ABSTRACT
Throughout my discussion of the Harry Potter books as a model text for children’s literature I’ve pointed out that the fantastic mode in itself is a perfect alterity device. Within the non-mimetic modes, all other power hierarchies become less conspicuous because of the generic conventions. Yet unlike many other scholars I do not view fantasy as opposed to realism. Realism is an extraordinarily complex concept, as shown clearly in Erich Auerbach’s Mimesis (1974); and although in the context of children’s literature studies realism frequently equals a narrative devoid of supernatural elements, there is a broad variety of mimetic modes within children’s literature that all have their specifi c othering strategies. Yet, also non-mimetic modes are of different kinds, and the degree and nature of the fantastic elements present a wide continuum. The term “magical realism” is a good illustration of the complexity of the concepts.
