Mythic fiction

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Mythic fiction is literature that is rooted in, inspired by, or that in some way draws from the tropes, themes, and symbolism of myth, legend, folklore, and fairy tales. [1] The term is widely credited to Charles de Lint and Terri Windling. [2] Mythic fiction overlaps with urban fantasy and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but mythic fiction also includes contemporary works in non-urban settings. Mythic fiction refers to works of contemporary literature that often cross the divide between literary and fantasy fiction. [3]

Contents

Windling promoted mythic fiction as the co-editor (with Ellen Datlow) of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror annual volumes for sixteen years, and as the editor of the Endicott Studio Journal of Mythic Arts.

Though mythic fiction can be loosely based on mythology, it frequently uses familiar mythological personages archetypes (such as tricksters, or the thunderer). This is in contrast to mythopoeia, such as the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, which invent their own legends and folklore or construct entirely new pantheons.

Notable authors

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speculative fiction</span> Genre of fiction including science fiction, horror and fantasy

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historical fantasy</span> Genre of fiction

Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthurian, Celtic, or Dark Ages could just as easily be placed in historical fantasy. Stories fitting this classification generally take place prior to the 20th century.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terri Windling</span> American writer and editor

Terri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of fantasy</span>

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Fairytale fantasy is distinguished from other subgenres of fantasy by the works' heavy use of motifs, and often plots, from folklore.

Midori Snyder is an American writer of fantasy, mythic fiction, and nonfiction on myth and folklore. She has published eight novels for children and adults, winning the Mythopoeic Award for The Innamorati. Her work has been translated into French, Dutch, Italian and Turkish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Wood Wife</span> 1996 novel by Terri Windling

The Wood Wife is a novel by American writer Terri Windling, published by Tor Books in 1996. It won the Mythopoeic Award for Novel of the Year. It is Windling's first novel; she is better known as a longtime editor of fantasy and speculative fiction. Set in the mountain outskirts of contemporary Tucson, Arizona, the novel could equally be described as magical realism, contemporary fantasy, or mythic fiction. Windling draws on myth, folklore, poetry, and the history of surrealist art to tell the story of a woman who finds her muse in a spirited desert landscape. The plot revolves around a reclusive English poet, Davis Cooper, and his lover, Mexican surrealist painter Anna Naverra—a character reminiscent of the real-life Mexican painter Remedios Varo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Forsyth</span> Australian author

Kate Forsyth is an Australian author. She is best known for her historical novel Bitter Greens, which interweaves a retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale with the true life story of the woman who first told the tale, the 17th century French writer Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early history of fantasy</span>

Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were an element of literature from its beginning, though the idea of a distinct genre, in the modern sense, is less than two centuries old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fantasy</span> Artistic genre

Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and usually inspired by mythology or folklore. The term "fantasy" can also be used to describe a "work of this genre", usually literary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban Gothic</span> Subgenre of Gothic fiction, film horror and television

Urban Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic fiction, film horror and television dealing with industrial and post-industrial urban society. It was pioneered in the mid-19th century in Britain, Ireland and the United States and developed in British novels such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), and Irish novels such as Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). In the twentieth century, urban Gothic influenced the creation of the subgenres of Southern Gothic and suburban Gothic. From the 1980s, interest in the urban Gothic revived with books like Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and a number of graphic novels that drew on dark city landscapes, leading to adaptations in film including Batman (1989), The Crow (1994) and From Hell (2001), as well as influencing films like Seven (1995).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of fantasy</span> Overview of and topical guide to fantasy

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fantasy:

References

  1. "A Mythic Fiction Reading List", The Journal of Mythic Arts
  2. Julie Bartel, The Continuum Encyclopedia of Young Adult Literature, "Mythic Fiction for Yong Adults," The Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc., 2005.
  3. Julie Bartel, The Continuum Encyclopedia of Young Adult Literature, "Mythic Fiction for Yong Adults," The Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc., 2005.
  4. Dirda, Michael. "A book-length historical fantasy about a crow? It's not as birdbrained as that sounds". Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-09-10.