Magical Realism as a Fusion of Fantasy and Reality
One month ago, I had never heard of Magical Realism. Since reading the four essays by Franz Roh, Angel Flores, Luis Leal and Amaryll Chanaday and various internet articles, I have a much better understanding of Magical Realism - what it is, how it applies to literature, how it applies to art, and its theory, history, and style.
Magical Realism is a fusion of fantasy and reality. According to Flores, it is a "transformation of common and everyday into the awesome and unreal" (114). This is not even and equal mix. Magical Realism is reality-based with just one fantastic overstatement. This overstatement is described by Pietri as "a kind of extreme state," and that it "favors the unexpected richness of reality" (qtd. in Leal 121). This one fantastic element is always accepted as reality by the characters in the story. It also has hidden meanings in a deeper realm. "The mystery does not descend to the present world but rather hides and palpitates behind it" (Roh 16). Magical Realism is subject to a certain control and is mainly used to show a different way of
viewing the world. In this form of expression, the plots are always logically conceived. Magical Realism also expresses emotions without evoking them. In Magical Realism, "key events have no logical or psychological explanation" and "the author does not need to justify the mystery of events" (Leal 123). as a science fiction or fantastic author would. Also, unlike in sci-fi and fantasy stories, the author clings to reality. Flores describes this characteristic by saying the authors "cling to reality as if to prevent 'literature' from getting in their way, as if to prevent their myth from flying off, as i...
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...t be literature that is reality based but contains at least one fantastic element that is unexplained but accepted. Now that I understand what it is, I am beginning to find more examples of it all around me. I am looking forward to reading examples of this unusual and interesting genre.
Works Cited
Flores, Angel. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction." Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkison Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham; N.C.: Duke UP,1995:109-118.
Leal, Luis. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Literature." Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkison Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham; N.C.: Duke UP,1995:119-124.
Roh, Franz. "Magic Realism: Post-Expressionism." Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkison Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham; N.C.: Duke UP,1995:15-31.
One of the most important aspects of Hmong culture is the group and family dynamic. The Hmong considered farming their most important duty because it was a major source of income when they were in Laos. The story regarding the Hmong family who attempted to grow vegetables inside their second story apartment was an example of this (Fadiman, 1997, p. 226). The Hmong found the transition difficult since the thing they knew best, farming, was taken away from them. Thus, they were forced to fit into roles that were foreign to them.
...y to America was not an easy one for Hmong refugees. Prior to their arrival in America, they encountered starvation, illness, death of loved ones, and inhumane conditions. The elder Hmong watched helplessly as Hmong culture and traditions dissolved away. Once in their new home, life for the Hmong would be a constant struggle to assimilate into American culture, and most families depended on their children as translators and guides. For first-generation Hmong immigrants, escaping poverty seemed impossible, and most could only hope that education would provide their children a better life.
...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.
The first thing we discussed in our presentation was Hmong culture and family. This particular main point was the longest covered because it was so much information on Hmong culture. We covered how Hmong culture is a clan based and very family oriented. The Hmong
As a boy Johannes worked and studied with his father and learnt lessons from books with his mother, with whom he would play ?four-hands? at the piano, ?just for fun.? There were never any doubts as to his becoming a musician. From early childhood he learn everything his father could teach him, read everything he could lay hands on, practiced with undeviating enthusiasm, and filled reams of paper with exercises and variations. The soul of the child went out in music. He played scales long before he knew the notes, and great was his joy when at the age of six he discovered the possibility of making a melody visible by placing black dots on lines at different intervals, inventing a system of notation of his own before he had been made acquainted with the method which the musical world had been using for some centuries.
The Hmong, an Asian ethnic group, came from an oral culture, where they did not have any written form until the 1950s (McCall, 1999). The Hmong lived an agricultural lifestyle in the hill and mountain areas in Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand (McCall, 1999; Tatman, 2004). They focused on physical labor to provide food for the family and lacked formal education, as it was not essential (Lee & Green, 2008; McCall, 1999).
The cultures between the Swedish and the Hmong people follow a similar path of struggle, conforming, and success. The Swedish people struggled from famine and needed a place to go to where jobs were abundant. While the Hmong also struggled from war and the after effects of war. These struggles brought a group of people with different cultures to one country, America. America became a place of refuge and a place to prosper. Many of the people succeeded in getting high paying jobs and would help America evolve into a better place. Although, this succession gave people a new hope, there are still discrimination within the country because of differences of culture and looks.
Magical realism is a genre in which extraordinary events are incorporated into the ordinary world, usually referred to as realistic fiction. In Latin American culture many authors use this type of literature to describe phenomenal events that occur within our ordinary world. Magical realism can be analyzed through different novels, short stories and movies, for example, Bless me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, “The Night Face Up,” by Julio Cortazar, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the movie Big Fish by Tim Burton. Magical realism is a style of writing used to link the abnormal with the ordinary.
... Southeast Asia due to the wars taking place, it was hard for the Hmong to find jobs in America. With little work skills and hardly and language understanding, Americans were getting frustrated with trying to teach a Hmong how to do their job. The Hmong were also taking up all the jobs because they would work for less than an American worker. This angered some Americans because they could not find jobs. The Hmong were also gobbling up Welfare and resources provided by a government that they didn’t even belong to. The Hmong were just trying to make a living for themselves but this was making many lower class Americans frustrated when trying to find a job to feed their families.
Both Petipa and Tchaikovsky still did not like the story and refused to work on the project. Petipa did not think the story was right for ballet dancing. He did not feel that Marie, the main character, was a strong enough character to dance. He did try to write a scenario for the ballet, but he could not think of anything past the scene of what we know of as the kingdom of snow. After Petipa gave up, Vsevolojsky begged and persisted with Petipa to try again. He convinced Petipa and this time he created a new character called the Sugarplum fairy. This character was not in either of the original stories. She was to be the main character, rather than Marie, and she would be the ruler of the Kingdom of Sweets. Petipa felt that this character could dance the big scenes better than the character Marie.
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.
Faris, Wendy B. Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystification of Narrative. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2004. 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. 21
In order to see how Magical Realism is found in this treatment, one must first consider at least one of the identifying marks of Magical Realism. Among the characteristics that identify Magical Realism is the feeling of transcendence that the reader has while reading a Magical Realist text (Simpkins 150). During transcendence, a reader senses something that is beyond the real world. At the same time, however, the reader still feels as if he or she were rooted in the world (Sandner 52). After the reader undergoes transcendence, then he or she should have a different outlook on life.
Roh, Franz. "Magic Realism: Post-Expressionism." Magical Realism. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995: 15-30.
"What came to dominate the story and to leave a lasting impression was the view of man as a mystery surrounded by realistic data. A poetic divination or denial of reality. Something that for lack of a better word could be called magical realism." -Uslar Pietri