Escapist fiction
[1] Escapist fiction is often contrasted with realism, which confronts the reader with the harsh reality of war, disease, family dysfunction, crime, foreclosure, death, etc.
During the Great Depression, readers turned to escapist fiction as it provided them a mental escape from the bleakness of the economy during that period of time.
[8] The popular titles such as the Harry Potter series by written by J. K. Rowling, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, are examples of escapist fiction.
[9] These novels can provide readers with a moral compass or teach them lessons, they can be interpreted as a medium to represent and overcome an individual's personal fears, shortcomings, and, at times the need for this "escape".
A key element in escapist fiction is using techniques that encourage readers to enter into a new world whilst dually constructing a position of critical engagement.
[11] During the Great Depression in the 1930s, people began to turn to escapist fiction because it provided readers with a mental escape from the alarming rates of unemployment and the overall decline of the economy during that period of time.
[12] Most popular culture and fiction created during the period of 1929 to 1941 did not deal with or contain any explicit references to the harsh realities of the Great Depression as a topic.
This further supports this idea that in this context popular culture and fiction were largely utilised as a vehicle to escape the deprived and alienated living conditions characteristic of the period.
[5] The conceptual idea and intention of escapist literature is to erase difference and to free readers of the intricacies and responsibilities of historical specificity.
[10] Fantasy literature is escapist in nature, creating another world where the reader and protagonist escape their familiar surroundings and enter into a different and new environment.
Escapist fiction can provide readers with a rich literature that deals with universal issues of humanity, especially the matters of childhood experience and adolescence.
The fundamental purpose of escapist fiction is to comment on the real world and explore the moral, social, political and philosophical dilemmas that exist within it.
[10] Some literary critics and academics have classified escapist fiction and genres of science-fiction, thriller, mystery, romance and fantasy, as sub-literary and unworthy of being regarded as true literature.
[11] On the other hand, some literary critics hold escapist fiction in high regard, expressing it as a genre possessing a thematic depth and ideological complexity that is both appealing to readers and influential.
There is an intrinsic need for escape that is embedded within humans to maintain sanity, escapist literature allows a window for readers to view historical and instinctual lessons.
[10] As a multifaceted literary from containing several genres, escapist fiction contains thematic depth and complex ideologies that seek to persuade the reader to reconsider their views of the world.
Narration is a significant feature of escapist fiction as it is imperative for maximum engagement, as such, the displacement of readers into another world affects ideological interpellation and interpretations.
