high fantasy

English

Noun

high fantasy (countable and uncountable, plural high fantasies)

1. (uncountable) A subgenre of fantasy fiction set in a secondary world or fantasy world as opposed to the primary world or real world.
   • 2008, Nikki Gamble, Sally Yates, “Fantasy and Realism”, in Exploring Children's Literature, →ISBN, page 120:

     Fantasy fiction has been categorized and described in different ways. One classification divides fantasy into two major types:¶ low fantasy, which takes place in the primary world (our world);¶ high fantasy, which takes place in alternative worlds.

   • 2009, Brian Stableford, “HIGH FANTASY”, in The A to Z of Fantasy Literature, →ISBN, page 198:

     A term used by Lloyd Alexander in a 1971 essay on “High Fantasy and Heroic Romance" and subsequently developed by Kenneth J. Zahorski and Robert H. Boyer in an attempt to develop a terminology with which to deal with genre materials. In Zahorski and Boyer's taxonomy, high fantasy consists entirely of fiction set in second worlds, while the low fantasy with which it is immediately contrasted consists of fiction set in the primary world, into which magical objects and entities are introduced piecemeal (ie. intrusive fantasy).

   • 2015 May 20, Natasha Pulley, “Fantasy cannot build its imaginary worlds in short fiction”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     High fantasy of the George RR Martin kind hinges on world-building. When there really is a whole world to build, and not just a historical period or a particular country, world-building does not take a few paragraphs in a short story; it takes chapters.

2. (uncountable) A subgenre of fantasy fiction that focuses on universal events, instead of just those directly associated with the main characters.
   • 1997, Barbara Stoodt, “Make-Believe”, in Children's Literature, →ISBN, page 195:

     High fantasy is a complex, philosophical form of literature that focuses on themes such as the conflict between good and evil.

3. (countable) A work in this subgenre.

Antonyms

• low fantasy

Adjective

high fantasy (comparative more high fantasy, superlative most high fantasy)

1. (psychology) Having a rich fantasy life; including having imaginary companions and playing pretend games.
   • 2004 June, Tanya Sharon, Jacqueline D. Woolley, “Do monsters dream? Young children’s understanding of the fantasy/reality distinction”, in British Journal of Developmental Psychology‎^[2], volume 22, number 2, archived from the original on 6 March 2015, page 295:

     Some children are much more inclined than others to engage in fantastical pursuits, such as pretending or having an imaginary companion (Taylor, 1999). Such a high fantasy orientation (FO) could have great potential relevance to children’s beliefs in fantastical figures.

   • 2014, Candida Clifford Peterson, “Preschoolers”, in Looking Forward Through the Lifespan‎^[3], →ISBN, page 237:

     Jerome Singer (1973) divided a group of children aged six to nine years into high-fantasy and low-fantasy groups on the basis of their frequency of playing pretend games as contrasted with other kinds of play

Further reading

• high fantasy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia