Fantasy and realism: Tolkien, the eucatastrophe, and fantastic realism

Realist fiction, since the rise of Victorian realism, has been privileged by both scholarly and popular circles, while the "pop-culture" genre of fantasy has fallen into disrepute as escapist, formulaic, and mass-manufactured. However, realism and fantasy are not necessarily antagonistic genres, as both contain mimetic impulses and subsequently approach reality, though through different paths. Using the theories of Goethe ("Truth and Probabilities in Works of Art") and Tolkien ("On Fairy-Stories") and arguing that reality may be approached through a coherent and seemingly independent secondary world, I contend that fantasy, through what I call fantastic realism, represents reality. To support my argument, I look at the realist aspects of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, focusing on the following areas: verisimilitude through detail and character, free will and determinism, and most importantly, endings. The depth and coherence of Middle-earth is similar to the verisimilitude of realist novels, and the characters are similarly three-dimensional and believable; however, characters in fantasy are shaped more by free will than the pessimist determinism of realism, and fantastic realism, unlike traditional realism, which tends to focus on the more difficult and dire aspects of life, is characterized by what Tolkien calls the eucatastrophe, the ending marked by joy. Fantasy, because of its disconnection to consensus reality, is able to present joy as realistic and believable. To reinforce my argument, I briefly examine two post-Tolkien works of fantasy, Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Ultimately, the genre of fantasy is worthwhile and meaningful because of the refreshing and profound way it approaches reality.