Fantasy versus Reality in Literature

Abstract:

Through fantasy we are able to group, explain, alter and comment on reality. Fantasy can subtly lure readers into its comforting embrace and speak to the human desire for more than the empirical world of the familiar. With that in mind, this paper aims to critically analyse and discuss how the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred in literature. It is hoped that this systematic review will project our desires which appear in the form of fantasy onto reality. Three research questions were formulated: (1) Can magical realism be the bridge between fantasy and reality in literature? (2) What role does fantasy play in literature? (3) How does fantasy affect its audience? Search items identified 72 articles and books related to this topic. The analysis shows that there are differing views and opinions about the fantasy versus reality debate in literature. The importance of this study is to bridge the gap between fantasy and reality in literature, and in addition to provide insights to the readers on how literature is perceived differently by different people.