Editing Contemporary fantasy

{{Short description|Subgenre of fantasy}}
{{Fantasy}}
'''Contemporary fantasy''' is a [[genre|subgenre]] of [[fantasy]] set in the present day. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenres, [[occult detective fiction]], [[urban fantasy]], [[low fantasy]], [[supernatural fiction]] and [[paranormal fiction]]. Several authors note that in contemporary fantasy, magical or fantastic elements are separate or secret from the mundane world.

==Definition and overview==
The term is used to describe stories set in the putative real world (often referred to as ''[[consensus reality]]'') in contemporary times, in which magic and magical creatures exist but are not commonly seen or understood as such, either living in the interstices of our world or leaking over from [[Parallel universe (fiction)|alternate world]]s.

Frances Sinclair, determining what to call fantasy set in our known world, contrasts contemporary fantasy with [[magical realism]]. She notes that in contemporary fantasy magical elements are often kept secret from most people, and notes the amount of young adult fantasy in the subgenre. In contrast, Sinclair points out that in magical realism "the impossible can occur without comment", and the relationship between reader and narrator may be stronger.<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Sinclair
	| first =  Frances  
	| date = 2008
	| title = Fantasy Fiction
	| publisher = [[School Library Association]]
	| page = 34
    | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=DX2O_0df_REC
    | access-date = 2023-08-09
	| isbn = 9781903446461
}}</ref>

[[Brian Stableford]] attempts to narrowly define the genre, excluding [[portal fantasy]] and fantasy "in which the magical entity is a blatant anomaly".<ref name=Stableford>{{cite book
	| last = Stableford
	| first = Brian 
    | author-link = Brian Stableford
	| date = 2009
	| title = The A to Z of Fantasy Literature
	| publisher = [[Scarecrow Press]]
	| page = 86
    | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7JKw5FYA4GgC&dq=%22contemporary+fantasy%22&pg=PA86
    | access-date= 2023-08-09
	| isbn = 9780810863453
}}</ref> He arrives at a definition of fantasy set in the mundane world, often including an "elaborate secret history". He notes that much contemporary fantasy is set in rural settings, but also notes the subgenre of [[urban fantasy]], and that both children's fiction and literary fiction often fall within this genre.<ref name=Stableford/>

The ''[[Encyclopedia of Fantasy]]'' similarly suggests that the mundane and fantastic are contrasted within the genre. The ''Encyclopedia''{{'}}s definition includes "portal fantasy in which transition between the two realms occurs regularly", as well as several other subgenres; it cites [[Peter S. Beagle]]'s ''Lila the Werewolf'' as a classic of the type. It also notes that in many contemporary fantasies, the fantastic "colonizes" the mundane home.<ref name=CluteGrant>{{cite book
	| last1 = Clute
	| first1 = John
	| last2 = Kaveney
	| first2 = Roz
	| editor-last = Clute
	| editor-first = John
	| editor-last2 = Grant
	| editor-first2 = John
	| date = 1997
	| title = The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
	| publisher = [[Orbit Books]]
	| url = https://sf-encyclopedia.com/fe/contemporary_fantasy
	| access-date = 2023-08-09
	| isbn = 978-1-85723-368-1
	}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Greg Bechtel agrees with the ''Encyclopedia'', saying the sub-genre "explicitly depicts the collision of the contemporary world with a world of magic and spirits".<ref name=Bechtel>{{cite journal
	| last1 =  Bechtel 
	| first1 = Greg
	| date = 2007
	| title = The Word for World Is Story: Syncretic Fantasy as Healing Ritual in Thomas King's Green Grass, Running Water
	| journal = [[Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts]]
	| volume = 18
	| issue = 3
	| pages = 204–223, 285
}}</ref> He notes the distinction between this genre and magical realism, crediting Greer Watson,<ref>{{cite journal
	| last1 = Watson
	| first1 = Greer
	| date = 2000
	| title = Assumptions of Reality: Low Fantasy, Magical Realism, and the Fantastic
    | url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/43308437
	| journal = [[Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts]]
	| volume = 11
	| issue = 2
	| pages = 165–172
	| jstor = 43308437
	| access-date = 2023-08-11
}}</ref> but says that there can be overlap.<ref name=Bechtel/>

Grzegorz Trebicki describes "contemporary" fantasy works "set in our 'primary' world, in which the textual reality has been enriched by various fantastical elements, usually borrowed from particular mythologies or folk traditions".<ref name=Trebicki>{{cite journal
	| last1 = Trebicki
	| first1 = Grzegorz
	| date = 2014
	| title = Subverting Mythopoeic Fantasy: Miyuki Miyabe's the Book of Heroes
	| url = https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol32/iss2/5/
	| journal = [[Mythlore]]
	| volume = 32
	| issue = 124
	| pages = 49–63
	| access-date = 2023-08-09
}}</ref> He says that such works are usually driven by genre conventions other than mythical archetypes.

The term has also been equated with "Paranormal Fantasy", due to the frequency of "paranormal characters ([[werewolves]], [[vampire]]s, [[Wizard (fantasy)|wizards]], [[fairies]], etc.)"<ref name=Burcher>{{cite journal
	| last1 = Burcher
	| first1 = Charlotte
	| last2 = Hollands
	| first2 = Neil
	| last3 = Smith
	| first3 = Andrew
	| last4 = Trott
	| first4 = Barry
	| last5 = Zellers
	| first5 = Jessica
	| date = Spring 2009
	| title = Core Collections in Genre Studies: Fantasy Fiction 101
	| jstor = 20865077
	| journal = Reference & User Services Quarterly 
	| volume = 48
	| issue = 3
	| pages = 226–231
}}</ref>

=== A broad definition ===

[[Camille Bacon-Smith]] uses the term to describe fantasy stories set in the time they were written, and provides [[H.P. Lovecraft]] and [[Fritz Leiber]]'s novel ''[[Conjure Wife]]'' as examples. She states that "contemporary fantasy belongs to the Gothic tradition of Bram Stoker's ''[[Dracula]]'' and Poe's '[[The Fall of the House of Usher]]'", noting also that "contemporary fantasy has been a part of the genre since its beginning".<ref name=Bacon-Smith>{{cite book
	| last = Bacon-Smith 
	| first = Camille 
    | author-link = Camille Bacon-Smith
	| date = 2000
	| title = Science Fiction Culture
	| publisher = [[University of Pennsylvania Press]]
	| page = 250
	| isbn = 9780812215304
}}</ref> She notes that the genre was less popular by the 1960s, considering it supplanted by [[New Wave science fiction|New Wave]] and [[Celtic Twilight]] books. Bacon-Smith credits [[Terri Windling]]'s 1986 introduction of [[Borderland (book series)|Borderland]] as a key event in improving interest in the genre, also noting the earlier influence of [[Anne Rice]]'s ''[[Interview With The Vampire]]'' which she says has a "contemporary background".<ref name=Bacon-Smith/>

== Style ==
In his preface to ''[[That Hideous Strength]]'', one of the earlier works falling within this subgenre, [[C. S. Lewis]] explained why, when writing a tale about "magicians, devils, pantomime animals and planetary angels", he chose to start it with a detailed depiction of narrow-minded academic politics at a provincial English university and the schemes of crooked real estate developers:

{{Blockquote
|text=I am following the traditional fairy-tale. We do not always notice its method, because the cottages, castles, woodcutters and petty kings with which a fairy tale opens have become for us as remote as the witches and ogres to which it proceeds. But they were not remote at all to the men who first made and enjoyed the tales.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=C.S.|title=That Hideous Strength|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IbVTcgOyCRoC&q=I+am+following+the+traditional+fairy-tale.+We+do+not+always+notice+its+method,+because+the+cottages,+castles,+woodcutters+and+petty+kings+with+which+a+fairy+tale+opens+have+become+for+us+as+remote+as+the+witches+and+ogres+to+which+it+proceeds.+But+they+were+not+remote+at+all+to+the+men+who+first+made+and+enjoyed+the+tales&pg=PA7|date=October 1996|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9780684833675|access-date=15 October 2017}}</ref>
}}

The same is true for many later works in the genre, which often begin with a seemingly normal scene of modern daily life to then disclose supernatural and magical beings and events hidden behind the scenes.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

In an analysis of religion in modern fantasy, Sylvia Kelso notes a "market shift" from [[high fantasy]] toward contemporary fantasy, also explaining that "paranormal" subgenres have branched from contemporary fantasy, especially ones centered on vampires and werewolves. Kelso notes that contemporary fantasy is more willing to draw on religious themes than high fantasy. This has been influenced by its openness to vampires and other traditionally evil supernatural beings, which encourages writers to use Christianity to create villains such as demons. However, other books and series draw on other religions and traditions.<ref name=Kelso>{{cite journal
	| last1 = Kelso
	| first1 = Sylvia
	| date = 2007
	| title = The God in the Pentagram: Religion and Spirituality in Modern Fantasy
	| journal = [[Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts]]
	| volume = 18
	| issue = 1
	| pages = 76–77
    | jstor = 24351027
}}</ref>

==Relationship with other subgenres==
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2023}} 
Novels in which modern characters travel into other worlds, and all the magical action takes place there (except for the portal required to transport them), are not considered contemporary fantasy. Also, contemporary fantasy is generally distinguished from [[horror fiction]] that mixes contemporary settings and fantastic elements by the overall tone, emphasizing joy or wonder rather than fear or dread.

The contemporary fantasy and [[low fantasy]] genres can overlap as both are set in the real world. There are differences, however.  Low fantasies are set in the real world but not necessarily in the modern age, in which case they would not be contemporary fantasy.

There is a considerable overlap between contemporary fantasy and  [[urban fantasy]].<ref name=CluteGrant/>

== Examples ==
Examples are grouped by author, ordered by initial publication year in the genre.

* The occult thrillers of [[Charles Williams (UK writer)|Charles Williams]], 1930–1945<ref name=CluteGrant/>
* ''[[That Hideous Strength]]'' by [[C. S. Lewis]], 1945
* ''Lila the Werewolf'' by [[Peter S. Beagle]], 1969<ref name=CluteGrant/>
* The novels of [[Tom Robbins]], 1971–2009<ref name=Stableford/>
* ''[[Little, Big]]'' by [[John Crowley (author)|John Crowley]], 1981<ref name=Stableford/>
* ''Living in Ether'' by [[Patricia Geary]], 1982<ref name=Stableford/>
* ''[[Moonheart]]'', 1984, and ''[[The Onion Girl]]'', 2001, and the rest of the Newford series by [[Charles de Lint]], 1990–2009<ref name="EndicottList"/>
* ''[[Talking Man]]'' by [[Terry Bisson]], 1986<ref name=Stableford/>
* ''[[War for the Oaks]]'' by [[Emma Bull]], 1987<ref name=CluteGrant/>
* The short fiction of [[Lucius Shepard]]<ref name=CluteGrant/>
* ''[[Neverwhere (novel)|Neverwhere]]'', 1996, and the graphic novels of [[Neil Gaiman]]<ref name="EndicottList">{{cite web |title=A Contemporary Fantasy Reading List |url=http://www.endicott-studio.com/lists/index.html |website=The Endicott Studio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041021034006/http://www.endicott-studio.com/lists/index.html |access-date=11 August 2023|archive-date=2004-10-21 }}</ref><ref name=CluteGrant/>
* ''The Hex Witch of Seldom'' by [[Nancy Springer]], 1988<ref>{{cite news
  | last         = Straub
  | first        = Matt
  | date         = Feb 19, 1989
  | title        = 77 books later, Nancy Springer is writing 'like a dream'
  | url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=yrclAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22contemporary+fantasy%22&pg=PA5&article_id=6704,1191300
  | work         = [[The Gettysburg Times]] 
  | page         = 8A
  | access-date  = 2023-08-11
}}</ref>
* ''Dangerous Angels'' by [[Francesca Lia Block]], 1989<ref name="EndicottList"/>
* ''The Thread That Binds the Bones'' by [[Nina Kiriki Hoffman]], 1993<ref name=Stableford/>
* ''[[Waking the Moon]]'' by [[Elizabeth Hand]], 1994<ref name=CluteGrant/>
* ''[[The Wood Wife]]'' by [[Terri Windling]], 1996<ref name="EndicottList"/>
* ''The Seventh Heart'' by [[Marina Fitch]], 1997<ref name=Stableford/>
* The ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series by [[J.K. Rowling]], 1997–2007<ref name=Stableford/>
* ''[[King Rat (1998 novel)|King Rat]]'' by [[China Miéville]], 1998<ref name="EndicottList"/>
* ''Dark Cities Underground'' by [[Lisa Goldstein]], 1999<ref name="EndicottList"/>
* ''The Dragons of the Cuyahoga'' by [[S. Andrew Swann]], 2001<ref name=Stableford/>
* ''[[Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale]]'' by [[Holly Black]], 2002<ref name="EndicottList"/>
* ''[[Summerland (novel)|Summerland]]'' by [[Michael Chabon]], 2002<ref name=Stableford/>
* ''The Summer Country'' by [[James A. Hetley]], 2002<ref name=Stableford/>
* ''Hannah's Garden'' by [[Midori Snyder]], 2004<ref name="EndicottList"/>
* ''[[The Magicians (Grossman novel)|The Magicians]]'' and its sequels by [[Lev Grossman]], 2009–2014<ref>{{cite journal
	| last1 = Kramer
	| first1 = Kelly
	| date = 2017
	| title = A Common Language of Desire: The Magicians, Narnia, and Contemporary Fantasy
	| url = https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol35/iss2/10/
	| journal = [[Mythlore]]
	| volume = 35
	| issue = 130
	| pages = 153–169
	| access-date = 2023-08-09
}}</ref>
* ''The Book of Heroes'' by [[Miyuki Miyabe]], 2009<ref name=Trebicki/>

==See also==
* [[List of genres]]
* [[Supernatural fiction]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* Martin Horstkotte, ''The postmodern fantastic in contemporary British fiction''. WVT, Trier 2004, {{ISBN|3-88476-679-1}}
* Lance Olsen, ''Ellipse of uncertainty : an introduction to postmodern fantasy''. Greenwood Press, Westport 1987, {{ISBN|0-313-25511-3}}

== External links ==
* {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20041021034006/http://www.endicott-studio.com/lists/index.html An Archived version of The Endicott Studio's Recommended Reading Lists]}}

{{Fantasy fiction}}
{{Film genres}}

[[Category:Contemporary fantasy| ]]
[[Category:Fantasy genres]]