EDU11GCL – Genres in Children’s Literature
FANTASY
Lecture 1
Defining fantasy in
Children’s
Literature
© La Trobe University, David Beagley 2005
Lecture slides available:
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/childlit/courses.htm
See also:
• Reviews
• Library Guide to subject resources
• Authors and illustrators
Definition
• Stories with events/episodes/happenings not
consistent with accepted reality (Huck)
• Question – Who determines what is consistent,
accepted and reality?
Definition
JRR Tolkien – “On Fairy Stories”
in Tree and Leaf, and The Monsters and the Critics
… fairy-stories are not in normal English usage stories
about fairies or elves but stories about Fairy, that is,
Faërie, the realm or state in which fairies have their being
•Primary world / Secondary world
•Secondary world is NOT “make believe”, “blossom and
butterfly fairies” with implied inferiority and un-reality
•World of Faërie - the Perilous Realm – the fey
with contiguous and equivalent reality
•Fantasy is its own reality, not an escape from, or pale
shadow of, ours
Definition
• Key element is IMAGINATION
the capability of “forming mental images of
things not actually present” (Tolkien)
• Imagination is key to human understanding
“to boldly go where no man has gone before”
• “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a
single step” (Lao Tzu, c.550 bc)
• Suspension of disbelief
• “Dreaming the Future”
dreaming of future truths - dreaming the truth.
Dreaming of future truths
• Exploring the boundaries of reality and
knowledge.
• Many great scientists (eg. Einstein, Galileo,
Hawking) had powerful imaginations, dreamed up
ideas rather than just testing reality.
• What could be, rather than what is
• Scientism, Empiricism, Humanism – “consistent
with accepted reality”
Dreaming the truth
• Using imagination to understand reality –
speculative fiction
• Enables broad concepts (e.g. Good, Evil, Heroism,
Truth etc.) to be explored and explained free of
the grey areas of the everyday.
• Clear focus on specific aspects without the
distractions of “relevance”.
• Removes from the immediate, fears to be
overcome (the safety of distance).
• Allows narrative and structural contrivance for
the “dreaming”.
The Other
“the journey of a thousand miles begins beneath
one’s feet” (Lao Tzu)
• Any journey begins from where you are
• Our world must be the starting point for
“The Other” – the secondary world
• An aspect of accepted reality is altered
eg time, place, (a long time ago, in a galaxy far,
far away), size, skills, identity, social fabric …
• But the rest of reality remains – contiguous,
consistent, co-existent - the worlds walk side by
side, “the inner consistency of reality” (Tolkien)
• Cosmography - Cosmology
The Lure of the Other
• Fantasy stories are usually asking ‘What If?’
Creative questions such as:
• … animals could talk?
• … children could fly?
• … toys come alive?
• … you could travel across the galaxy?
• … you could become invisible?
• … magic was a human skill?
• … dragons (trolls, elves, orcs, psammeads) were?
Types of Other
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Wish fulfilment – “lonely child”
Time change – time slip/swap, past/future
Heroic – prove self, go beyond limits
Animal - anthropomorphic
Parallel worlds
Utopia (perfect world), Dystopia,
Apocalyptic
Toys and dolls
Size change
“Beyond” normal abilities - magic
Science fiction
Traditional myth and legend
Origins
Much modern fantasy is based on fantasy works of
previous centuries:
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Thomas Malory: L’Morte d’Arthur (1485)
Jonathon Swift: Gullivers Travels (1723)
Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
Jules Verne: 20 thousand leagues under the sea (1875)
H.G Wells: The Time Machine (1895)
And of the early 20th century
• James Barrie: Peter Pan (1902-11)
• C.S. Lewis: The books of Narnia (1950-56)
• JRR Tolkien: The Hobbit (1937), The Lord of the Rings
(1954-56)
Sort into Categories:
Winnie the Pooh
The Hobbit
Alice in Wonderland
Thumbelina
The Wizard of Oz
Charlotte’s Web
Paddington
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Watership Down
Pinocchio
Playing Beatie Bow
The sword in the stone
Wizard of Earthsea
Lord of the Rings
Star Wars
The Borrowers
Mary Poppins
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
Dr Who
Five children and it