Fabulation

Fabulation meaning

The meaning of fabulation is that it is a form of postmodern fiction that developed in the 20th century that experimented with the traditional conventions of realism by blending fantasy, magic, myth supernatural elements in the narrative.

In a broad sense, fabulation refers to the creation or composition of stories. However, in a literary context, it's often used to describe narratives that break away from the boundaries of realism and incorporate elements of myth, fantasy, and allegory. It embraces the fantastical and the absurd, blurring the line between reality and fiction.

Fabulation main ideas

The main ideas of Fabulation are derived from the genres of metafiction, postmodern fiction and especially magical realism. However, what sets fabulism apart is that it blends fantastical elements from well-known myths, fairy tales, and folktales, and retells these stories in a more realistic setting.

Here is a table of all the genres that often overlap with fabulation:

Fabulation themes

Fabulation has many main themes, many of which coincide with the genres of magical realism. However, here are a few main ideas that set fabulation apart from other similar postmodern fictional genres.

Fantasy

A key idea of fabulist works is that they make use of fantastical and magical elements. However, unlike magical realism, which uses general magical elements, fabulist works recreate the fantastical concepts popularised in famous fairy tales, myths and fables. Usually, it blends these stories in a more realistic setting, to create a more modern retelling of traditional fairytales.

Since the reader is expected to know about the fantastical concepts as they are inspired by famous fairytales and myths, fabulist works rarely explain the magical elements in their stories. Instead, they are normalised as a part of the story's reality and are almost presented as unremarkable and mundane.

Allegory

Much like fairytales, myths and fables, works of fabulation serve a didactic purpose. Fabulation uses age-old myths to impart moral lessons through the use of allegories and symbolism.

Irrealism

Fabulist works are inspired by the literary philosophy of irrealism.

Irrealism is a literary philosophy that believes that the universe has infinite worlds and possibilities, and it is fiction's duty to represent these diverse versions. This means that the world of fiction should not have to necessarily coincide with the accepted version of social reality, and can tap into versions of the universe far beyond human consciousness. This can be done so in a way that is 'normalised' and unexplained by laws of physics, science and technology that bind our current reality.

Experimentation

Fabulist works often experiment with chronology, plot structure, form, and narrative style. This gives fabulist novels an unpredictable and tense nature. They often surprise the reader with offbeat climaxes, resolutions and cliffhangers.

Fabulist works also experiment with narrative style by often adopting metafictional narrative techniques that often blur the lines between fiction and reality. This could involve:

• Characters that are aware of their fictional nature
• Breaking the fourth wall by allowing the narrator and characters in the story to directly address the readers
• Interjecting commentary by the writer or narrator on the events of the story.

Purpose of fabulation

While magical realism often focuses on political and social commentary, fabulist works focus on the entirety of the human experience and impart larger life philosophies to the reader.

As mentioned before, works of fabulation are inspired by well-known traditional fairytales, myths and fables, and therefore, impart the same moral lessons to their readers, but in a way that is entertaining, experimental and understandable. They do so by making complex moral and psychological concepts more allegorical and symbolic so that they are easier to grasp.

By blending reality and fantasy, fabulist works also draw the reader's attention to make social realities more stark and obvious. Since fabulist works subvert reality, they draw our attention to the reader's actual reality and influence them to question what they believed was known, familiar and 'normal'.

Fabulation literature examples

Here are a few examples of literature that falls under the fabulation narrative style:

Giles Goat-Boy (1966) by John Barth

Giles Goat-Boy (1966) is a postmodern fabulist novel about a human boy raised as a goat, who becomes the Grand Tutor (a Messiah) of the universe. In the novel, the universe is allegorised as a university, whereas great religious leaders are represented as Grand Tutors.

The novel has many recognizable religious and Cold War (1947-1991) allegories. For instance:

• Some of the characters playing 'Grad Tutors' closely resemble famous religious leaders, Greek philosophers, poets and heroes, either by their name or characteristics.
• Satan has been renamed the Dean o' Flunks and resides in the Nether Campus (which represents hell).
• Predictably, the Last Judgment is referred to as the Final Examination.
• Other figures reincarnated as tutors include Jesus Christ, Buddha, Moses, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Odysseus.

Even though the lines between fiction and non-fiction have been blurred within this novel, readers are still able to identify prominent characters and the allegories they represent.

The novel also contains metafictional qualities, as it begins with the text being 'discovered' by the author. Therefore, throughout the novel, the author often provides humorous and insightful commentary on the events taking place within the novel.

American Gods (2001) by Neil Gaiman

American Gods can be considered a fabulist novel as it blends modern and ancient mythology into fiction. In this novel, the protagonist Shadow Moon is caught in a war between the Old American Gods and New American Gods. The Old American Gods are merely modern-day recreations of famous gods from Greek, Egyptian, Welsh, Norse and Hindu mythology. For instance:

• Mr Wednesday is Odin
• Low-Key Lyesmith is Loki,
• Mr Ibis is Thoth
• Mr Jacquel is Anubis
• The Elephant God is Lord Ganesha
• Mama-Ji is Goddess Kali

Similarly, the New American Gods are manifestations of modernity, each one representing technology, Internet, media, globalisation, automobiles, cosmetic surgery and conspiracy theories.