Fantasy

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For other meanings see Fantasy (disambiguation)
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Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. The genre is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by overall look, feel, and theme of the individual work, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three (collectively known as speculative fiction). In its broadest sense, fantasy covers works by many writers, artists, film makers, and musicians, from ancient myths and legends to many recent works embraced by a wide audience today.

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[edit] History

For more details on this topic, see History of fantasy.

Though the genre in its modern sense is less than two centuries old, its antecedents have a long and distinguished history.

Beginning perhaps with the Epic of Gilgamesh and the earliest written documents known to humankind, mythic and other elements that would eventually come to define fantasy and its various subgenres have been a part of some of the grandest and most celebrated works of literature. From The Odyssey to Beowulf, from the Mahabharata to The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, from the Ramayana to the Journey to the West, and from the Arthurian legend and medieval romance to the epic poetry of the Divine Comedy, fantastical adventures featuring brave heroes and heroines, deadly monsters, and secret arcane realms have inspired many audiences. In this sense, the history of fantasy and the history of literature are inextricably intertwined.

The history of modern fantasy literature begins with George MacDonald, the Scottish author of such novels as The Princess and the Goblin and Phantastes, 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 and C. S. Lewis. The other major fantasy author of this era was William Morris, a popular English poet who wrote several novels in the latter part of the century including The Well at the World's End.

Despite MacDonald's future influence, and Morris' contemporary popularity, it wasn't until the turn of the century that fantasy fiction began to reach a large audience. Edward Plunkett, better known as Lord Dunsany established the genre's popularity both in the novel and short story form. Many popular mainstream authors also began to write fantasy at this time including H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling and Edgar Rice Burroughs. These authors, along with Abraham Merritt established what was known as the "Lost World" sub-genre, 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 and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz were also published around this time.

In 1923 the first all-fantasy fiction magazine, Weird Tales, was created. Many other similar magazines eventually followed, most noticeably The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The pulp magazine format was at the height of its popularity at this time and 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 began to find a wide audience, with the success of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories. However, it was the advent of high fantasy, and most of all the popularity of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in the late 1960s that allowed fantasy to truly enter the mainstream. Several other series such as C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea 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. Several fantasy film adaptations have achieved blockbuster status, most notably The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson.

[edit] Media

For more details on this topic, see fantasy art, fantasy literature, fantasy film, and fantasy television.

Fantasy is a popular genre, having found a home for itself in almost every medium. While fantasy art and recently fantasy films have been increasingly popular successful, it is been fantasy literature which has always been the genre's primary medium.

Fantasy role-playing games cross several different media. The 'pen & paper' role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons was the first and is arguably the most successful and influential, though the pseudo-science fantasy role-playing game series Final Fantasy has been an icon of the computer role-playing game genre. Role-playing games have in turn spawned much new art, literature, and even music in the genre. Game companies have published fantasy novels set in their own fictional game universes; the Forgotten Realms, and Dragonlance series are some of the more popular.

Similarly, series of novels based on fantasy films and TV series have found their own niche.

For more details on this topic, see Fantasy subgenres.

Modern fantasy, including early modern fantasy, has also spawned many new subgenres with no clear counterpart in mythology or folklore, although inspiration from mythology and folklore remains a consistent theme. Fantasy subgenres are numerous and diverse, frequently overlapping with other forms of speculative fiction in almost every medium in which they're produced. Noteworthy in this regard are the science fantasy and dark fantasy subgenres, which the fantasy genre shares with science fiction and horror, respectively.

[edit] Subculture

Fans of fantasy get together yearly at the World Fantasy Convention. The first 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 or MegaCon, also cater to fantasy and horror fans, and anime conventions, such as JACON or Anime Expo frequently feature showings of fantasy, science fantasy or dark fantasy series and films such as Cardcaptor Sakura (fantasy), Sailor Moon (science fantasy), xxxHolic (dark fantasy) or 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 and/or wear costumes based on existing or self-created characters, sometimes also acting out skits or plays as well) and the fan fiction subculture, the fan vid or AMV subculture, as well as the large internet subculture devoted to reading and writing prose fiction and/or doujinshi in or related to those genres.

[edit] See also

Look up fantasy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

[edit] External links

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