Fantastic genre in children's literature: A comparison on Valerie Thomas and Fatih Erdoğan

Fantasy, a word of French origin, is defined as a literary genre by Todorov as the state of indecision experienced by the subject, who does not accept any other law than his own natural laws, in the face of events or situations that have a supernatural appearance. In this genre, the reader questions the perception of reality due to the existence and interaction of relationships between the real and irreal world. Paradoxes that cannot be resolved on a specific basis occupy the reader's mind throughout the fiction, making the boundaries of the fantasy genre clear. In this study, ten works in Valerie Thomas's "Vini and Vilbur" children's book series and ten works in Fatih Erdoğan's "Magic Books" children's book series, selected by simple random sampling method, are based on the universal qualities of literature, which accept the literary products of different cultures as a field of study. It has been examined in the context of comparative literature science, which aims to understand people and their experiences and paves the way for the emergence of different themes, structures and interactions. During the research, it was determined within the scope of fantasy fiction analysis theory; people who trigger the development of events by creating conflict, escape and distance, which are an important stage for the protagonist to get rid of the problems that he has difficulty in overcoming in the real world, the space (time and space) in which the events continue, the journey that occurs in three different ways as linear, cyclical or spiral and results in the transformation of the characters, dimensions. The magic object, which is effective in the transitions between the characters and moving the heroes from their current situation to a better point, the dream that supports the hero's falling into the indecision stated by Todorov by staying outside the familiar world, and the indecision codes based on the real-surreal dichotomy were used. As a result, data regarding the codes of the fantasy fiction analysis theory were found in the works of both writers and evaluations were made within the scope of comparative literature science.