魔法の食卓 : 児童文学に見る〈食〉と魔法の関係

概要

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People in the modern world are usually too busy to find enough time to prepare good meals for themselves. They may sometimes dream that they could easily enjoy a wonderful feast if they had magic power. In fantasy fiction, however, there seem to be surprisingly few wizards or witches who eat such magic food at every meal. Magic food is used to tempt and deceive someone, but it seems to have little effect on maintaining human bodies. In fantasy fiction, "magic food" suggests two meanings. One is the case that the food itself has some mysterious effect. The other is the case that some magic power is used to prepare food. This paper emphasizes the latter case. There are three patterns in food prepared with magic: one appearing abruptly from nowhere; one brought from somewhere else in a moment; and an illusionary one which does not exist in reality. Which kind of magic food is described depends on the theme of the story. Even the authors who can make their own glorious world by the magic of words tend to hesitate to make real food out of nothing in their story. That is because imaginary power cultivates human minds but does not nourish human bodies. This paper attempts to clarify the significance of food by interpreting the role of magic food in various fantasies.
2009-03-31