Acclaiming the Future: A Critical Analysis of the Contemporary Value of High Fantasy Literature

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the development of the contemporary high fantasy genre, arguing that by innovating, reshaping and experimenting with its perceivably fixed boundaries, high fantasy warrants an acceptance into literature and literary criticism. This argument groups around three aspects; how our contemporary reality shapes the novel's reality building, reality's influence on the specific use of certain motifs (especially the protagonist-antagonist relationship), and how reality can be seen to play a part in the sustainability of the novel both in the text and through the paratext.