Ficciones, a collection of short stories written by Jorge Luis Borges, contains several works in which the motif of fantasy is repeatedly incorporated into the storyline. With this, Borges plays with the idea of fantasy being reality and reality being fantasy. He accomplishes the incorporation by setting a realistic plotline and relatively easy to follow story and releases whimsical, yet minuscule, symbols and ideas into the plot to create a fantastical twist. A prime example of such work is “The South”, a narrative about Juan Dahlmann, a librarian who seeks out the pleasures of The Thousand and One Nights on his trip to his ranch to Buenos Aires; however never achieves such due to a head injury he receives upon reading the novel. From the concussion forward, Dahlmann’s reality shifts back and forth to fantasy. Borges shows the unreality of the trip by his characterization of Dahlmann and references to his true reality throughout the short work.
After shortly arriving at the ranch in Buenos Aires, Dahlmann hits his head upon walking up stairs reading The Thousand and One Nights. Several days pass and he finally receives treatment at a hospital quite far away from the ranch. During his period of treatment to aid him recovering, he ponders in his life, “During these days Dahlmann hated himself in minute detail: he hated his identity, his bodily necessities, his humiliation, the beard which bristled upon his face.” (Borges 168) In this scene, Dahlmann ponders his actual reality, his existence to the extent of what identity he has created for himself, being extremely different when compared to his ancestral history. Knowing that his ancestors were in fact gauchos and he is a secretary in a library, one assumes that he, at some point ...
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... he desire to succeed in being an authentic gaucho, fulfilling his ancestral history. Eventually, with the ending of the short work, Dahlmann proceeds to battle and assumingly dies; essentially walking the distance to his true destination the train was unable to reach: the afterlife.
In conclusion, Ficciones, a collection of short stories written by Jorge Luis Borges, contains several references to fantastic themes. This especially occurs within the short work, “The South,” in which a man by the name of Juan Dahlmann experiences a whimsical death that portrays his deepest regret: not following his ancestral history to become a cultural gaucho. Borges uses characterization and the implementation of his true reality to depict the ultimate idea that nothing is eternal and one must chase their dreams in order to live a satisfying life and die without being regretful.
While there are many themes that can be found in this novella, Benitez skillfully uses the Mexican culture and the beliefs to improve her story, giving it understanding beyond the traditional American thoughts that many foreign writers are unable to achieve.
In 1949, Dana Gioia reflected on the significance of Gabriel García Márquez’s narrative style when he accurately quoted, “[it] describes the matter-of-fact combination of the fantastic and everyday in Latin American literature” (Gioia). Today, García Márquez’s work is synonymous with magical realism. In “Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes,” the tale begins with be dramatically bleak fairytale introduction:
Azulejo: Anthology & Guide to the AP Spanish Literature Course (2 ed., ). Wayside Publishing. Cortazar, Julio. “La Noche Boca Arriba.” Literatura.
Literature has always had a powerful role in society, especially in a multicultural environment. It can serve as a documentation of history, emotionally connect with readers with prevalent themes and topics that are being discussed in the world today, and can also serve as a way to help readers understand the political problems arising in another country. Authors use multiple techniques to convey their compelling message, especially to highlight political issues to offer answers and solutions to the reader. Junot Díaz’s novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, exactly does this. The novel uses magical realism to describe the Dominican Republic’s reigning dictator, Rafael Trujillo, who still has a lingering presence today despite being assassinated
Over the course of his decades-long career as a respected and influential man of letters, he also wrote an extensive collection of critical essays. In such piece, “A Southern Mode of Imagination,” he argues that the renascence of Southern letters occurred because of a shift in the way Southerners thought; a change from what he termed the extroverted “rhetorical mode” of tall-tales and politicking, to the introspective and hitherto primarily Northern “dialectical mode.” From his unique position as both a critic of the Renaissance and one of its vanguards, Tate posits that the antebellum Southern mind lacked the self-consciousness necessary to produce great writing because it was wholly occupied with defending slavery against the attacks of the North upon the ‘peculiar institution.’ The mind of the South focused outwards in response to those attacks, seeking to justify itself with one foot “upon the neck of a Negro Slave” ; that is to say, Southerners were rhetorical in defense of the indefensible. Their all-consuming and unwinnable defensive stance absorbed any potential for great literature even well after the cause was lost: Southern literature was practically non-existent prior to the publication of the first issue of The Fugitive in 1922. According to Tate’s theory, it was not until the South underwent a shift in its “mode of the imagination” that it was capable of producing writers like those of the Renaissance. Tate theorizes that this change occurred in part because the South ended its self-imposed isolation with the advent of World War I and “saw for the first time since 1830 that the Yankees were not to blame for everything.” The South’s mental energies were no longer entirely engrossed in resistance to Northerners ...
Style: The typical Magical- Realistic story of García Márquez placed in a familiar environment where supernatural things take place as if they were everyday occurrences. Main use of long and simple sentences with quite a lot of detail. "There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away and sense of grandeur he might have had" (589).
Wiehe, Roger E. "Jorge Luis Borges." Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Vol 3. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem Press, 1981: 977-982.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad presents the character of Kurtz as a man who is seen differently by all who know him depending on their individual experiences with him. His cousin knew him as a man with great musical talent, others knew him as a great leader, and his “Intended” fiance knew him as an admirable humanitarian; but all of these knew him to be a remarkable genius. When the narrator, Marlow, first hears of him, he is told that Kurtz is known as a great leader destined to hold high positions and fame. However, as he travels the river, he also learns that Kurtz has become insane during his time in the African jungle. After Marlow finally comes into contact with him, he discovers that Kurtz has become a god among the natives and has been brutally collecting the coveted ivory. Marlow finally convinces the deathly ill man to return to the ship where he finally dies. Upon his death, Kurtz’s facial expression causes Marlow to feel as though he may be seeing his entire life passing just before it ends; and finally, he murmurs his final words “The horror! The horror!” (Conrad, p. 64).
Ending in death most foul, “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” feature revenge and a painstaking cruelty. Pushed to the point of insanity and retribution sought over trivialities, the narrators tell each story by their own personal account. The delivery of their confessions gives a chilling depth to the crimes they have committed and to the men themselves. Both men are motivated by their egos and their obsessions with their offenders. Prompted by their own delusions, each man seeks a violent vengeance against his opposition in the form of precise, premeditated homicide.
Jorge Luis Borges possesses writing styles unlike others of his time. Through his series of works, he has acquired the title of "the greatest living writer in the Spanish language." The particular example of work that I read, titled "Ficciones," was a definite portrayal of his culture. The book was not merely a list of facts from his birth country; instead the real cultural knowledge came from his writing style. The book consisted of two parts; each part was broken up into stories. Each one, despite being fiction, is a painting of his experiences, and the cultures of Buenos Aires. Among his themes are myths passed down through the families in his country. I thought that the stories that were contained in this collection were very educational. When finally taking a minute to analyze, and find deeper meaning to the tales, I discovered that they all posses what he has known in his life. He is easily distinguishable in his works. Now that I have thoroughly made it clear of his uniqueness, it will be easier for me to explain my next opinion. I thought that the writing style of Jorge Luis Borges was extremely exciting. He possesses the ability to capture his readers by fully utilizing the writing style known as irony. I found that irony is a large part of his works. He makes sure that the climax of the particular piece is not revealed until the conclusion of the story. A strong example of this was in a piece entitled "The Garden of Forking Paths." Bo...
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.
...He is forced to see that the new hedonism he embraces with open arms is not without price to himself and those around him. It leads him deeper and deeper into sin and depravity until he cannot be redeemed for his faults. In a fit of madness he decides he no longer wants to have his own faults, the results of his impulsive, narcissistic, and selfish behavior visible to him. He takes a knife to the canvass and, in doing so, ends his own life. A life devoted to following his impulses without tempering them with reason, a life of thinking only of his own selfish desires and disregarding the hurt caused to the people around him. The legacy begotten by new hedonism.
...on, which General Petronio San Roman was a hero of. The dialogue throughout the book stays believable, even though the reports were unordinary the characters responded as if they were ordinary. Such as the narrator saying that he believed that Pedro was awake for months. It is this reality-based core with real people and places, a recognizable setting and believable conversation that enables Marquez to twist in the magical details giving this novel the genre of magical realism.
The settings in his writings are similar because they are dark and eerie. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, the setting is described
Cien Anos de Soledad Style in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude is closely linked to myth. Marquez chooses magic realism over the literal, thereby placing the novel's emphasis on the surreal. To complement this style, time in One Hundred Years of Solitude is also mythical, simultaneously incorporating circular and linear structure (McMurray 76).