Sense of Self and the Portal Motif Explored in Adolescent Fantasy Fiction

Fantasy worlds are so often associated with escapism and stories of grandeur that capture readers’ imagination in rejection to the world of reality. As with all forms of fiction, however, fantasy often serves as an allegorical means for the reader to recognize themselves in the fantastical and learn from the perils of the protagonists. One of the most common ways to weave the realistic and fantastic is through portal fantasy: the real and fantasy worlds are tied together in-world via a “portal” that transports the protagonist between the two. The portals serve a literal function for the characters as well as a rhetorical function for their journey. Given the contrast between the world they inhabit and the one they visit, both the protagonist and the reader are given the tools for self-actualization through the contradiction of fantasy and reality. Similarly to how philosophical ideals can guide action in an imperfect world, the fantastical ideals that influence protagonists in their new environment translate effectively to the concept of self brought back to the real world. Fantasy literature serves as the reader’s own portal to the fantastical worlds dreamed and imagined by the authors, taking back to reality new pieces and ideas of their own self. By looking at adolescent media like Alice in Wonderland, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Coraline, we can see these ideas in play. 

Artyushenko, Anna. “Portal Fantasies: The Quest for Identity.” By Arcadia, 2022, https://www.byarcadia.org/post/portal-fantasies-a-quest-for-one-s-identity. Accessed 5 November 2024.

Artyushenko explores the similarities between the traditional Hero’s Quest and the genre of Portal Fiction as a means for personal development for the characters. Referencing Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Artyushenko explores how Alice’s concept of self is tested when immersed into the nonsensical and absurd world of Wonderland. Similarly, she continues with C. S. Lewis’ series The Chronicles of Narnia, showing how the characters journey in Narnia allows them the personal growth that they were not finding in the world of reality. Artyushenko views escapism as a means for exploration of unrealized aspects of personal growth and development rather than rejecting the world of reality.

Baker, Daniel. “Within the Door: Portal-Quest Fantasy in Gaiman and Miéville.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 27, no. 3, 2016, pp. 470-493. JSTOR.

Baker explores the Portal itself as a rhetorical device and how the tie between worlds anchors the fantastical events in reality, for the protagonist as well as the reader. He argues that in Portal Fantasy, the reader and protagonist are intrinsically tied: the protagonist is as unfamiliar with this new world and new rules as the reader is–with reality being the shared commonality between them. So, too, does the real world become a rhetorical device which serves as the reader’s anchor from the text as well as the protagonist’s point of symbolic relevance.

Carter, Leighton. “"Which Way? Which Way?": The Fantastical Inversions of Alice in Wonderland.” The Victorian Web, 2002, https://www.victorianweb.org/authors/carroll/carter.html. Accessed 5 November 2024.

Carter expresses the tie between the fantastical and real through analyzing how Lewis Carroll inverses concepts common to the world of reality and spins them in a whimsical way. This inversion serves a two-fold purpose: the familiarization of the nonsensical features of Wonderland through recognizable facets of the real world and the subversion of the fixtures of reality that Alice feels that she can trust. Carter cites examples of these inversions of logic and details the changes in Alice’s thinking alongside them. 

Gold, Greyson. “The Wisdom of Wizards: The Cognitive Value of Fantasy Literature.” Stance, vol. 15, no. Spring, 2022, pp. 21-31.

Greyson argues that fantasy fiction and the “portal quest” motif work in tandem to aid the reader in tackling ideas or conflicts that may be too complex to rationalize in reality. The ideas and conclusions that both reader and protagonist come to by the end of said journey are philosophically the same; differing in context, relating the same idea or conflict. This transmitting of theme to reader through the protagonist is the guiding reasoning for not only fantasy fiction, but literature as a whole.

Jacobs, Alan. “Fantasy and the Buffered Self.” The New Atlantis, vol. 1, no. 41, 2014, pp. 3-18. JSTOR.

Jacobs argues in this article that fantasy fiction works as a means for people to explore certain themes and ideas that may be unpredictable in real life in a closed environment. We as humans have a “buffered self”--meaning that we unconsciously put buffers up to protect ourselves– and that reading fantasy fiction allows us to work through those buffers vicariously through storytelling. In stories like the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Coraline this is reinforced through the portal fantasy; readers can identify with the characters' plights and work through them as if they are the characters themselves. In doing so, the use of both the portal motif and fantasy fiction as a whole works to aid in finding and actualizing the self. 

Rudd, David. (2008). An Eye for an I: Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and Questions of Identity. English, Film and Media and Creative Writing: Journal Articles. 39. 10.1007/s10583-008-9067-7. 

Rudd discusses how in Coraline specifically, the use of the portal works as a means to show the novel’s titular character her ultimate hopes and dreams–at the price of her eyes and soul. Coraline as a character feels neglected by her parents, and in being transported to the Other World she sees everything her life could be; Coraline is lonely, she doesn’t know who she is, and in the Other World everything seems perfect. However, the knowledge she gains in the other world is actually what aids her growth in the real one; darker fantasy fiction like this, when written for adolescents, heightens the stakes in order to aid the reader in times they may find themselves in high stakes or serious situations. In Coraline specifically, the portal works as a means to aid its protagonist in her own personal growth. 

Ryken, Leland. “Reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with C. S. Lewis.” Reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with C. S. Lewis | In Pursuit of Truth | A Journal of Christian Scholarship, 2007, https://www.cslewis.org/journal/reading-the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe-with-c-s-lewis/2/. Accessed 5 November 2024.

Ryken discusses the aspects of worldbuilding as an author in this article, particularly with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. With the wardrobe working as a portal to Narnia, it works dually to absorb the reader into its story fully. With fantasy fiction, the reader must get fully engrossed in the story, “to be transported is the goal” (Ryken); while Ryken does mention using C.S. Lewis’ novel and fantasy fiction as a method of escapism, he does so to discuss how world building in fantasy fiction should be all-engrossing to get the reader more involved in the tale. For Ryken the identity of the reader and the identity of the protagonist is almost one; when we read fantasy fiction we as readers become the story. 

Shires, Linda M. “Fantasy, Nonsense, Parody, and the Status of the Real: The Example of Carroll.” Victorian Poetry, vol. 26, no. 3, 1988, pp. 267-283. JSTOR.

Shires argues in her piece that in Alice in Wonderland specifically, the modes of fantasy, nonsense, and parody work together to give the story meaning. When Alice goes through the rabbit hole and enters Wonderland, the portal breaks down her sense of identity and knowledge; by doing so, the portal element of the story literally puts Alice through a transformative period of growth. For adolescents, the portal motif can be likened to the changes in puberty when growing from child to adult. 

Tatar, Maria. “Why Fairy Tales Matter: The Performative and the Transformative.” Western Folklore, vol. 69, no. 1, 2010, pp. 55-64.

Tatar argues that in fantasy, and fairytales specifically, the stories themselves work as portals to the reader; further, fantasy fiction as a genre works as the perfect medium for stories and messages about transformation. The genre itself, with its fantastical worlds that know no bounds, allows its readers the ability to work through their own conflicts and learn the ways to verbalize their feelings.

Thomas, Melissa. “Teaching Fantasy: Overcoming the Stigma of Fluff.” The English Journal, vol. 92, no. 5, 2003, pp. 60-64. JSTOR.

In this article, Thomas discusses the validity of fantasy fiction as a medium, along with this, Thomas discusses how fantasy as a genre has evolved as a metaphor for the human experience. Further, Thomas discusses how fantasy fiction as a genre is especially vital to adolescents and students due to that being a time of uncertainty in identity; fantasy helps us as people work through our own problems through fantastical situations –and sometimes nonsensical– worlds and scenarios.