"Many 20th century fantasies for children explore the
journey from childhood to adulthood in metaphoric terms."
A Discussion
"Fantasy is literature for teenagers"
Brian Aldiss (quoted in Alternate Worlds in Fantasy Fiction, 2001)
In Alternate Worlds in Fantasy Fiction, Peter Hunt questions the credibility of fantasy fiction within the literary world, and suggests it is a marginalized literary form. Although opinions vary on the subject, many are of the consensus that fantasy is "formulaic, childish and escapist", without giving credit to its invaluable scope as a device to covertly reach adolescents. (Hunt: 2)
The above quote from Brian Aldiss' may well have been derogatory in intent, yet it should also be interpreted as a complement. As adolescent literature plays such an important role to young adults, an accomplished writer can incorporate constructive metaphors with which to reach out to teens by addressing the painful journey form childhood to adulthood.
Alan Garner's The Owl Service is one such low fantasy text which metaphorically depicts the difficulties of making the transition to adulthood. Garner manages to cleverly disguise this notion under the mythology of the Welsh myth of The Mabinogion. The tales of The Mabinogion are a celebration of Welsh pagan ancestry and Celtic roots, and roughly translate as `a story for children'. Garner's take on what is the fourth branch of The Mabinogion - "Math, Son of Mathonwy" - ingeniously changes the original tale of unrequited love into a metaphor for the heartache of adolescence.
In the original myth of Math, Son of Mathonwy, a woman is made for the powerful Leu out of flowers of meadowsweet and broom - creating the ill-fated Blodeuwedd:
Math ...
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...oubled yet crucial faction of our society. To them, fantasy offers not only an escape from a complicated world, but also affiliates with adolescent desires and fears at a time when so few adults have the ability to reach them. For as Appleyard notes, such texts:
...offer a child images of how to deal with these concerns, of how to be the one who acts, takes over, comes through, and deals competently with the challenges of growing up." (88)
Works Cited
Appleyard, J. A. Becoming A Reader. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1990.
Cross, Gillian. Wolf. Puffin: London, 1992.
Gantz, Jeffery. (trans.) The Mabinogion. Penguin, London.
Garner, Alan. The Owl Service. Harper Collins : London, 2002.
Hunt, P & M. Lenz. Eds. Alternate Worlds In Fantasy Fiction. Continuum: London, 2001.
Pullman, Phillip. Northern Lights. Scholastic Ltd: London, 1998.
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