Fantasy Worlds from the Golden Age and the Present

2013

A faun carrying an umbrella; a hobbit who lives in a hole; a mysterious name – Lyra; an ill-treated schoolboy with a scar and a secret. Children's fantasy may be said in some sense to begin with resonant images – certainly they often do so in the authors' myths of origins. However, they also begin in an author's reading practices, in his or her experiences, in the influences which, acknowledged or not, shape and articulate their own vision and help define what it is and, sometimes more importantly, what it is not. Medieval culture and literature in one way or another has provided inspiration for all of the writers discussed in this chapter, from Anglo-Saxon warrior heroes and valiant last stands to druids and the Celtic Otherworld, from chivalric knights and more or less distressed damsels to manuscripts and scribes and the Bodleian Library itself. It is almost impossible now to think of fantasy literature without simultaneously thinking of J. R. R. Tolkien, and indeed some of the fantasy literature that followed the publication of The Lord of the Rings is derivative of his created world, rather than taking influence from the medieval sources upon which he drew. However, this chapter shows that medievalist fantasy existed both before and after Tolkien, and that the Middle Ages still provide a rich source for the creative imagination. We may divide medievalist fantasy into a couple of types. Firstly, we have fantasies of an imagined past, which divide in turn into those which seek to recreate the historical Middle Ages but add fantastic ingredients such as dragons and spells, and those which recreate the fantasy worlds of medieval authors themselves. Secondly, we may identify fantasies of an imagined present, where medieval characters and the medieval world invade the contemporary environment of the books' original audience, or where medieval culture shapes the creation of an alternative world. One of the fascinating things about many of the authors discussed below, however, is the extent to which they challenge and ignore generic boundaries, to create something new from something old. In Carolyne Larrington with Diane Purkiss, ed., 'Magical Tales: Myths, Legend & Enchantment in Children's Books' (Bodleian Library, 2013)

Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, 2019

Fantasy fiction is often discussed as a dichotomous entity rolling between hard reality and mere imagination. In such a shallow conceptualization, the former represents the reader’s world while the latter serves as a reflection of imagination. These two may seem contradictory, yet many researchers acknowledge that fantasy needs reality in order to depart from it, suggesting a reciprocal and codependent relationship. Hence, although many fantasy books are initially set in the real world, protagonists travel to secondary worlds so that the fantastic aspect starts evolving. Keeping this reciprocal relationship in mind, this study analyzes the initial settings and entrances of the secondary worlds in British children’s fantasy fiction, namely by reading, L. Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It is seen that, the initial settings in the works studied are situated either in the real world or in a place in which a realistic setting is dominant. The results of this study show that the protagonists, except for Harry Potter, oftenfind darkness and danger in the secondary worlds. Thus, it can be inferred that Harry is an exceptional protagonist as he finds “sunshine and excitement” when he first enters his secondary world, making him a distinctive character among the others.

2016

Fantasy has been an important and much-loved part of children's literature for hundreds of years, yet relatively little has been written about it. Children's Fantasy Literature traces the development of the tradition of the children's fantastic fictions specifically written for children and fictions appropriated by them from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century, examining the work of Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, C. S. Lewis, Roald Dahl, J. K. Rowling and others from across the English-speaking world. The volume considers changing views on both the nature of the child and on the appropriateness of fantasy for the child reader, the role of children's fantasy literature in helping to develop the imagination, and its complex interactions with issues of class, politics and gender. The text analyses hundreds of works of fiction, placing each in its appropriate context within the tradition of fantasy literature.

Undergraduate Review a Journal of Undergraduate Student Research, 2013

Alice in Wonderland is a story that represents the cultural shift in Victorian ideas and its vision of childhood. The character of Alice represents an ideal Victorian youth, but her inabilities, confinement, and limitations in Wonderland suggest a culture clash and changing times. The story of Alice, through its puns, miscommunication, confusing mannerisms, and cultural disconnection between Alice and the inhabitants of Wonderland, preach a rejection of the Victorian adult realm. The novel itself provides an alternative for children to be children rather than obedient little adults.

2020

Reading Teacher, 2006

Two children are seen in interaction with fantasy series, specifically the Moomintrolls series (Jansson) and the Narnia ones (CS Lewis). Identification with characters Fantasy series existed long before J K Rowling borrowed from several genres to create

1982