High and Low Fantasy

[steepholm]

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.

Comments

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I'm away from my books atm and so can't check, but I don't remember her discussing it. If she did I imagine it would have been as part of clearing the ground for her own taxonomy, which is set up quite differently of course.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

If I can find my copy of Rhetorics of Fantasy I'll see whether "high/low" is mentioned. It might have been briefly discussed in the introduction and of course it's a reputable source.