote that they neither read books (outside
school) nor watched TV. Five girls and three boys read a lot of fiction and watched a lot of TV.
Six boys and one girl watched a lot of television, but did not read, so in this particular class, we
altogether have 8 readers (five girls and three boys) out of 19, and we have 7 TV-watchers (six boys
and one girl).
What did you read within the last month? The majority (13) wrote that within the last month they
have read two books in school. 1 student has read 1 book apart from school work, 2 have read 5
books, and 2 primarily read magazines. 1 has not read at all.
What do you prefer to read? 3 wrote that they don’t know. The boys prefer biographies, non fiction
and magazines. The girls prefer fiction, Hans Christian Andersen, Juvenile books and Harry Potter.
Hobbies. The girls prefer friends, parties, family and sports. The boys prefer sports, cars,
computer games, and two had no hobbies.
Reading habits among Danish 17/19 year-olds (Upper Secondary School, 1. year of Gymnasium)
The class consisted of 24 pupils. 1 was 17, 13 were 18 and 10 were 19. They were 10 girls and 14
boys. They live partly in the countryside and in a smaller city.
Reading and TV-habits: Among them three pupils (two girls, one boy) wrote that they neither read
books (outside school) nor watched TV. Five girls and seven boys read a lot of fiction and watched
a lot of TV.
Five boys and one girl watched a lot of television, but did not read, and furthermore in this class we
find two girls and one boy who read a lot and who do not watch television, so in this particular
class, we altogether have 15 readers (seven girls and eight boys) out of 24, and we have 18 TVwatchers (12 boys and 6 girls).
What did you read within the last month? Despite the answers above 15 students state that they
have not read any books during the last month – 9 girls and 6 boys. Three boys and one girl write
that they have read three or more books during the last month.
Five boys have read 1 book apart from school work, and 24 have read magazines, non-fiction,
school work etc.
What do you prefer to read? The boys prefer biographies, non fiction, magazines, Lord of the
Rings, Stephen King. The girls prefer fiction, love stories, juvenile books, some non fiction and
Harry Potter.
Hobbies. The girls prefer friends, parties, family and sports. The boys prefer parties, sports, cars,
computer games.
Different ways of reading Fantasy
Essays on Ursula leGuin: Kerastion (1994)
Age 16/17
Themes found in the students’ essays on Kerastion are as follows:

Identification, sadness, forgiveness ‘I like the way she is sad about her brother’. A majority
of girls wrote that these were the main themes

Sadness, happiness, freedom A majority of boys wrote that these were the main themes

A group of students were angry with the text, they were both boys and girls, and they wrote
‘– this is a test, and the text is impossible to understand, filled with difficult words, it is too
philosophical, thing should be told outright’

One boy rejected the text: ’I don’t want to read a text like this, it makes me think of all the
sad things in life, my mother’s death, my brother’s death, why should one read stuff like
that?’
Essays on Ray Bradbury: He who waits (1964)
Age 16/17
Themes found in the students’ essays on He who waits are as follows:

A big group of primarily boys wrote that the theme was Fascination of the universe and
found the story Thrilling

A big group of primarily girls wrote that the theme was Concern for the future. They expressed worries about the technological development

A smaller group of girls rejected the story. ‘I cannot see why we are to read a story like
this!’

A group of boys and girls expressed lack of understanding – ‘I would like to see the film!’
Essays on Ursula leGuin: Kerastion (1994)
Age 18/19

Identification, sadness and forgiveness, ‘I imagine having lost my brother, and the feeling I
would have inside!’

Worries – being rejected by your family, your roots – suicide. ‘The human psyche is vulnerable, and the worst thing I could think of would be to be rejected by my family.’

Religion – suppression (A big group of both boys and girls expressed disgust with suppressive religions) ‘– there are so many negative things connected to religion!’ this group of
students were critical towards ‘a society build like that, a society which leaves no space for
the individual’

A small group was Not really engaged – ‘the text is too programmatic’
Essays on Ray Bradbury: He who waits (1964)
Age 18-19

A big group of boys and girls claimed that the main theme was Reincarnation

Another theme which a big group mentions is Fascination of the universe, ‘Man has a need
to explore life, science, the world, the universe, and in this exploration he meets ‘the fog’ on
the edge of his cognition, and he has to be careful. The astronauts were not careful – but
ventured to look in the well without thinking.’

Another theme: Concern for the future. Worries about the technological development

A smaller group of boys expressed Dread – ‘this is about a body with several souls fighting
– when are you ever yourself?’
It is interesting to see the differences between the two age groups and their ways of reading the texts. As I see it, it would be relevant to use the research of J.A.Appleyard to analyse the answers from the two classes.
Becoming a Reader
In his book Becoming a Reader (Appleyard 1991) J.A.Appleyard divides reading development into stadiums based on Piaget’s thinking. This way of seeing reading and development has been subject of criticism, (Malmgren, 1997) but Appleyard’s categorisation
creates a good thinking frame for considering reading development.
At the age of 5-6 we meet The Reader as Player
In the preschool years the child, not yet a reader but a listener to stories, becomes a
confident player in a fantasy world that images realities, fears, and desires in forms
that the child slowly learns to sort out and control. (Appleyard, 1991, p. 14). Appleyard writes in connection with Bettelheim: The Uses of Enchantment (Bettelheim,
1976): The Inner life of a child is chaotic, full of transient and ambivalent emotions
that a child cannot comprehend rationally as an adult might. To sort out and control
these feelings, a child needs the help of fantasy images that fill the gaps in knowledge
and speak directly to the unconscious. (Appleyard, p. 36-37)
Next step is The Reader as Hero and Heroine (6-12 år)
The school-age child is the central figure of a romance that is constantly being rewritten as the child’s picture of the world and of how people behave in it is filled in and
clarified. Stories here seem to be an alternate, more organized, and less ambiguous
world than the world of pragmatic experience, one the reader easily escapes into and
becomes involved with. (Appleyard, 1991, p. 14)
”- reading is a way of exploring an inner world” (…) "but it also focuses on issues of
identity, in the image of the powerful or clever hero or heroine who in one guise or
another is the principal archetype of most stories school-age children read” (Appleyard , 1991, p. 59)
Appleyard speaks of The reader as spectator and participant – this double way of approaching a text is developed at this stage – the participant is the person who identifies with the hero/heroine. The spectator is the one who has a ”realistic acceptance of
experience” (p.78) they ”tolerate outcomes that are more realistic than wish fulfilling and indeed expect to encounter in stories unpleasant and even disturbing material” (p.78)
Appleyard depicts a reader that we also meet among the 16-19 year-olds – a reader
who identifies with the fictive persons.
Another reader we meet in this age group is The Reader as Thinker.
”--- reading gives you a lot more insight about how people think” (Appleyard p. 95).
Through reading the young person wants to ”construct theories and ideological systems, develop ideals, understand others’ points of view”--- ” think about thinking, reflect critically about one’s own thoughts” --- introspection (p. 97) In this process
both Male autonomy and female interpersonal empathy (p. 99) are constructed.
According to Appleyard there are basically three ways that young people talk about
literature.
1. Identification: They explicitly mention the experience of involvement with the book
and identification with the character (”it was just like I was there”, ” you can sort of
lose yourself in it”, ”it could have been written about me”).(p. 100)
”This is wholly consistent, of course, with the adolescent discovery of the self. It suggests, too, that the distinction between participant and spectator roles in the reading
process reaches a new level of self-consciousness in adolescence and that all subsequent responses to stories will be marked, to a greater or lesser degree, by some sense
of the division between the experiencing and the judging self. That an adolescent
thinks a good story is realistic and that it ”makes me think” are the most immediate of
the reactions that evidence this split”. (p.107)
The split consists of two sides – the reader identifying with the characters in the text
on one side, and the reader stepping back and analysing, evaluating characters, actions
and plot.
2. Good literature is about reality. A typical statement among young readers is: ”The
story is very good because it is about something that could be true” They talk about
the realism of the story (”it was true to life…believable”). (p.100). The young person
realizes (through reading among other things) that ”the real world is not the green
world of romance but a much darker and dangerous place” (p.110) and the feeling is
that therefore it is good and useful to read something realistic, so you can make acquaintance with that new world.
3. Good literature is thought provoking. “A good story is a story that makes me wonder about life” says the young reader who discovers that a text can have a message,
that there is something called interpretation, and who changes his approach from identification to stepping back and beginning to see the bigger connections within and behind the textual universe. Appleyard expresses it like this: ”To get beyond this into
techniques of analysis and the categories of literary criticism is something the best
students may get a glimpse of and some may appear to be good at because they are
clever at imitating the language of their teachers, but it finally requires a new way of
looking at a story – as a problem of textual interpretation – that is substantially different from the adolescent’s impulse to think about a story, even about what it
means.” (p.113)
Appleyard’s portraits of different age groups’ ways of encountering literature are well documented in the essays we have received from the students in this study. We meet the young
thinker who identifies with the fictive persons and relate the themes of the text to reality
through reflections on their own personal life. The following examples of the students’ personal statements in relation to their reading underline this.
Changing relations between individuals and societies
Within this theme we find interesting statements among the 16-17 year-olds.
Boy (16): the story is like our society – we are also divided into being high or low caste in our society depending on whether we are rich or poor. The story made me reflect.
Girl (16): the story takes place in the future, but is very much like a Red Indian society –and maybe
even like the society we all live in- it is about values and dignity that we should consider every day.
- and among the 18-19 year-olds.
Boy (18): Even though we live in a modern society, we live by rules that we do not even know of,
ancient rules and ancient values govern our lives.
Girl (19): Development goes too fast – stop and consider where you are – what you are doing. The
world is inhabited by zombies.
Ways of relating to local and global issues
Among the 16-17 year-olds: Boy (16): The soul in the well is a symbol of Satan.
18-19 year-olds: Girl (18): You can conquer a country or an area, but you can never conquer the
soul of things without empathy, care and understanding. The men on Mars do not know anything
about the place where they are, and they are not cautious – that is the reason why they have to die
Boy (19): Macho types with no understanding for local rules will never conquer the world or the
universe
The construction of individual identities
16-17 year-olds: Boy (17): The story (Kerastion) is about shame and death, but there must be reasons for what is happening – otherwise it is too sad. Keep up your good spirits!
Boy (16): The well is created in the men’s imagination – their souls are attracted to the clean and
pure water – they do not know what they are dealing with, and they cannot protect themselves. They
are clever technicians, but cannot handle the spiritual world
18-19 year-olds: Boy (19): Being young in a modern society puts tremendous pressure on you. You
have to select what to do in order to become a success and you have to pass tests and live up to expectations, that is why so many young people commit suicide – this is what Kerastion is about
Girl (18): You have a right to be free – you are born free – and you should live free – I reject suppressive societies, you have the right to social mobility – you also have to comply with the rules of
society, but not to let down your own integrity. You have to consider life and your choices and never let go of your ideals, even if you must die for them. The main sin is to live in unconsciousness.
Girl (18) Maybe HWW is about a man’s constant longing to be one with another human being. The
soul is never itself, but like a chameleon
Girl (19) In HWW the men symbolize the conscious self, and the spirit in the well the subconscious,
if you do not recognize and integrate your subconscious, it may cause your death
What can be read off these responses in relation to the ongoing changes in our societies
16-17 year-olds: One (boy, 16) worries about the technological development. Does mankind know
what it is doing?
18-19 year-olds: Boy (18): I feel hatred towards a society which can suppress a young man like
that, a society which does not acknowledge and appreciate his skills
Girl (19): Religion can be cruel and ruin people’s lives
Boy (19): In many ways the society in Kerastion is a picture of our society today – where religion is
concerned – If a Dane chooses to become a Muslim, he may be rejected from his family. If a Muslim
chooses to become a Protestant, he may be rejected from his family. If you tell your family you are
gay, you may have the same reaction – people are narrow-minded – it is easy to become an outcast
if you do not fit into the norms of your society
Boy (19): If shame and honour rules a society, it will kill its people
Main themes
After having read the material, it seems as if there were three significant main themes that
came out of reading the Danish student essays. They expressed a need to consider three important areas:
 The dangers of wealth –living with a focus on material goods without really being
present in your life
 The need to understand other cultures
 The enormous pressure on young people – fear of suicide
There is no doubt that the reading of these two texts have been of importance to the students, and
the study supports the general conception that the popularity of fantasy literature is connected to the
way this genre touches on the themes that engage young people.
The protagonists in fantasy literature are on their own in a universe where they have to find their
way and find their own solutions.
This reminds the young readers of the conditions they meet in everyday life, and the reader can
easily identify with the protagonist and move between rationality and irrationality. The questions
and open ended stories in most fantasy literature invite the reader to relate, identify and produce his
or her own interpretation.
The young reader has a special ability of being inside the text and outside the text at the same time.
That means that the reader can identify and be inside the text. But at the same time the young reader
can step back and relate the narrative to him- or herself and to personal problems and life in society
as such.
The many statements from young readers in this study prove that.
Litteratur
Appleyard, J.A. (1991): Becoming a Reader
Malmgren, L. G. (1997). Åtta Läsare på Mellanstadiet. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Moos, Ingelise og Skyggebjerg, Anna Karlskov (2007): Fantastiske fortællinger i kort
form – en genre med relevans for undervisningen. Det digitale bibliotek om
børnelitteratur. www.dansklf.dk/boernelitt
Nedslag i børnelitteraturforskningen 2, Roskilde Universitetsforlag 2001
Nikolajeva, M.: The Magic Code – The use of magical patterns in fantasy for children, Universitetet i Stockholm 1988
Sylvi Penne: Barns behov for bøker. Hva skjer når barnet er ”inne i teksten”? Årboka 2002.
Attachment 1
Text number 2
Ray Bradbury: The one who waits
from
Machineries of joy 1964
The story begins with the first person narrator describing what it is like to be living in a well.
Living as smoke and steam doing nothing but waiting, watching the stars and the sun and singing
songs about how the planet used to be.
But one morning, the narrator hears a tremendous thunder and distant voices in a foreign language.
The voices are moving closer and suddenly they discover the well. They say that the well must be at
least ten thousand years old.
The narrator looks up as three objects are leaning in over the well. And now the narrator rises up
towards them as they are drinking the water. Floating like cinnamon dust.
One of the men, Jones, gets a headache but it passes straightaway, and now the narrator knows who
he is. He is Jones. Just arrived from the planet Earth and standing on Mars with his good friends.
The narrator is now sensing everything; the words, the food, the smell of the air, the sun on the
flesh. It feels nice doing all this again after ten thousand years.
All the others, except for a man called Regent, returns to the ship. The narrator smiles and grabs
him by the arm as he tells him that the well is a soul well. A place where beings, once dressed in
flesh and blood, are waiting.
One by one the men are taken over by the soul from the well, one by one they try to fight, one by
one they are drawn by the well. One by one they fall into the well and become one with the one who
waits.