What is fantasy?
Fantasy is a genre of imaginative, fictional literature, often involving magic or made-up settings.
Fantasy
Last Updated on October 14, 2022, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 85
Fantasy is a genre of imaginative, fictional literature, often involving magic or made-up settings. Fantasy differs from other genres of literature in that its stories include elements that place them outside the realm of possibility or reality.
Writing an essay?
Get a custom outline
Our Essay Lab can help you tackle any essay assignment within seconds, whether you’re studying Macbeth or the American Revolution. Try it today!
Fantasy stems from the Greek word phantasia, meaning “imagination, appearance,” from phantazein (“to make visible”), which in turn comes from phaos (“light”).
See eNotes Ad-Free
Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.
Already a member? Log in here.
Famous works of fantasy include Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series and C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia series.
see: fable, science fiction
See eNotes Ad-Free
Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.
Already a member? Log in here.