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It should come as no surprise to some that I am doing a third part in this series. I’m no stranger to it.
Being as passionate as I am about high fantasy, choosing to devote myself to pursuing a career out of writing within said genre, my convictions about its nuanced idiosyncrasies, and their consequential depth, should also not surprise some either.
Thus, this week I’m back to discuss more of why I think we need to reconsider how we define high fantasy as a genre within literature by focusing on one of those nuances which is the archetype intrinsic to all literature, if not apotheosized within fantasy—the hero’s journey.
In the continued conversations with my aforementioned friend from part one, she brought up the hero’s journey as a criterion of why she has always considered her manuscript as an epic fantasy, but within the context of our conversation, contemplated the reverse, that perhaps it was not. This comment only provoked more musings for me as it is definitely something which in my own observations has made my personal classifications of epic fantasy more difficult to define.
Of course, my classifications are mere opinions; those of a novice. They are meaningless beyond the worth I ascribe to them. However, to reiterate a point from my first entry: my frustrations with how we define both high and epic fantasy are ones I share with my friend. There could even be others amongst us. All the more reason to continue exploring the influences of how we define high fantasy.
To me, the hero’s journey cannot be limited to only fantasy. It is an archetype which transcends genre, integral to any plot.
For those unfamiliar with this term, the hero’s journey, it was originally developed to promote the works of the mythologist Joseph Campbell, who in turn popularized the study of mythologies and their shared patterns, i.e. comparative mythology. Though there were other anthropologists and even psychologists who studied the similarities within myths before him, it was Campbell’s analyses which formulated the idea that all hero’s undergo a journey, usually one of transformation, on their quest, such as to destroy a magical ring or defeat the Sith.
More accurately known as monomyth, the hero’s journey is defined, in Campbell’s own words, as:
The standard path of the mythological adventure of the hero…a magnification of the formula represented in the rites of passage: separation—initiation—return: which might be named the nuclear unit of the monomyth. A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder (x): fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won (y): the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man (z).
Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, p. 23
Now knowing the definition ascribed to this perhaps once esoteric hero’s journey, we might now begin to see the threads of similarity weaving through not only classic myth and folklore, but all of literature itself. These shared traits, these interwoven threads, connect all stories and are inherent to the discipline of storytelling.
Of course, there are those storytellers who will seek to expand the boundaries, the limits, of this formula, to experiment, but therein lies the thrill of the challenge we share as artists: to redefine that which has come before us, to breathe into it new life. However, even the quest to bend these supposed “rules” only supports their existence further, for we would not seek to change or remove them entirely if not for their already accepted existence, whether conscious or not.
Even Campbell himself states,
The symbols of mythology are not manufactured; they cannot be ordered, invented, or permanently suppressed. They are spontaneous productions of the psyche, and each bears within it, undamaged, the germ of power of its source.
Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, p. 1-2
(If you want to learn more about the hero’s journey and the archetypes found within literature, I highly recommend both the filmed interview of Joseph Campbell as well as the docuseries Myths & Monsters.)
Though the hero’s journey originated within mythology, as Campbell suggests, the mythologies of our past were the contemporary stories of our ancestors. They were their lifeblood, their source of inspiration and wonder. Without these stories, these myths, we would not have literature as we understand it today.
To break it down further, we learn in elementary school the basics of a story, of plot, are the exposition, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. The exposition introduces the characters and the central conflict, which deepens within the rising action, until it culminates within the climax, resolving through the falling action until the final catastrophe or revelation.
While this isn’t a true replica, a carbon copy, of the hero’s journey, both are the result of basic cause-and-effect, the hero’s journey following the events of a story’s plot. Furthermore, the hero’s journey is about only the protagonist, or the hero, not all the characters within a story; e.g. Tony Stark versus the Avengers.
Thus, as all story’s require a plot, all hero’s require a journey of transformation.
This is why Jane Eyre’s transformation from neglected orphan to strong-headed governess to generous heiress is the same journey as Luke Skywalker’s to defeat the Empire and destroy the Sith by training to be a Jedi. (Did you also know that George Lucas credited Campbell’s work as a strong influence for his Star Wars mythology?)
To say a story follows a traditional hero’s journey and is thusly an epic fantasy presents the same problems as saying a story set within a secondary world with magical elements must automatically be an epic fantasy.
We cannot equate the hero’s journey with epic fantasy. If both were synonymous, then Oliver Twist is as much a fantasy hero as Harry Potter.
Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?
Let me point out the fallacy in my own argument by using the experimental definition of an epic fantasy I generated in the original post of this series.
A work of art, such as a novel, resembling a exceptionally long and arduous poem, typically derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation, written in an elevated style about a series of events within an imaginative, fictional world featuring magical elements.
The Case to Redefine High Fantasy: What is Epic?
It blatantly states one of the major elements of the origins of an epic is the narration of the adventures of heroic figures. This alone could be enough reason to state that any story featuring a hero’s journey is automatically an epic fantasy; though, again, does this story also include magical elements?
Although, again, an epic could exist within any other genre; thus, perhaps then the argument isn’t against the equation of the hero’s journey with fantasy, but rather epic fantasy?
Are epics therefore synonymous with a featured hero’s journey?
Whether yes or no, I am aware of the holes within my assertions. Be that as it may, to these convictions I still hold for it is the universality of myth which informs most of my perspectives.
There will be some who disagree with me regarding my interpretation of the universalism of the hero’s journey within all genres of literature. They are as entitled to their opinion as am I. However, as I stated before, the hero’s journey is, to me, apotheosized within fantasy literature as we have explored in the preceding posts within this series. Meaning, though I think high fantasy encapsulates the hero’s journey best, elements of it can be found in Dostoevsky and Dickens and King as much as Homer and Virgil and Tolkien.
Just as we have allowed the successful franchises of Hollywood to inform our definitions of what an epic is, most likely we have accepted the mythical origins of a hero’s journey and thus attributed its formula to only fantasy works, disregarding mythology’s influence on storytelling as a whole.
As I have advocated before, we must begin to reconsider our definitions of both high and epic fantasy, especially when it comes to our conflation of either with the hero’s journey. It is not fair for authors seeking representation, regardless of genre, to so severely limit their capabilities based on inaccurate descriptions.
Without accuracy, we are restricting ourselves, and those who would follow us, from doing what we love: sharing stories.
What do you think about stories which feature a hero’s journey? Do you think they can be found outside fantasy? What are some of your favourite examples? Let me know in the comments below!
Losing My Punctuality
There is Still Hope
What’s on my Shelf: In the Labyrinth of Drakes
WOMS: Star of the Morning
