The violet fairy book (1906) (14730388126)

Fantasy is a

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became

fantasy literature Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...

and drama. From the twentieth century, it has expanded further into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animations and video games. Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

and horror by the respective absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these genres overlap. In

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that emulate Earth, but with a sense of otherness. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians from ancient

myths Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

and

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

s to many recent and popular works.

Traits

Most fantasy uses

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

or other supernatural elements as a main

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 Other * ''Plot' ...

element,

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

, or

setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...

. Magic, magic practitioners ( sorcerers,

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

es and so on) and magical creatures are common in many of these worlds. An identifying trait of fantasy is the author's use of narrative elements that do not have to rely on history or nature to be coherent.ed. Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn, ''Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature'', This differs from realistic fiction in that realistic fiction has to attend to the history and natural laws of reality, where fantasy does not. In writing fantasy the author uses

worldbuilding Worldbuilding is the process of constructing a world, originally an imaginary one, sometimes associated with a fictional universe. Developing an imaginary setting with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, and ecology is a key task f ...

to create characters, situations, and settings that may not be possible in reality. Many fantasy authors use real-world folklore and mythology as inspiration; and although another defining characteristic of the fantasy genre is the inclusion of supernatural elements, such as

, this does not have to be the case. Fantasy has often been compared to

and horror because they are the major categories of speculative fiction. Fantasy is distinguished from science fiction by the plausibility of the narrative elements. A science fiction narrative is unlikely, though seemingly possible through logical scientific or technological extrapolation, where fantasy narratives do not need to be scientifically possible. Authors have to rely on the readers' suspension of disbelief, an acceptance of the unbelievable or impossible for the sake of enjoyment, in order to write effective fantasies. Despite both genres' heavy reliance on the supernatural, fantasy and horror are distinguishable from one another. Horror primarily evokes fear through the protagonists' weaknesses or inability to deal with the antagonists.

History

The violet fairy book (1906) (14730393436)

Early history

Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were a part of literature from its beginning. Fantasy elements occur throughout ancient religious texts such as the ''

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with ...

''. The ancient Babylonian creation epic, the '' Enûma Eliš'', in which the god Marduk slays the goddess

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial crea ...

, contains the theme of a cosmic battle between good and evil, which is characteristic of the modern fantasy genre. Genres of romantic and fantasy literature existed in ancient Egypt. ''The Tales of the Court of King Khufu'', which is preserved in the

Westcar Papyrus The Westcar Papyrus (inventory-designation: ''P. Berlin 3033'') is an ancient Egyptian text containing five stories about miracles performed by priests and magicians. In the papyrus text, each of these tales are told at the royal court of king K ...

and was probably written in the middle of the second half of the eighteenth century BC, preserves a mixture of stories with elements of historical fiction, fantasy, and satire. Egyptian funerary texts preserve mythological tales, the most significant of which are the myths of Osiris and his son Horus. Myth with fantastic elements intended for adults were a major genre of

ancient Greek literature Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are ...

. The comedies of

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...

are filled with fantastic elements, particularly his play '' The Birds'', in which an Athenian man builds a city in the clouds with the birds and challenges

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

's authority.

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

'' and

Apuleius Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern- ...

's ''

The Golden Ass The ''Metamorphoses'' of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as ''The Golden Ass'' (''Asinus aureus''), is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety. The protagonist of the novel is Lucius. At the end of the no ...

'' are both works that influenced the development of the fantasy genre by taking mythic elements and weaving them into personal accounts. Both works involve complex narratives in which humans beings are transformed into animals or inanimate objects.

Platonic Plato's influence on Western culture was so profound that several different concepts are linked by being called Platonic or Platonist, for accepting some assumptions of Platonism, but which do not imply acceptance of that philosophy as a whole. It ...

teachings and early Christian theology are major influences on the modern fantasy genre.

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

used

allegories As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

to convey many of his teachings, and early Christian writers interpreted both the Old and

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

s as employing parables to relay spiritual truths. This ability to find meaning in a story that is not literally true became the foundation that allowed the modern fantasy genre to develop. The most well known fiction from the Islamic world is '' One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights)'', which is a compilation of many ancient and medieval folk tales. Various characters from this epic have become cultural icons in Western culture, such as Aladdin, Sinbad and

Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard ...

. Hindu mythology was an evolution of the earlier

Vedic mythology The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...

and had many more fantastical stories and characters, particularly in the

Indian epics Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called ''Kavya'' (or ''Kāvya''; Sanskrit: काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá''). The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'', which were originally composed in ...

. The '' Panchatantra'' (''Fables of Bidpai''), for example, used various animal

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse (poetry), verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized, and that illustrat ...

s and magical tales to illustrate the central Indian principles of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. Chinese traditions have been particularly influential in the vein of fantasy known as

Chinoiserie (, ; loanword from French '' chinoiserie'', from '' chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other East Asian artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, lite ...

, including such writers as

Ernest Bramah Ernest Bramah (20 March 186827 June 1942), the pseudonym of Ernest Brammah Smith, who was an English author. He published 21 books and numerous short stories and features. His humorous works were often ranked with Jerome K. Jerome and W. W. Ja ...

and

Barry Hughart Barry Hughart (March 13, 1934 – August 1, 2019) was an American author of fantasy novels. Background Hughart was born in Peoria, Illinois on March 13, 1934. His father, John Harding Page, served as a naval officer. His mother, Veronica ...

.John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Chinoiserie", p 189 '' Beowulf'' is among the best known of the Old English tales in the English speaking world, and has had deep influence on the fantasy genre; several fantasy works have retold the tale, such as John Gardner's '' Grendel''. Norse mythology, as found in the

Elder Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...

and the

Younger Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...

, includes such figures as Odin and his fellow Aesir, and dwarves,

elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes " ...

, dragons, and

giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

. These elements have been directly imported into various fantasy works. The separate folklore of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland has sometimes been used indiscriminately for "Celtic" fantasy, sometimes with great effect; other writers have specified the use of a single source.John Grant and John Clute, ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', "Celtic fantasy", p 275 The

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

tradition has been particularly influential, due to its connection to King Arthur and its collection in a single work, the epic Mabinogion. There are many works where the boundary between fantasy and other works is not 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 ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of ...

'' makes it difficult to distinguish when fantasy, in its modern sense, first began.

Modern fantasy

Curdie went on after her, flashing his torch about

Although pre-dated by

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

's ''

The King of the Golden River ''The King of the Golden River or The Black Brothers: A Legend of Stiria'' is a fantasy story originally written in 1841 by John Ruskin for the twelve-year-old Effie (Euphemia) Gray, whom Ruskin later married. It was published in book form in ...

'' (1841), the history of modern fantasy literature is usually said to begin with

George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational church, Congregational Minister (Christianity), minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature a ...

, the Scottish author of such novels as ''

The Princess and the Goblin ''The Princess and the Goblin'' is a children's fantasy novel by George MacDonald. It was published in 1872 by Strahan & Co., with black-and-white illustrations by Arthur Hughes. Strahan had published the story and illustrations as a serial in ...

'' and ''

Phantastes ''Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women'' is a fantasy novel by Scottish writer George MacDonald, first published in London in 1858. It was later reprinted in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fourteenth volume of the ''Ballantine ...

'' (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 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

and

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

. The other major fantasy author of this era was

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, an English poet who wrote several novels in the latter part of the century, including ''

The Well at the World's End ''The Well at the World's End'' is a high fantasy novel by the British artist, poet, and author William Morris. It was first published in 1896 and has been reprinted repeatedly since, most notably in two parts as the 20th and 21st volumes of th ...

''. Despite MacDonald's future influence with ''

At the Back of the North Wind ''At the Back of the North Wind'' is a children's book written by Scottish author George MacDonald. It was serialized in the children's magazine ''Good Words for the Young'' beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871. It is a fant ...

'' (1871), Morris's popularity with his contemporaries, and

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The Wonderful Visit ''The Wonderful Visit'' is an 1895 novel by H. G. Wells. With an angel—a creature of fantasy unlike a religious angel—as protagonist and taking place in contemporary England, the book could be classified as contemporary fantasy, although t ...

'' (1895), it was not until the 20th century that fantasy fiction began to reach a large audience. Lord Dunsany established the genre's popularity in both the novel and the short story form. H. Rider Haggard,

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

, and Edgar Rice Burroughs began to write fantasy at this time. These authors, along with

Abraham Merritt Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884 – August 21, 1943) – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, ...

, established what was known as the "lost world" subgenre, 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 Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

'' and ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz afte ...

'', were also published around this time.

Juvenile fantasy Children's fantasy is children's literature with fantasy elements: fantasy for young readers. It may also mean fantasy read ''by'' children (regardless of intended audience). The genre has roots in folk tales such as ''Aesop's Fables'' that wer ...

was considered more acceptable than fantasy intended for adults, with the effect that writers who wished to write fantasy had to fit their work into forms aimed at children.

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

wrote fantasy in '' A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys'', intended for children, although works for adults only verged on fantasy. For many years, this and successes such as ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

'' (1865), created the circular effect that all fantasy works, even the later ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

'', were therefore classified as children's literature. Political and social trends can affect a society's reception towards fantasy. In the early 20th century, the New Culture Movement's enthusiasm for Westernization and science in China compelled them to condemn the fantastical

shenmo Gods and demons fiction () is a subgenre of fantasy fiction that revolves around the deities, immortals, and monsters of Chinese mythology. The term ''shenmo xiaoshuo'', coined in the early 20th century by the writer and literary historian Lu ...

genre of traditional Chinese literature. The spells and magical creatures of these novels were viewed as superstitious and backward, products of a feudal society hindering the modernization of China. Stories of the supernatural continued to be denounced once the Communists rose to power, and mainland China experienced a revival in fantasy only after the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

had ended. Fantasy became a genre of pulp magazines published in the West. In 1923, the first all-fantasy fiction magazine, ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, pri ...

'', was published. Many other similar magazines eventually followed, including ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''; when it was founded in 1949, the pulp magazine format was at the height of its popularity, and the magazine 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 J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'', which reached new heights of popularity in the late 1960s, that allowed fantasy to truly enter the mainstream.Jane Yolen, "Introduction" p vii–viii ''After the King: Stories in Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien'', ed, Martin H. Greenberg, 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 series, Robert Jordan's ''The Wheel of Time'' series, George R. R. Martin's ''A Song of Ice and Fire, Song of Ice and Fire'' series, Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen sweeping epic, Brandon Sanderson's ''The Stormlight Archive'' series and ''Mistborn'' series, and A. Sapkowski's ''The Witcher'' saga.

Media

Several fantasy film adaptations have achieved blockbuster status, most notably The Lord of the Rings (film series), ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, and the ''Harry Potter (film series), Harry Potter'' films, two of the List of highest-grossing films#Highest-grossing franchises and film series, highest-grossing film series in cinematic history. Meanwhile, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss would go on to produce the television drama series ''Game of Thrones'' for HBO, based on the book series by George R. R. Martin, which has gone on to achieve unprecedented success for the fantasy genre on television. Fantasy role-playing games cross several different media. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' was the first tabletop role-playing game and remains the most successful and influential. According to a 1999 survey in the United States, 6% of 12- to 35-year-olds have played role-playing games. Of those who play regularly, two thirds play ''D&D''. Products branded ''Dungeons & Dragons'' made up over fifty percent of the RPG products sold in 2005. The science fantasy role-playing game series ''Final Fantasy'' has been an icon of the role-playing video game genre ( it was still among the top ten List of best-selling video game franchises, best-selling video game franchises). The first collectible card game, ''Magic: The Gathering'', has a fantasy theme and is similarly dominant in the industry.

Classification

By theme (subgenres)

Fantasy encompasses numerous subgenres characterized by particular themes or settings, or by an overlap with other literary genres or forms of speculative fiction. They include the following: *Bangsian fantasy, interactions with famous historical figures in the afterlife, named for John Kendrick Bangs *Comic fantasy, humorous in tone *Contemporary fantasy, set in the modern world or a world based on a Contemporary history, contemporary era but involving magic or other supernatural elements *Dark fantasy, including elements of horror fiction *Extruded fantasy product, derogatory term for derivative works *Fables, stories with non-human characters, leading to "morals" or lessons *Fairy tales themselves, as well as fairytale fantasy, which draws on fairy tale themes *Fantastic poetry, poetry with a fantastic theme *''Fantastique'', French literary genre involving supernatural elements *Fantasy of manners, or mannerpunk, focusing on matters of social standing in the way of a comedy of manners *Gaslamp fantasy, using a Victorian era, Victorian or Edwardian era, Edwardian setting, influenced by gothic fiction *Gods and demons fiction (''shenmo''), involving the gods and monsters of Chinese mythology *"Grimdark" fiction, a somewhat tongue-in-cheek label for fiction with an especially violent tone or dystopian themes *Hard fantasy, whose supernatural aspects are intended to be internally consistent and explainable, named in analogy to hard science fiction *Heroic fantasy, concerned with the tales of heroes in imaginary lands *High fantasy or epic fantasy, characterized by a plot and themes of epic scale *Historical fantasy, historical fiction with fantasy elements *Isekai, people transported from the real world to a different one, mainly in Japanese fiction (anime, light novels and manga) *

, children's literature with fantasy elements *LitRPG, set in a table-top or computer role-playing game, and depicting the progression and mechanics of the game *Low fantasy, characterized by few or non-intrusive supernatural elements, often in contrast to high fantasy *Magic realism, a genre of literary fiction incorporating minor supernatural elements *Magical girl fantasy, involving young girls with magical powers, mainly in Japanese fiction *Paranormal romance, romantic fiction with supernatural or Legendary creature, fantastic creatures *Romantic fantasy, focusing on romantic relationships *Science fantasy, fantasy incorporating elements from

such as advanced technology, aliens and space travel but also fantastic things *Steampunk, a genre which is sometimes a kind of fantasy, with elements from the 19th century steam technology (historical fantasy and science fantasy both overlap with it) *Sword and sorcery, adventures of sword-wielding heroes, generally more limited in scope than epic fantasy *Urban fantasy, set in a city *Weird fiction, macabre and unsettling stories from before the terms "fantasy" and "horror" were widely used; see also the more modern forms of Slipstream (genre), slipstream fiction and the New Weird *Xianxia (genre), Chinese martial-arts fiction often incorporating fantasy elements, such as gods, fairies, demons, magical realms and reincarnation

By the function of the fantastic in the narrative

In her 2008 book ''Rhetorics of Fantasy'', Farah Mendlesohn proposes the following Taxonomy (general), taxonomy of fantasy, as "determined by the means by which the fantastic enters the narrated world", while noting that there are fantasies that fit none of the patterns:

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 and MegaCon, cater to fantasy and horror fans. Anime conventions, such as Ohayocon or Anime Expo frequently feature showings of fantasy, science fantasy, and dark fantasy series and films, such as ''Majutsushi Orphen'' (fantasy), ''Sailor Moon'' (urban fantasy), ''Berserk (manga), Berserk'' (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 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 video or anime music video, AMV subculture, as well as the large internet subculture devoted to reading and writing prose fiction or doujinshi in or related to those genres. According to 2013 statistics by the fantasy publisher Tor Books, men outnumber women by 67% to 33% among writers of historical, epic or high fantasy. But among writers of urban fantasy or paranormal romance, 57% are women and 43% are men.

Analysis

Fantasy is studied in a number of disciplines including English studies, English and other language studies, cultural studies, comparative literature, history and medieval studies. For example, Tzvetan Todorov argues that the fantastic is a liminality, liminal space. Other work makes political, historical and literary connections between medievalism and popular culture.Jane Tolmie, "Medievalism and the Fantasy Heroine", ''Journal of Gender Studies'', Vol. 15, No. 2 (July 2006), pp. 145–158. ISSN 0958-9236

Related genres

* Horror fiction, Horror * Science fantasy * Science fiction * Superhero fiction * Supernatural fiction * Utopian and dystopian fiction

References

External links

The Fantasy Genre
Children's Literature Classics {{Authority control Fantasy, Fantasy genres, Speculative fiction

Traits

History

Early history

Modern fantasy

Media

Classification

By theme (subgenres)

By the function of the fantastic in the narrative

Subculture

Analysis

Related genres

See also

References

External links