Modern

fantasy
In Children’s and Adolescent Literature
Modern Fantasy
Modern Fantasy is distinguished from other genres
by story elements that violate the natural, physical
laws of our world.

Stories in this genre include such elements as talking

animals, imaginary worlds, fanciful characters, and
magical beings.

Authors of modern fantasy do not merely make up

an imaginary story. They must create a setting with a
new set of physical laws, believeable characters, and a
credible plot.

These stories should invite the reader to examine

issues of the human condition and believe that such
world could really exist.

Lastly, Modern Fantasy differs from Traditional

Fantasy in that the stories have an identifiable author
and were written as early as the 1800s.
 Categories of Modern
♥
Fantasy
Animal Fantasy ♥ Magical Powers

♥ Toys and Objects Imbued with ♥ Supernatural Tales

Life
♥ Time-Warp Fantasies
♥ Tiny Humans

♥ Peculiar Characters and ♥ High Fantasy

Situations
♥ Imaginary Worlds ♥ Novelized Traditional Tales
Why do writers use
fantasy? The major advantage of fantasy is that it can open
up possibilities; it is not confined to the boundaries
of the real world.

Writers are able to convey complex ideas on a

symbolic level that would be difficult to convey
otherwise.
Fantasy works can provide a fresh perspective on
the real world.

Ursula Le Guin has written that “fantasy is true, of

course. It isn’t factual, but it is true.” The fantasy
genre involves a different way of apprehending
existence but it is no less true than realism.
Why do writers use
fantasy? Fantasy stories can suggest universal truths through
the use of magic and the supernatural.

Thomas Hardy preferred fantasy over realism,

claiming that “a story must be exceptional enough
to justify its telling,” and that a writer must have
“something more unusual to relate than the
ordinary experience of every average man and
woman.”
 三

Six Basic Fantasy Motifs

Not all Modern Fantasy employs these six motifs. Any
combination of these motifs classifies a story as Modern
Fantasy. Sometimes, only one motif is utilized. However, if a story uses
all six of these elements, it is considered Modern High Fantasy.
 1
三

Magic
♤ Fantasy literature’s most basic element
♤ Often a part of the setting, explaining otherwise inexplicable
events
♤ Cannot be explained—it’s just there
 2
三

Other Worlds / Secondary Worlds

♤ A special geography or universe is established, a place wherein
magic may freely operate
♤ The entire tale may be set in an imaginary place
♤ The characters are taken from a primary world to a secondary
world, through some type of portal
♤ The secondary world invades our primary world
 3
三

Good vs. Evil

♤ Modern fantasy stories have strong mythological base
♤ The basic theme gives rise to the conflict in a story
♤ How do good and evil manifest in each of the characters?
 4
三

Heroism
♤ Every hero has a quest--a circular journey; an age-old pattern
♤ There are six elements in every hero's quest
1. the call to adventure
2. crossing threshold of safety and familiarity
3. surviving the trials of the new and dangerous environment
4. assistance from a protective figure
5. maturing and becoming a "whole person"
6. returning home
 5
三

Special Character Types

♤ Characters who come from either our legendary past or author’s
vivid imagination
♤ Rarely typically humans (Fairies, pixies, giants, wicked witches,
ogres, vampires, wizards, dwarves, elves, hobbits, etc.)
 6
三

Fantastic Objects
♤ Characters employ magical props to accomplish heroic or evil
deeds
♤ Magical cloaks, swords, staffs, cauldrons, mirrors, silver slippers,
wands, the ring, flying brooms
 SOMETIMES
CALLED FUTURISTIC
FICTION
Concerns the way in which
scientific possibilities might
affect societies of human or
alien beings; or both. Can
include a combination of
scientific fact and scientific
possibility
FOCUSES SCIENCE FANTASY
ON DYSTOPIA
An imaginary place where Stories with plots that play on
people live dehumanized and scientific fact as well as
often fearful lives (The magical occurrences (Star
Giver; The Hunger Wars series)
Games)
The Truth in
Fantasy
Some adults dismiss Modern Fantasy as being too whimsical
and not grounded firmly in reality. In actuality, good fantasy
tells the truth about life. It clarifies the human condition and
captures the essence of our deepest emotions, dreams, hopes,
and fears. Metaphors presented in Modern Fantasy help us to
enhance our communication and thinking by increasing our
frame of reference and understanding, creating interest, and
going beyond the intellect to act on our emotions. Readers of
Modern Fantasy are become actively engaged with the story
and message being presented. We are encouraged to explore
hard issues from the varying viewpoints of the characters.
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olesResponsblts.html

Source: Tunnell, Michael O.. Children's literature, briefly.

5th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Print.