Definition Australian Fantasy

Features

Australian Fantasy links to the colonial mind and by doing so, it improves the sense of exile felt by the first white settlers in Australia.  It is special in that sense that Australian Fantasy includes a boundary between the magical and the ordinary. Australian Fantasy is important for Australia as it provides an useful opportunity for deep conversations about Australia’s relationship to place and culture. Moreover, Australian Fantasy considers the ethical questions around ownership of stories. Also, it is significant as it includes diversity since it can create hybrid worlds without a particular location. Australian Fantasy does not borrow from Aboriginal Australia as it offers a creative and developing mirror inspired by the different worlds that reflect the numerous traditions and perspectives that exist in Australia. It exemplifies civilizational conflicts by including quests and maps with medieval fortresses and towers. It is important to mention that even though it is called ‘Australian’ Fantasy, it lacks particularly Australian markers. Australian Fantasy turns to European landscapes, history, and storytelling traditions.

Topics

Australian Fantasy has a wide range of topics it covers:

• tales of early travelers
• invasion
• ignorance
• curiosity
• encounters between women and men that almost always end sadly
• war and its consequences
• captivity
• the postwar and contemporary experience of Japanese and Australians in each other’s cultures
• loss
• medieval images and ideas
• nostalgia
• dysfunctional families
• alienation
• loneliness

• Canavan, Trudi. The Magician’s Guild.
• Chan, Kylie. White Tiger.
• Chan, Kylie. Red Phoenix.
• Collyer, Jeffrey. Dreams and Shadows.
• Harding, Traci. The Book of Dreams.
• Hearn, Lian. Across the Nightingale Floor.
• Kinsela, A. A. Lightning Tracks.
• Kristoff, Jay. Nevernight.
• Kwaymullina, Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina. Catching Teller Crow
• Weller, Archie. Land of the Golden Clouds.