White Jenna has roots in centuries-old oral and medieval folkloric and fairytale tradition. Elves are found in European mythology, English and Scottish folklore and ballads, and are widely used in more recent fantasy literature.

The device by which the elves and Jenna enter another realm can be traced back to Lewis Carroll's nineteenth-century fantasy, Alice in Wonderland (1865).

Yolen has adopted fantasy conventions for her novel, but she has written from a feminist perspective. Her strong heroine Jenna has replaced the traditional hero, a conception found in the speculative fiction works of such writers as Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley. In particular Yolen falls among such postmodern writers as Angela Carter and Tanith Lee, who through fantasy and fairy-tale form have questioned patriarchal codes. In its ambiguous ending, White Jenna respects fantasy form, but poses a question about gender relations.