What Are Common Characteristics of Magical Realism? Magic realism texts thus deal in secrets and the unspeakable, enticing readers to embrace the enigmatic by incorporating it in a realist framework. In his book Realist Magic: Objects, Ontology, Causality, Morton argues that, “in magic realist narratives, causality departs from purely mechanical functioning.” It does so “in part to resist the seeming inevitability of imperialist ‘reality,’ in part to give voice to unspeakable things.” In this way, magic realism is mysterious, which Morton notes has an etymology in Greek ( mysteria) that connects to the verb muein, to close or shut. More recently, critics such as Timothy Morton have adopted the philosophy of object-oriented ontology in their approach to magic realism. Márquez is often considered the father of magical realism, although this may be better attributed to Alejo Carpentier, who coined “the marvelous real.” He thus called for “a living realism, tied to the magic of the universe a realism that shakes not only the mind, but also the heart and the entire tree of nerves.” For Alexis, it was critical that marvelous realism was not some frivolous escape rather, it should deal with the daily life of everyday people and get at “the human, the universal, and the profound truth of life.”įollowing Carpentier and Alexis’ 1940s contributions to “marvelous realism,” Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez did much to popularize the genre of magical realism, especially through his 1967 novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. In his 1944 essay, “ Du réalisme merveilleux des Haïtiens,” or “On the Marvelous Realism of Haitians,” Alexis envisioned an embrace of strange, fantastic, and dream-like elements that would be authentic to the rugged beauty of Haiti. While many ancient oral and literary traditions feature works that could be considered “magic realism,” the genre was first theorized in the 1940s by Alejo Carpentier, a Cuban novelist who wrote the essay “Lo real maravilloso,” or “ The Marvelous Real.” In this 1949 essay, which was inspired by a trip to Haiti, Carpentier “saw the possibility of establishing certain synchronisms, American, recurrent, timeless…” In contrast to the Surrealist movement popularized in Europe, Carpentier believed lo real maravilloso was unique to Latin America and the Caribbean, itself borne from the encounter between Amerindians, Africans, and Europeans.Īround the same time, Haitian novelist Jacques Stephen Alexis seconded Carpentier’s view of “marvelous realism” as a genre borne from the unique history of Latin America and the Caribbean. You may have noted the definition began with “chiefly Latin-American…” and, indeed, Latin American and Caribbean authors have played a huge role in popularizing the magic realism genre. What Is the “Magic Realism” Genre? Magical realism – surreal fantasy, WonderRootĪccording to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, magic realism is a “chiefly Latin-American narrative strategy…characterized by the matter-of-fact inclusion of fantastic or mythical elements into seemingly realist fiction.” In other words, the magic realism genre blends the supernatural with realism in a way that normalizes the magical or mythic aspects. Then, it’ll take you through a list of ten must-read magical realism books, which includes both novels and short story collections by some of the world’s greatest writers of all time. To answer such questions, this article will trace the history of the magic realism genre as it was developed in the twentieth century. Magical realism is an exciting genre, or narrative strategy, found in many beloved books and films, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez or Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro.īut what exactly is the definition of magical realism? Where did it begin and who are some of the most famous magical realism authors? What if a bird flew up to you and the two of you started to chat? What’s more, what if this were a completely normal thing to you? Well, you just might be in a magical realism novel! The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.
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