CHARACTER SPACE OF FANTASY TEXTS FOR CHILDREN: TYPOLOGY AND FUNCTIONS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the investigation of typology and functions of the character space of artistic texts for childrenof the fantasy genre. The case study of the article is the novel of a popular English writer J.K. Rowling “Fantastic Beatsand where to find them. The original screenplay”. The chain of subgenres of fantasy in the article is presented (magicfantasy, adventure fantasy, fantasy with transformation and fantasy about animals and talking toys). The main attentionis focused on such concepts as a plot, chronotope, character. The type of conversational-animal fantasy is demonstratedin the article – it’s mythical and magical beasts (unicorns, dragons and centaurs). Unicorns, dragons and centaurs areextremely prevailing in fantasy works and illustrations. The main attention is focused on mixed fantasy which unitesreal and unreal worlds through time travel, transformation, animals and talking toys and through magic. The featuresof the characters has been demonstrated in the article. Described magical creatures and magical matter, and showedhow dangerous magic can be with magic wands. Of the given fantasy text there are two plotlines that have paralleland intertwined models. The first is the search for lost fantastic beasts that are constantly running away from the magicsuitcase. The second is the search for Credence with the incredible magical dark power of obscurus. The main typologyand function of an artistic text is the chronotope – a special time and space that has no clear boundaries between the realand magical world. The events in the fantasy text unfold in the real world. The main characters can move from one worldto another or within one space (time jump), overcoming long distances. The main characters of the given fantasy text are anthropic, animalistic, wizards and magical matter. In the development of the plot, animalistic characters and magicalmatter have a pivotal function, because they create tension in the plot. In a fantasy text, such characters interact in the realworld, they are allotted with magical abilities.