Defining Fantasy

How does Attebery (1980)define Fantasy? Find at least five definitions.

Atteberry (1980) firstly discusses how the genre of fantasy revels in creating a violation of the natural world. In Earth Sea their is still a presence of the natural world in the sea and in the islands, however this seeming naturalness is contrasted by the world of magic that the characters live in. The natural world in a sense is our connection the world, it gives viewers something familiar to latch onto. But as Atteberry goes onto argue our sense of the familiar is made to feel new and strange, and in the opposite the impossible is seen to be the norm. In Earthsea magic spells, dragons and demonic shadows aren't ever made to feel out of place, but their presence is felt until the very end of the story. These elements help to re-imagine the presence of this new physical and natural world. 

This leads into another one of Atteberry definitions of the fantasy genre. Their is no need to contextualize the fantasy world with our intellectual understandings of the world. Fantasy tries to make viewers discards their own sense of logic because it will not truly equate with the logic of the fantasy narrative. The fantasy narrative is not trying to give more meaning to the physical world, but a lot of the times it is trying to give adherence to real-life issues and as Atteberry explains it can help to give better comprehension to these issues. In Earth Sea one could simply look at the main character of Ged. His journey is one that is filled with danger, dragons and thrills but the more important lessons learned are the philosophical ones. He is trying to deal with being at peace with himself and the whole story is eventually leads to Ged finding peace with the shadow that had been in pursuit of him. 

One of the other defining elements of fantasy is that it needs viewers to believe 100% in what is being presented and according to Atteberry, "pay something extra''to accept convictions of fiction plus its  implausibilities as well. Again this relates to the idea of readers truly believing in the worlds that have been created. It suggest that viewers are willing to believe anything and I guess it places responsibility on writers to push the envelope. 

One of the more important aspects of the fantasy genre is that it remains consistent. This seems to grate somewhat against the notion that 'anything goes' in the realm of fantasy. But again it alludes to the fact that if you enter one realm of fantasy and magic you try and stick to it. If Earthsea suddenly started talking about UFO's and Zombies it would feel dislocated and dis-ingenue to the setting and guidelines that had already been outlined. 

But I feel the most important aspect of the fantasy genre as Atteberry states is the focus on the marvelous aspects of our world. It points to the fact that perhaps we only see what is front of us and don't question the things we don't understand. The genre of fantasy is about exploring those elements in which we feel don't offer much substance, and finding that their is deeper understanding encrypted within the fantastical.