Romantasy: A Genre to Claim for Christ
An Unexpected Essay
Recently,
wrote a post on reclaiming Romantasy as a genre; I encourage you to read it, for his thoughts on the matter, and a bit more of a look at the genre itself, especially if you are unfamiliar with it.
At first glance, the name of this genre might turn you around to look for a good old-fashioned mystery like Sherlock Holmes or Nancy Drew, or reach for The Lord of the Rings. Romance and fantasy are two words that come with connotations that are, in the majority, negative; I’m sure we’ve all seen the hundreds of books that look alike and contain the same ugly content.
In essence, the majority of books that make it to the shelves in these genres can likely be defined as follows: confusing lust with love and/or deliberately promoting lust, rather than love, and serving the serpent rather than Christ and the human heart and soul.
Defining the Genres
Let’s correctly define the genres, subtracting the abuses of them:
Romance: any story that predominantly centers around the true love between a man and a woman, whether towards initiating a relationship, continuing one towards marriage, or within marriage itself.
(I personally have tended to refer to romance as “love stories” because it sounds a little less questionable, at least to me; but we can change that.)
Fantasy: any story set within an alternate imagined reality, or with elements of an alternate reality, where rules may be different from the world in which we live. This can include superheroes, for instance.
Romantasy: any blend of romance and fantasy, as defined above.
Most of my fantasy work can be considered Romantasy. Wingswept: The Dragon and the Dove is a definitive Romantasy, as Alandis’ character arc is begun, and centered by, her love for Trys and Solavier. Tolkien’s tale of Beren and Luthien is likewise Romantasy; even Redwall could be considered Romantasy, as Matthias and Cornflower have a romantic arc.
The Two Standards
On a note that is relevant to any fiction genre, and really any endeavor in life, life is a war with two aspects: the “negative aspect” against the world, the flesh, and the devil; and the positive aspect, for God, faith, family, freedom, and all that is good and true and beautiful. Similarly, there are only two battle standards. Only one of them is right.
Modern culture forms us to be offended by all things, if it’s not politically correct; particularly they would like us to be offended by Christ, Catholicism, Christianity, truth, tradition, faith, family, the sanctity of human life, the concept of sin, and many things besides.
Think about the things they want us to not be offended by.
Without naming them myself, I bet you can tell, too, that it boils down to hatred of men, women, children; a love of violence; and the attempted erasure of God. Whether it’s in our spiritual life, our relationships, the workplace, or our hobbies, we need to bring back love and the clarity of God.
More specifically to fiction and Romantasy, what we need now is to depict the truth, that men, women, and children are all precious to God and interconnected, and we need to consider each other as precious as God does. Even if you think that the objectification of or violence against one individual, or men or women in general, is not about you, it is about you, and it’s about God, whose image we have been created in. Fight for Him, and those you love, if you will not fight for your own dignity.
We must write what is good, true, and beautiful, being open to His Will and love. There’s a line we must discern between portraying evil as it is, and not unnecessarily exposing ourselves and others to further evil ways of thinking and feeling. The reader does not need to feel, think, and know every detail; do this only with what is good, inspiring them to good thoughts, actions, and prayers.
Remember, the prince of the world is the devil. His interests are the exact opposite of what is good for humankind, so be discerning and prayerful, and lean on Church teaching when it comes to morality.
Anyone who believes God condones any sort of evil, including graphic “romantic” scenes, does not know our Father and King.
Beneath which banner will you fight: the Cross, or the serpent?
There is no other choice. There is a battle cry for each of us, which we must answer. It could be the littlest thing, just lovingly accepting what comes your way in a little, ordinary life every day. Imagine if we did, rather than wasting our energy on unnecessary things, such as arguing about those Star Wars sequels.
The Battle-Sign
Romantasy, not to mention its sister genres, is one of the many things we must claim for Christ. It’s already been claimed by the serpent, so let’s take it back, shall we?
Again, as the Brothers Krynn explain, this is a territory more for women to take back, since we are the ones who will enjoy and benefit the most from this genre.
Please consider directly dedicating your work to the Creator, and allowing Him to create with you and to inspire you. He has given you stories that you alone can write for Him; given you characters that you alone can parent and love as your imaginary child and friend, characters who other writers would abuse. Make sure you choose your stories and content wisely!
Perhaps have a little devotional or prayer corner at your writing desk. Many of us probably have a holy image present already, but perhaps you can arrange it as a reminder that work is a prayer. You can say a prayer before you can begin, even just a little one, even saying “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus” as a dedication.
The Holy Spirit is a great Friend with writing, so ask Him for His help with words and inspiration. If you’re a Catholic woman, have recourse to Our Lady, and let her read over your shoulder and nudge your pen; if you’re not Catholic, I believe you still admire Joan of Arc! So let her change your pencil into a sword of truth and beauty, to recarve the genre into an image of God’s love.
If Romantasy is not your genre, know that there are many things in this world which we must reclaim for Christ; often there are things which we are inspired to assist in, but may be afraid to take the lead in. Consider this your reminder that each of us can be a leader in something, in some way, if God asks, so if you have an inspiration or are searching for one, pray about it.
Now, as a concrete beginning to reclaiming romantasy, I make two proposals:
A guild for Christian romance and Romantasy writers, which I will write further on in another post; for now, raise your hand if you would be interested in joining! This way, we can become visible to a wider audience, hone our craft, and work together towards our goal, while having fun! Similar to a medieval guild, we will also have our own patron/patroness saints. If you have any ideas for patrons or a name for the guild, let me know in the comments!
I would also like to suggest a new term for the overall romantic genre, to distinguish it from the lustful tales: Agapé, or Agapéic, to remind us of true love, and that Christ’s love needs to be present.
If you have any other ideas for claiming Romantasy, feel free to share!
P.S. I expect that some may disagree with aspects of this post, but I ask that you keep any comments, notes, and/or restacks family-friendly. Thanks, I appreciate it!
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Romance is generally framed rather more narrowly than love story.
A love story is any story in which there is a romantic passion and some obstacle to it, to create conflict -- and the presumption that the passion winning would be a happy ending.
Romance, as a category now sold, also requires that it end Happily Ever After and that the obstacle to it be chiefly internal.
A story about how Jack and Jill managed to escape his parents' attempts to marry him off to Joan and marry themselves is a love story but not a romance, because the parents are the problem,
A story about how Jack wants to marry Jill, is compelled to marry Joan, and falls in love with Joan (and she with him) is a romance. because Jack's resentment of it is the problem.
You can see this in historical fiction, where if there is an arranged marriage, the hero and heroine are the couple it was arranged for, with the *rarest* of exceptions.
Yah, that's probably a fair percentage. Thank you! Yes, there is a slow-burn romance aspect to An Inkling of Magic. Both of my on-Amazon books that I put samples up for have a romance thread to them too.