Following the path of criticism in literature, the attempts to analyze
the fantasy genre begins with three main approaches identified by
Greg Bechtel (2004) in his article “There and Back Again”: Progress in
the Discourse of Todorovian, Tolkienian and Mystic Fantasy Theory.”
In his article Bechtel clearly highlights the evolution in the literary
criticism and points to the aspects of interwoven academic
approaches to the genre. As discussed earlier, since the usage of the
term “approach” brings along limitations and generalizations, the
texts will be explored as a basis for opening a debate to investigate
fantasy texts in various ways