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Genesis of magical realism in literature
An essay on imagination in literature
Essays for magical realism
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Recommended: Genesis of magical realism in literature
History and Theory of Magical Realism The world is full of magical realism. Magical Realism may just become a word that people thought of in the 1930's; however, magical realism has been here for as long as the people have been able to tell and write stories. Whether the stories are true or made up, they are all magical realism. The first author who started associating the words of magical realism to out was a German art critic, by the name of Franz Roh. Roh considered magical realism an art category. It represented and responded to reality and depicted the enigmas of reality. In Latin America in the 1940's, magical realism was a way to express the realistic American mentality and create an autonomous style of literature. One feature of magical realism is ironic distance from the magical worldview should not compromise reality. The writer should strongly respect the magic or else the magic would go into folk belief or complete fantasy and split from the term of magic that relates it to Angel Flores (111). Authorial reticence another feature of magical realism, refers to the lack of clear opinions of the accuracy of events of the worldviews expressed by the characters in the stories. This technique promotes acceptance in magical realism. The simple fact of explaining the supernatural worldview can be part of reality (Wendy Faris, 165). Magical Realism can be art, poetry, and literature. Gabriel Garcia Marquez was linked to the style of literature known as magical realism. Literature is only one type of magical realism that is expressed wildely. The books of many different authors who have written literature can make a person's mind go far and beyond in their imagination. Scott Simpkins has stated that there are no limitations on the words of magical realism. He states that the truth is that the magic realist is always short of his her goal to explain reality. Many authors state that in the material state that some are deceived by the strategies and the failure as to the way the authors portray the words of magical realism. Wendy B. Faris wrote in her essay about children and their imagination. Children act upon their imaginations. The books that she talks about are for entertainment for readers. The fiction that Wendy B. Faris spoke is are modern and contemporary and is all basically magical realism. Irene Guenther is an author who has spoken of expressionism describing magical realism. Irene spoke of Roger Fry and the post-impressionism. He believed that the children had their own expression. The essay that she wrote states the date of 1920 as the time of magical realism. Basically, the words magical realism has been with us for a long time. Each and every author has a different date as to when the words magical realism came into focus. Amaryll Chanady speaks of control in her essay. Imagination and fiction are aspects of daily life. She speaks of imagination and what people are lacking in the world today. Amaryll Chanady spoke of the articles that artist and writers put in their books, and she states that they would not be able to do their thing without the imagination of magical realism. Franz Roh spoke of magical realism compared to painting and music as well as literature. Most people may or can understand magical realism upon reading a book; however, when art and music are involved some people have trouble with comparing them to magical realism. Magical realism is offered within the music and art, and some enjoy the sounds and the looks. They do not even realize that they are actually enjoying magical realism. Angel Flores evaluates magical realism as "Romantic" and "Poetic". He states the different opinions that other authors give. Each and every one has a different opinion of what magical realism is and does. Each author gave a different book or title of a book as an example of their interpretation of magical realism. What would this world be today if everyone had the same opinion? Luis Leal finds that the different authors have distinguishing characteristics and a style with interest and transforming the common and everyday world into the awesome and unreal. The article Leal wrote is mentions that the authors do not agree with anything each other have to say. In reality, magical realism has basically everything each and every author has said and written about. They are all combined together as a total of magical realism. Magical realism expresses emotions of the real and the unreal. Life is magical and unreal. The combination of the articles or essays written on magical realism provide a large impression of the meaning of magical realism. Different authors have written some great books who likes that should be read by everyone who likes to read things that have imagination and mystery. The world is full of magical realism.
Delbaere-Garant, Jeannie. "Variations on Magical Realism". Magical Realism Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkison Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham" Duke U.P., 1995. 249-263.
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.
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.
Magical realism is found in many ways. Trees coming to life, dolls haunting someone, a boy living within the wall, ordinary objects that come to life within a story is an element of magical realism. This element is demonstrated by Edward Bloom in the movie Big Fish, by Tim Burton walking through the dark forest that is said to be haunted to get to a bigger city because he believes his hometown is too small for him, then later getting attacked by killer trees. Most people are aware that
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.
Magic Realism was a term used by a group of art critics in the 1920’s. It was used to characterize a group of painters that were post expressionist. Throughout Latin America magic realism became the term to describe the style of work of the authors from 1950-1970. This period of time was also known as the “Latin boom” in literature.
Latin author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has written many short stories and novels that are considered to be Magical Realism. Some of these works are "The Ghosts of August," One Hundred Years of Solitude," "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," and "Light Is Like Water." In "Light Is Like Water" (December 1978), the use of various fantastic elements along with the realist elements is what defines this story as Magical Realism.
Franz Roh originally coined the term magical realism as pertaining to art, magical realism also evolved as a form of literary writing that began in the Latin and Central American countries. Magical realism is an amalgamation of the real and unreal, a fusion of dream and reality, and confusion within clarity. Magical realism became known for changing the way in which one thinks. Instead of seeing the ordinary and mundane, the Magical Realist brings a spark of life to the imagination that in turn enlightens the reader on a whole new level of thinking. As magical realism was defined as confusion within clarity, so is the world of probability.
The term Magical Realism is thought by most critics to have originated in the early twentieth century as a new art form. Franz Roh, to whom we attribute having coined the term, describes this "new" art form in his 1925 article "Magical Realism: Post Expressionism." Roh defines Magical Realism through a chronological examination of artistic styles preceding this "new art." The two periods on which he focuses primarily are Impressionism and Expressionism. Impressionism, which preceded Expressionism, focused on the artists' desire to portray something that existed in reality. An artist may examine the texture, light, or the shapes of an object. The portrayal was simply a caricature of reality, with no significant meaning or stimulation other than the obvious, realistic qualities with which viewers were already familiar. Expressionism, in contrast, sought to portray something with a very deep meaning, refusing to portray reality because it was too mundane and familiar. Intelle...
No one can really say who coined the phrase 'Magical Realism,' but some say that "in 1925 to champion a new direction in painting, Franz Roh originated the term Magical Realism to characterize this painting's return to Realism after Expressionism's more abstract style" (Zamora and Faris 15). This art style was also first used after World War I. Franz Roh at first called this new style of painting Post-Expressionism, but changed it later to Magical Realism because he knew that the work "had to have a name that meant something, and the word 'Post-Expressionism' only indicated ancestry and chronological relationship" (Roh). Roh says that he uses the word 'magic' instead of 'mystic' because "the mystery does not descend to the represented world, but rather hides and palpates behind it." At the same time that Roh came up with the term Magical Realism, a museum director named Gustav Hartlaub called this new art style New Objectivity. The word New Objectivity over took Roh's title for the art style until 1960 when it was used to describe the art style of that time in art history. Angel Flores might argue that he coined the term 'Magical Realism' in 1935 after he read Jorge Luis Borges' book A Universal History of Infamy, but he was actually the first one to give the name to books not just paintings.
Obviously the most concise definition of magical realism is that it is the combination of magical and real elements. The magical elements that exist in works of magical realism are; superstitions, exaggerations, dreams that come true, universal humor and the coincidence of bizarre events. All of these Elements are present within Chronicle of a Death Foretold.
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.
“Magical realism combines realism and the fantastic in such a way that the magical elements grow organically out of the reality portrayed”. (Faris. 169)
Learning about magical realism has been very interesting for me. When reading Franz Roh, I learned a lot about Post- Expressionism and Expressionism. Expressionism involved a painting. It involved animals walking in the sky, and it also showed heated heads popped like corks from overflowing bottles, while Post- Expressionism dealt with painting and pictures with frames (Roh 16-17). On the other hand, Angel Flores was a little hard fro me to understand at first. I found myself asking questions such as "Will I understand what I am reading?" "Is this going to make sense to me?" "What am I suppose to see in this American Fiction?" I did learn that magical realism has to deal with fantasies written in Spanish (Flores 110-111). Then looking at Amaryll Chanady, I learned that Flores stated that, "practitioners of magical realism clings to reality as if to prevent their myth from flying off, as in fairy tales, to supernatural realism." Luis Leal also has many different opinions toward magical realism. However, I did not agree with a few of them. I did understand and agreed with a few, though. In Luis Leal's essay, I learned that Roh explained the origin of the term by saying that with the word "magical," as opposed to "mystical," he wanted to emphasize that the mystery does not descend to the represented world, but rather hides and palpitates behind it (120-121). I agreed with what he wanted to emphasize. It was also mentioned that magical realism is not magic literature. Magical realism is used to express emotions not to evoke them (120-121). I feel that magical realism is definitely used to express emotions, not to evoke them.
[2] The definition of Magic Realism is based on a seminar hand-out, a lecture and Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of literary Terms. USA: Harcourt, 1999.