The History and Theory of Magical Realism
Fantasy, Magical, Supernatural, Sublime, and Realism are all several genres of literature that may be familiar to many people. However, there may be one that is not as well-known as these: Magical Realism. Although Magical Realism is mostly common in the Latin American countries, one may wonder where and how Magical Realism got its start. On the other hand, one may simply wonder what some of the characteristics of Magical Realism are. By looking at the history and theory of Magical Realism as well as some of its characteristics and influences, these questions will be answered.
Interestingly, the term "Magical Realism" was first used in 1925 by a German art critic, Franz Roh. In his essay, "Magic Realism: Post-Expressionism," Roh used the term "Magical Realism" to actually characterize a style of painting instead of a style of literature (15). However, there are still at least two different viewpoints as to where and when Magical Realism truly had its start. In Angel Flores' essay, "Magical Realism in Spanish America," he claims that Magical Realism had its basis in the works of Franz Kafka. Furthermore, Flores thinks that the year 1935 was the year that Magical Realism had its beginning in Latin America because this was the year that Jorge Luis Borges' work, A Universal History of Infamy, appeared in Buenos Aires. After the appearance of Borges' works, several other writers began to follow his style, giving Magical Realism its rise in popularity in the years of 1940 to 1950 (Flores 113).
In his essay "Magical Realism in Spanish American Literature" Luis Leal disagrees with Flores' viewpoint. Leal does not think that Magical Realism had its growth during the 1940 to 195...
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...Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995: 125-141.
Flores, Angel. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction." Magical Realism. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995: 109-116.
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Faris, Wendy B. "Scherazade's Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction." Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham; N.C.: Duke UP, 1995.
...story telling traditions. All storytellers are children of the ones, which came before them and stand on the shoulders of those who have told the tales in the past. Marquez and Anaya did not hesitate to make liberal use of magical realism, both as a way to create tension in their stories and to contact the deeper hearing of their audience. Magical realism was just another tool in their literary boxes, to be used with skill and discretion for the greater benefit of the tale being told. It worked well for the cantadora, sitting in the doorway weaving her basket as she wove her tale and it works equally well today as we pause from our lives, quiet our souls, and prepare to listen as the story unfolds.
At first, the idea of men with long hair was absurd and society considered it a sign of homosexuality. When it became clear that the establishment felt so strongly about hair, the attitudes of young rebels changed. One young man responded after being questioned about his unkempt appearance: Growing hair does not mean that I am or am not a homosexual. It does mean that I am willing to stand up for my rights as a human being and that includes my right to be harmless to all people. It also indicates my unwillingness to get on the treadmill of killing for a vast machine-like government. If I am scorned and called dirty because I allow hair to grow on my face and my head, then so much the better, for by this I indicate the seriousness of my belief. I scorn the society that has created this monstrous robot-like conformity that feeds the war machine as Hitler found robots to feed his war machine.
Geometry, a cornerstone in modern civilization, also had its beginnings in Ancient Greece. Euclid, a mathematician, formed many geometric proofs and theories [Document 5]. He also came to one of the most significant discoveries of math, Pi. This number showed the ratio between the diameter and circumference of a circle.
For these reasons, based on the examination of these two works, one cannot assume that Sublime literature and Magical Realist literature are the same, nor can one assume that they are genres of one another. They seem to have many characteristics in common, and therefore one would assume that they maintain a close relationship, although independently. By comparing and contrasting another genre of literature with Magical Realism, the defining boundaries that make up Magical Realism are narrowed.
Magical Realism supposedly began in 1935 with its golden age occurring between 1940 and 1950.The Magical Realism of Spanish and Latin America can be somewhat attributed to the social, political, and European influence. During the golden age of Magical Realism, Spanish and Latin American writers produced works that would, by some, be considered to be at the same level as the great Italian, French, and English works. Two people have been credited for coining the term Magical Realism, Dudley Fitts and Franz Roh. Which one gets the actual credit would be very difficult to state. However, it is not important who did the deed; it is important the deed was done. Professor Angel Flores remarked that "A Universal History of Infamy," written by Jorges Luis Borges marks the birth Magical Realism (Flores 109-117). Jorges Luis Borge's works are similar the works of Kafka. Both Kafka's and Borge's works reflect a collaboration of realism and fantasy. Before all the greatness of Magical Realism was realized, it was thought that the Spanish and Latin American fiction couldn't produce anything beyond simple works. However, times have changed, an abundance of great works and attributes are derived from the Latin American culture and its writings.
Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" fulfills every characteristic of Magical Realism. His short story contains magic that exists in a realistic background. One can easily see why Marquez is such a forerunner in the field of Magical Realism.
Magical realism was demonstrated in stories created by authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” which appeared in the 1972 volume “The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother”. Marquez used aspects from the real world with the mythical concept of an angel. “Garca Márquez and his fellow members of “el boom” in Latin-American fiction came to maturity, the reemergence of the fantastic heritage in fiction seemed nearly as revolutionary as the region’s politics,”(Goia). In A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, a couple find an angel with human traits in their yard.
Giants and Angels roam the pages of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s stories, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”, and “The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World”, creating the perfect scene for magical realism. Many of the elements within these stories coincide with each other; this has everything to do with the overall component of magical realism, which binds together similarities and sets apart differences. The theme of each story can be found within the other and can stand by itself to represent the story it belongs to, the settings are similar in location and the ability to change but different in their downsides and the writing style is so similar it is complicated to find any differences. Marquez is a master story-teller whose works of art can only be compared with each other.
Gabriel García Márquez, 1982 Nobel Laureate, is well known for using el realismo magical, magical realism, in his novels and short stories. In García Márquez’s cuento “Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes,” García Márquez tactfully conflates fairytale and folklore with el realismo magical. García Márquez couples his mastery of magical realism with satire to construct a comprehensive narrative that unites the supernatural with the mundane. García Márquez’s not only criticizes the Catholic Church and the fickleness of human nature, but he also subliminally relates his themes—suffering is impartial, religion is faulty by practice, and filial piety—through the third-person omniscient narration of “Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes.” In addition to García Márquez’s narrative style, the author employs the use of literary devices such as irony, anthropomorphism, and a melancholic tone to condense his narrative into a common plane. García Márquez’s narrative style and techniques combine to create a linear plot that connects holy with homely.
In literature, magical realism is and can often play a vital role In the story. It functions to make an event seem unreal or almost too coincidental and may portray characters as naive and oblivious as well as assert the authors other underlying claims. In chronicle, magical realism is an important tool that author, Garcia Marquez utilizes effectively in many ways. Garcia Marquez extensively explores Latin American culture and in essence asserts his claims in a commentary style through his use of magical realism. Concepts like death, religion and violence are all aspects of the culture explored in great detail as well as the motif of dreams. Garcia Marquez uses magical realism to emphasize Santiago’s death and make it seem more unjust and highlight the issue of violence and hostility as well as death in the Latin American culture. Magical realism is also utilized in an effort to highlights anecdotal digressions.
"Magical realism was first used by the art critic Franz Roh to designate the pictorial output of the Postexpressionist period, beginning around 1925" (Leal 120). Later, this term was applied to forms of literature. This type of literature contains characteristics such as real and unreal elements, no hesitation, and hidden meanings. Given these and other characteristics, it is easy to see that magical realism can be applied to things outside of literature, such as psychology.
Magical Realism evolved only in the last century. Franz Roh was the first to use the term to describe paintings and the new style that had come about after the expressionistic era (7, p.15), however it was Alejo Carpentier who used it to describe Latin America's fanatastical writing styles (3, p.373). He felt that magical realism expounded upon reality and "was able to elude realism's insufficiency, in its inablility to describe an ex-centric experience"(3, p.373). Latin America, though perhaps the first to name the new writing phenomena, was not the only country to use it. In the course of this paper I will compare and contrast several different novels from female authors who evoked magical realism into their writing styles. These authors come from Latin America, Africa, and the Caribbean, showing the wide range of history and environments. Feeling that the Caribbean alone may prove to narrow a topic for a style that has taken the world by storm, I felt it only fitting that other countries should be included the theme of women in the paper. Also, I selected Africa and parts of Latin America to compare to Caribbean writings because these two continents play a pivotal role in shaping what the Caribbean has become today.
At first, German art critic Franz Roh used the term "Magical Realism" to describe a style of painting (Roh 15). Eventually, Arturo Uslar Pietri adapted the term in order to describe a type of literature (Leal 120). While the exact definition of Magical Realism is open to interpretation, it is certain that Magical Realism gives a deeper meaning to ordinary life by unearthing mysteries that hide behind the world (Roh 16-17). In order to uncover these mysteries, Magical Realism combines fantasy with reality (Flores 110-111). Although Magical Realism is now well-known as a genre of literature, Magical Realism extends into "real life" through a treatment in psychology known as Traumatic Incident Reduction.
Magical realism is clearly present throughout Gabriel-Garcia Marquez's novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Magical realism is the juxtaposition of realism with fantastic, mythic, and magical elements. A secondary trait was the characteristic attitude of narrators toward the subject matter: they frequently appeared to accept events contrary to the usual operating laws of the universe as natural, even unremarkable. Though the tellers of astonishing tales, they themselves expressed little or no surprise.