"Many 20th century fantasies for children explore the
journey from childhood to adulthood in metaphoric terms."
A Discussion
"Fantasy is literature for teenagers"
Brian Aldiss (quoted in Alternate Worlds in Fantasy Fiction, 2001)
In Alternate Worlds in Fantasy Fiction, Peter Hunt questions the credibility of fantasy fiction within the literary world, and suggests it is a marginalized literary form. Although opinions vary on the subject, many are of the consensus that fantasy is "formulaic, childish and escapist", without giving credit to its invaluable scope as a device to covertly reach adolescents. (Hunt: 2)
The above quote from Brian Aldiss' may well have been derogatory in intent, yet it should also be interpreted as a complement. As adolescent literature plays such an important role to young adults, an accomplished writer can incorporate constructive metaphors with which to reach out to teens by addressing the painful journey form childhood to adulthood.
Alan Garner's The Owl Service is one such low fantasy text which metaphorically depicts the difficulties of making the transition to adulthood. Garner manages to cleverly disguise this notion under the mythology of the Welsh myth of The Mabinogion. The tales of The Mabinogion are a celebration of Welsh pagan ancestry and Celtic roots, and roughly translate as `a story for children'. Garner's take on what is the fourth branch of The Mabinogion - "Math, Son of Mathonwy" - ingeniously changes the original tale of unrequited love into a metaphor for the heartache of adolescence.
In the original myth of Math, Son of Mathonwy, a woman is made for the powerful Leu out of flowers of meadowsweet and broom - creating the ill-fated Blodeuwedd:
Math ...
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...oubled yet crucial faction of our society. To them, fantasy offers not only an escape from a complicated world, but also affiliates with adolescent desires and fears at a time when so few adults have the ability to reach them. For as Appleyard notes, such texts:
...offer a child images of how to deal with these concerns, of how to be the one who acts, takes over, comes through, and deals competently with the challenges of growing up." (88)
Works Cited
Appleyard, J. A. Becoming A Reader. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1990.
Cross, Gillian. Wolf. Puffin: London, 1992.
Gantz, Jeffery. (trans.) The Mabinogion. Penguin, London.
Garner, Alan. The Owl Service. Harper Collins : London, 2002.
Hunt, P & M. Lenz. Eds. Alternate Worlds In Fantasy Fiction. Continuum: London, 2001.
Pullman, Phillip. Northern Lights. Scholastic Ltd: London, 1998.
For centuries, the tales that capture the youth of society or the adult 's mind are continually under speculation. To whom do the fairy tales of our literature belong, and have they been disassembled from their true meanings? Jack Zipes ' Breaking the Disney Spell and Donald Hasse 's Yours, Mine, or Ours? essays focus on the answers to this pressing question.
Fairy tales today are commonly viewed as fantastical stories - often with magical characters or elements - aimed to entertain children. Moreover, they frequently contain lessons or principles to be instilled in youths, promoting the morality of future generations. The values associated with a certain fairy tale can be identified quite easily these days, especially with the more prominent and well-known stories. For instance, the modern version of Beauty and the Beast schools readers to look past the exterior of others, for true beauty is measured by one's character. However, contemporary fairy tales have often been subject to censorship and revision from their origins in order to facilitate their presentation of these ideals. Oftentimes, the essence of these ideas in the original works is not so clear-cut. In Giovanni Franesco Straparola‘s “The Pig King”, though a happy ending is eventually reached, the path taken is one filled with wrong turns.
Teresa De Lauretis defines the space-off as “spaces in the margins of hegemonic discourse, social spaces carved in the interstices of institutions and in the chinks and cracks of the power-knowledge apparati. And it is there that the terms of a different construction [...] can be posed (De Lauretis 232). This paper examines Angela Carter’s use of the space-off in “The Company of Wolves”. I begin by showing how Carter employs fairy tale convention in order to establish a fairy tale space, particularly in terms of gender norms and didacticism. I proceed to examine the ways in which she reveals aspects that are marginal to this space. Marginal, meaning that they exist peripherally, without supporting or contributing to the space, thus threatening the space and its place at the center, though they may never dismantle it. I finish by demonstrating how the elements come together in the creation of an alternative narrative.
Bettelheim, Bruno. “Fairy Tales and The Existential Predicament.” The Uses of Enchantment: the Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Knopf, 1976. Print
As a writer, the success of most authors’ comes from their power to convert common thoughts or knowledge into something which can enlighten the reader. An author thrives on being unique and imaginative. With this originality comes differentiation, when one compares two authors who have used the same literary device in their writings, this becomes apparent. J.D Salinger’s writings involve an enormous amount of childhood concepts and loss of innocence. Mark Twain is also known for his use of innocence in his novels, specifically The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Although the concept behind innocence is basically the same with both authors, each author applies his own interpretat...
Tibbetts, John C. The Gothic Imagination: Conversations on Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction in the Media. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.
Fairy tales have been told for generations and now every child has dolls, movies and books filled with magical adventure. Cinderella, Sleeping beauty, and Snow white have become classics in every household. However, J.R.R. Tolkien described in his essay “On Fairy Stories” that the world has corrupted fairy tales by making them childlike and denoting them to evil. Our culture prescribed fairies to be diminutive, supernatural creatures; however, fairies are neither small nor necessarily supernatural. A fairy is a direct product of Faerie, which is “the realm or state in which fairies have their being” (Tolkien “On” 2). Fairy stories are derived from the human mind, more so the imagination. Without the imagination, Faerie would be dull. The imagination produces images that result in a Secondary World, or Fantasy. Tolkien believed that Fantasy is an inherent human action that provides recovery, escape, and consolation; all of which readers can experience in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of Tolkien’s fairy tale trilogy filled with hobbits, elves, and magical rings.
Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences. I was a child, which meant that I knew a dozen different ways of getting out of our property and into the lane, ways that would not involve walking down our drive.” This brilliant passage shows us how different children and adults are at the core. Children possess so much creativity at their young age. This creativity seems to go away in a lot of people as they get older. Adults tend to conform when they hit adulthood. They think and act very much alike. Older people don’t want to steer off the direction that others are going. Children are adventurers at the core while adults are conservatives at the
In An Introduction to Fairy Tales, Tatar asserts that the true value of fairy tales in everyday life is immeasurable, yet overlooked. When most people are young, Tatar states that fairy tales are read and viewed as a way of escaping from reality. As years pass and it becomes time for childish things to be put away, the impact that fairy tales have had start to show by the beliefs and actions of those that have read them. Tatar exemplifies this impact in her own life by referencing to her personal copy of the Grimm’s fairy tales. She depicts her reading experiences as something that takes her “into a reality that is familiar in the double sense of the term-deeply personal and at the same time centered on the family and its conflicts rather than
Zipes, Jack. Fairy tales and the art of subversion the classical genre for children and the process
Children often have wild daydreams and intense fantasies, which leads to imaginary friends and crazy games. These fantasies may grow and seem like a superior choice when compared to reality, but it can become problematic, especially when it dominates their life. In Paul’s Case by Willa Cather, Paul’s decisions, thoughts, and his red carnation prove that an overpowering desire for a fantasy can lead to destruction.
Using this literary technique enables the author to show how a loss of boyhood innocence helps shape his adult identity. For example, the speaker compares the boys to a group of bankers, “a room of small bankers” (11) to show the hope the mother has for her son to grow up and be successful. Even though the mother knows her son is growing up, she compares her son’s freckles to “specks of nutmeg on his cheeks, (16) and his chest to “the balsa keel of a /model boat.” (17-18). This comparison suggests that even though her son pretends to have a tough exterior, he is still fragile underneath. Olds compares boys to Generals “ they clear their throats/ like Generals they relax and get down to / playing war, celebrating my son’s life.” (24-26) This comparison shows that aggressive behavior is an inborn trait. Boys are hardwired to show their masculinity and they do this by aggressively fighting to establish their authority.
We all grew up hoping that we were the princesses who met the dreamy prince and lived ‘happily ever after’ like in a fairytale.People debate over whether or not Disney fairytales are beneficial for children. Like Melissa Taylor the author of the piece ‘10 reasons why kids need to read non disney fairy tales’, I am against disneyfied fairy tales. In this essay I will argue on why kids should not only watch disney fairytales but also the real versions.
Narratives.” Studies In The Literary Imagination 29.1 (1996): 73. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 May 2014.
Zipes, Jack. Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.