Microsoft Word final-current Developments at the Intersection of British Children-online-version doc

Religious/ Christian fantasy 
tells heroic stories, mostly of parallel or other secondary 
realms, against a background of religious implications. The authors interpret and transfer the 
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Sullivan in: Hunt; Ray (Eds.) International Companion Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature, p. 311.
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Ibd., p. 312. 
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Ibd., p. 311. 
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Ibd.

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Christian history of salvation onto the story being told. Christian values are conveyed on the 
basis of the heroes’ behaviour during a quest. The latter feature a hard trial for the hero, who 
has to prove himself and live by humane criterions if he wants to save his soul. Love, 
friendship and caritas are main values, but also forgiveness and a noble heart. Classic 
examples of this subgenre are The Chronicles of Narnia and partially The Lord of the Rings. 
Pure religious fantasy for children is not part of the study’s corpus, since there are not many 
popular representatives of this kind. However, there are strong philosophical allusions to 
religion, faith, authorities and values in modern fantasy novels such as His Dark Materials. 
Dark or Gothic fantasy
is a derivative of the Gothic novel, which had its heyday in 
Britain approximately between 1764 and 1820. This subgenre of fantasy is strongly 
influenced by the Gothic traditions and makes use of its main characteristics. Both share 
“props” such as medieval castles, catacombs, laboratories, cemeteries, towers, sombre 
atmosphere, evil characters and innocent victims. Death, decay, or pacts with the devil 
frequently colourise the plot. The appeal of fear and the lust for revulsion are still as topical as 
they were two hundred years ago, even if both their extent and form may have changed. 
Anyone naively assuming that Dark/ Gothic fantasy and children’s literature are mutually 
exclusive could not be more wrong. Already fairy tales, one of the earliest reading materials 
of children, evoke and play with the fears of the youngest. Violence and death are no rarity. 
The evilness of the villains is proportionate to their respective draconian punishment. Current 
representatives of Dark/ Gothic fantasy included in our corpus are Taylor’s Shadowmancer, 
Shadowmancer: The Curse of Salamander Street
, Wormwood and Tersias, McNish’s 
Doomspell
trilogy as well as the Silver sequence, Delaney’s The Wardstone Chronicles. Nix’s 
Non-British Ragwitch and his Abhorsen trilogy, a prime example of this subgenre, fall outside 
the scope of this study.
Another famous British example is Rowling’s Harry Potter series. The first signs that 
Harry Potter
is moving over to the Dark/ Gothic side of fantasy are already emerging in the 
second volume. From the fourth volume at the latest there can be no denying this fact any 
more. The intervals between deaths are diminishing and the violence becomes more and more 
graphic. Rivalry, threats and aggressive confrontation first turn into skirmishes, but soon into 
open warfare. However, the trendsetter Harry Potter cannot be classed unequivocally. Despite 
its many Gothic/ Dark elements it is a hybrid of several forms and influences.

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A further, thriving subgenre of fantasy encompasses those novels which show a more 
or less pronounced humorous touch. An appropriate term for this subgenre is Comic or