How Do You Define Fantasy?

[lea_hazel]

I was thinking... How do you define fantasy? What do you think makes a novel a fantasy book, rather than science fiction, or some other genre? Aside from obvious tropes and markers (dragons + monarchy + quest to save the world), I mean. Is it the presence of magic? Is it a setting that has the semblance of human past, however flimsy? Any setting that's not contemporary or historical, and lacks obvious science fiction markers, like advanced technology, space-faring or other forms of futurism?

I'm asking because I'm curious, but also because I'm working (on and off) on a story that I'm not sure if I could define as fantasy or not. It has no magic, the mythology is no more real or cohesive than human mythologies, all the characters are human. Yet it takes place in a world that is more or less obviously not Earth, and makes no mention of Earth or of human civilization as we know it. Ostensibly, it and our world are mutually exclusive. It's also lacking in any of the traditional fantasy plots; more of a family drama than anything else.

Comments

[ilthit]

Magic is pretty much it, for me, although imaginary races will do it too. There's a Finnish novel translated as Not Before Sundown and Troll: A Love Story that had no fantasy element aside from including trolls in the world - classes as animals - which I instantly recognized as fantasy, but that might have something to do with the fact that trolls are still a fantasy trope. (Great book to read if you're Finnish, btw; not sure how well it translates.)

There are novels that have a certain artsy feel to them that I get the feeling wouldn't want to be classed as fantasy but still have a fantasy element in it. I usually class them as fantasy only after I've had a think about it. A certain style doesn't really give the author allowance to say, "it's not just a fantasy novel" as if there was something wrong with being a fantasy novel.

Not really sure how to class Alternate Universe novels... There I do think it depends on the style. If they use magic to open portals between worlds (His Dark Materials) I call it fantasy; if they use any pretension of science to do so (Star Trek) I call it scifi. If they don't travel through the worlds but it's set in a slightly different world without magic, then I'm just confused.