steepholm: (Default)
steepholm ([personal profile] steepholm) wrote2014-04-20 02:09 pm
Entry tags:

High and Low Fantasy

I put this query out on Facebook but may as well repeat it here, since the answer hasn't come zinging back in unambiguous terms as yet...

Who coined the terms "high fantasy" and "low fantasy" - both the concepts and the actual phrases? I feel this is something I ought to know just like that, since they have historically had quite wide currency, even though (for several reasons) I dislike and avoid them myself.
thistleingrey: (Default)

[personal profile] thistleingrey 2014-04-20 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I would've thought you would know offhand, too! It seems that Lin Carter or Edward James may've had something to do with it; anent Carter, does "high fantasy" appear before 1960s/'70s reception of Tolkien?
thistleingrey: (Default)

[personal profile] thistleingrey 2014-04-20 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you--that's useful. It makes sense to me that "low fantasy" came separately....