Contains a variety of critical articles that analyze important literary works in the fantasy genre, chronicles its development, and explores the impact fantasy works have had on different cultures.
Content Note
Foreword -- Introduction : Literature of impossibility -- What is fantasy? -- 1. Understanding the fantasy genre -- Fantasy's roots : ballads, folktales, and legends / Brian Attebery ; Fantasy literature both reflects and denies reality / Jules Zanger ; Building blocks of fantasy / Susan Dexter ; Re-evaluating some definitions of fantasy / Edmund Little ; Fantasy books for adolescents inspire and empower / Tamora Pierce ; Fantasy allows children to question the status quo / Jeanne Murray Walker -- 2. Exploring themes and conventions -- Integral sense of wonder / William Senior ; Symbolism and allegory / Ann Swinfen ; Quest / John H. Timmerman ; Comic fantasy / C.N. Manlove ; Characterizations in Tolkien's Lord of the rings / Dwayne Thorpe ; Robert Jordan and the longing for a premodern past / Edward Rothstein -- 3. State of the genre today -- Women are changing the face of fantasy / Charlotte Spivack ; Publishing fantasy literature / David G. Hartwell ; Fantasy and censorship / Michael O. Tunnel.