Fantasy Literature: Style, History, and Impact

“Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.” (Theodor Seuss Geisel)

As so eloquently put by this celebrated children’s author, fantasy, especially in the literature we read, often leaves a lasting impact, so much so that many see it as integral to living. But what exactly defines fantasy literature? How did it become what it is today? And why does it continue to cast its spell on us time and time again? Exploring the style, history, and impact of fantasy literature will help answer these questions, as well as grow appreciation for this prominent genre.

So what exactly makes fantasy, fantasy? This topic has been debated on in the past, but as a general rule, the work must be fictional and contain some imaginary element, usually through setting, characters, or some form of magic. This does not mean you cannot use the real world: many fantasy stories do this, including Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, but it must still have a fantastic setting, creatures, or magic alongside it.

Another hallmark of fantasy is symbolism and allegory. Again, as a general rule, most fantasy stories aren’t just stories. They have something to say about society, humanity, or a past event, reflecting reality through a magical tale. An obvious example is something like C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, but this is also often done on a smaller scale. The whole plot of The Lord of the Rings may not be an allegory for World War I, but many of the struggles the characters face are reflective of J.R.R. Tolkien’s own struggle at war. This element probably derives from fantasy’s origins in fables, something that will be discussed later.

The last component of fantasy literature is the writing style itself. This one is probably the most loose in definition, but integral to the genre. It relies on creating a sense of place, truly immersing the reader in another reality. Oftentimes this is done through lengthy description or creative world-building, setting up a place that could exist, even though it doesn’t. Authors take advantage of your senses, like in the excerpt from Brandon Sanderson’s, The Way of Kings:

“A hundred voices called to one another, mingling with doors slamming, wheels rolling on stone, occasional skyeels crying. The ever-present bells tinkled in the background, louder when the wind blew. They were displayed in the windows of shops, hung from rafters. Each lantern pole along the street had a bell hung under the lamp, and her cart had a silvery one at the very tip of it’s canopy. When she was about halfway up the hillside, a rolling wave of loud clock bells rang the hour. The varied, unsynchronized chimes made a clangorous din.” (71)

The use of vivid descriptives focusing on sound help the reader to truly be in this world, rather then just seeing it.

How did these “rules” of fantasy come about? Well, the history of fantasy literature goes all the way back to the vast mythologies of ancient civilizations. The “elaborated truth” element of the stories described in Homer’s the Illiad and the Odyssey, really sowed the seeds for modern day fantasy. Later on, books like Beowulf and The Arabian Nights carried on this tradition in other parts of the world. Beowulf itself heavily influenced J.R.R. Tolkien, who in turn influenced the whole modern fantasy genre, implementing the whole “epic quest” trope.

This would continue on through the Renaissance, magical elements popping up in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This caused fantasy to evolve into the traditional fairy tales we all recognize today. The Brothers Grimm took a collection of oral stories, publishing them as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. In the early 1800s, Hans Christian Andersen followed suit, and this unintentionally banished fantasy as a whole to the role of “children’s stories.” Most other fantasy written during this time, including classics like Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, and L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, were all written for a younger audience.

This all changed in the aftermath of World War II, when a flood of adult-aimed fantasy literature was released. This shift in audience was largely due to J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, which popularized fantasy in the eyes of adults (despite the fact that The Hobbit was written as a children’s book). This was also the first recorded time that fantasy was used in reference to a literary genre, and as Ian J. Simpson, a literary researcher, speculates:

“I suspect the term fantasy rose after World War II in part due to an increased optimism and need for release from the horrors of that time…” (Ian J. Simpson)

Using fantasy literature as a way to escape reality is one of the reasons this genre has remained popular ever since. The ability to truly get lost in a book is something the fantasy genre almost uniquely offers, as the entire point of the genre is to literally take your mind somewhere unreal. Oftentimes people see glimpses of reality, or even see reality differently because of these imaginary stories, and that is truly where the magic of fantasy lies.

By looking at fantasy’s style, history, and impact on it’s readers, it is much easier to understand why this genre has remained so popular throughout history. So in the words of fantasy author C.S. Lewis, I hope that…

“…someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” [3]

Thank you for reading! I know this is a little more rigidly styled, but I hope it still held your attention as this a subject I’m very passionate about. If you have any additional thoughts, leave a comment, and let me know if there are any other literary genres you might want me to dive deeper into!

Until next time, Namárïe!