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The History and Theory of Magical Realism Magical Realism is one of today's most popular subjects in literature to discuss regarding its history and theory of Magical Realism. It began in the Latin culture and now is known word wide for its attributes. Magical Realism is even rivaling some of the great masterpieces of modern and past literature. Someday Magical Realism will be recognized and respected just as the classics are today. 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. Magical realism is the writing of Spanish and Latin American au... ... middle of paper ... ...er's mind. Perhaps in music, Magical Realism has the most effect on the masses. Although most people might not realize they are being affected by Magical Realism, in actuality they are dealing with it everyday. As a conclusion to the statements above, one must remember that Magical Realism is neither Science Fiction nor Magical Literature. Rather, it is in everyday life and is all around. Magical Realism is also not to be underestimated; it includes works, which are legendary. Works Cited Flores, Angel." Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction." Magical Realism:Theory, History, Community.Ed.Louis Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B.Faris.Durham,N.C.: Duke UP, 1995:109-117. Leal, Luis." Magical Realism in Spanish American Literature." Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Ed.Louis Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris.Durham, N.C: Duke UP, 1995:119-124.
“It must be understood that we cannot feed the people” (Kinealy Calamity 75). The mid 1800s in Ireland were characterized by extreme poverty, death, and emigration. The Great Potato Famine, also known as “The Great Hunger,” first hit in 1845; however, its effects lasted into the 1850s and can still be seen today. Prior to the famine, Irish manufacture and trade was controlled and suppressed by British government, which made Ireland an extremely poor country. Farmers in Ireland were forced to export crops such as corn, wheat, and oats to Britain, which left the potato as the main dietary staple for the people, especially the poor. Therefore, when the fungus Phytophthora infestans caused some, and eventually all, of the crop to rot over the next couple of years, the reliance on the one crop made the people of Ireland extremely susceptible to the famine. The effects were devastating, and poverty spread across the nation causing a huge increase in homelessness, the death-rate, emigration, and a change in the Irish people and country overall.
...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.
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.
Javert, Valjean, and Thénardier are all characterized through imagery of animals. Javert is the fierce tiger, Valjean is the powerful and intelligent lion, and Thénardier is the sly snake and crafty cat. Hugo develops his characters even further by connecting them to animals. Metaphors and imagery are powerful literary devices that can raise an average story into an amazing novel. They make stories more interesting and give the reader a new level of understanding of the book.
For the purposes of this paper, I would like to adopt the synthesized definition editors Zamora and Faris distill from several key writers and academics featured in the anthology/reader Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community:
The book Seventh Heaven was written by an American author by the name of Alice Hoffman. Seventh Heaven was published in the year of 1990. Seventh Heaven was a book based on life in the suburbs and the spiritual essence of the people who lived there. The author who wrote this story seemed to make the essence known that magical realism was definitely about these people and that they lived it everyday. Magical Realism lived everyday and will keep living as long as there is life on earth. Wendy B. Faris is an author that has written many stories. During the course of this story, things happened physically and magically that no one could explain
The controversy surrounding Magical Realism makes the classification of what is and what is not Magical Realism very difficult. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a famous Latin American author, has written many pieces of what is generally conceived to be Magical Realism. Marqez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" fulfills every characteristic of Magical Realism..
Your imagination has no limits. What exactly is magic realism, you might be asking yourself. Well, if you have ever seen Godzilla you have seen magic realism. Magic Realism is a type of dream or fantasy that is mixed into the real world. How does magic realism make you feel? Why does magic realism occur? How does magic realism affect the world? These are just a few of the fascinating questions we will uncover using the short stories we have just read. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Light is Like Water by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and My Life with the Wave by Octavio Paz. Magic realism used in these short stories paints a vivid image into someone elses imaginary life, where the real world and the fantasy world meet in a meticulously realistic style. (Webster, 2013)
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.
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.
While there may be some debate as to whether the Argentinian Jorge Luis Borges was technically a Magical Realist, some may feel that his works definitely do have some of the characteristics of what is considered Magical Realistic literature. Among his various types of works are poetry, essays, fantasies, and short fictions. Often referred to in essays that discuss the history and theory of Magical Realism, "The Garden of Forking Paths" is probably Borges' most popular short story. Published in 1964 in a collection of Borges works entitled Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings, his short story "The Garden of Forking Paths" appears to have several of the elements of Magical Realism.
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.
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.
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.