Definition of Fantastic Tale

At the request of theLiterature, a story is a narrative that presents a series of fictional or fantastic facts, which is characterized by its brevity, simplicity plot, and whose mission is generally to entertain, or teach didactically some issues, especially to children, which, by perceiving the structure of the story, will be more comfortably learning in question.

Subgenre of the story in which the fantasy that is mixed with part of reality prevails

For his part, fantastic tale is a subgenre of the story and its salient detail is the presentation of an unreal and fantasy dimension in the course of the narrated events, however, this does not imply the disappearance of reality, there is a combination of real and fantastic.

It respects the aforementioned conditions of the story, that is, it proposes to us the story, the narration of daily events, although, at a certain moment in the story an event will happen fantastic, that escapes the understanding of reality and that will turn the aforementioned tale into a story fantastic.

Proposals of this type are usually presented by their authors from a realistic angle, that is, the elements and characters are absolutely credible and real to the reader, but they coexist with strange events that escape the normal.

The usual thing is to present characters that for the reader are appreciated and conceived as common and ordinary, with whom he can even identify physically, however, the Circumstances in which they are involved escape rational explanation and are mere fantasies that in no way could occur in the reality of an ordinary person, that is, of the own reader.

However, and despite this unreality that arises at a certain moment, the effect of reality is still present, marked usually because of the context, which in any case makes the reader find a logic to what he is discovering.

Generally, what will mark the fantasy of the story consists of a fact that cannot be explained by science, by reason, and then it becomes something extremely mysterious and never experienced.

Also, and inevitably hand in hand with this fact of not being able to explain a question naturally, it is that confusion and confusion will appear. uncertainty in the reader.

Main features

There are a series of conditions that this type of narration meets that distinguishes it from the rest and allows it to be identified as such, such as: the framework in which the story occurs is true, credible and implausible events and elements are combined, such is the case of the appearance in scene of a genie contained in a lamp that proposes to the protagonist of the story that he ask for three wishes that will be immediately granted; Immediately afterwards, the protagonist asks for them, and he is granted to go from one moment to another from poverty to riches.

And the ambiguity it is also a condition that he says is present in the fantastic tale since it will admit a plurality of interpretations.

Fantasy themes can present various oddities such as: characters that have a double self, or another self, with which they interact.

Alterations of time and space, one of the most common cases and one that is normally used to apply this fantastic tool is the trip to the past, or going through a parallel reality on the part of the protagonist or some character, a journey that leads him to know his past history, or to understand some events that led him to be in the situation that he is in the present, or failing that, in the trip to the future to be able to anticipate what will happen to him, and in case it is something unpleasant, the resource is usually used to modify that future or destiny so that the character can be happy, for example.

On the other hand, they are also used resources like the mix between dream and reality, the appearance of supernatural characters, such as ghosts, aliens, mutants, among the most common to see.

Obviously all this mixed information will generate in the reader passion and also some concern.

One of the most emblematic and well-known examples of literature of this type throughout the world is The Thousand and One Nights, a compilation of fantastic tales from the East, which was compiled in the Middle Ages, and originally published in the Arab.

Structure

And regarding the component parts of this type of story are told: initial event (part that consists of the presentation of characters that are located in space and time), knot (moment in which the imbalance with respect to the history of the beginning appears and a transformation takes place in terms of it) and outcome (characterized by not solving the conflict but even more, it generates another that increases the doubt of everything related).

They usually appeal to an open ending.

Themes in Fantastic Tale