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Magic Realism

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Inderjit S

New Member
Who here likes magic realism? If so, which novels do you like best? Salman Rushdie’s ‘Midnights Children' and 'The Satanic Verses'? Bulgakov's 'The Master and Margarita'? Günter Grass's 'The Tin Drum'? Gabriel García Márquez's '100 Years of Solitude' and 'Love In The Time Of Cholera'?

It would be nice to discuss this brilliant literary technique here.
 
More often called Magical Realism, it is a method of writing where very unusual/supernatural things are described in a very matter-of-fact way, as just another part of the story. I'm sure there's a better definition, but that's how I think of it.

I like Marquez, tho he can be a challenging read, and I enjoyed "The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts" and its sequels, by Louis de Bernieres. Alice Hoffman sometimes has this sort of flavor, too, as in Practical Magic.
 
Yes, as Ashlea says that is magic realism. I would add that also the characters within the narrative often don't act surprised when thease magical events happens. For example, in a tradational novel where a cat speaks those viewing the speaking cat might show shock or comment on a talking cat! Within magical realism it would just be another event.

But as with anything if you ask a 100 people you will get 100 slightly different answers :)

If you like magical realism then have a look at Margin It's an onlline magazine for magic realism. It has stories, poetry, articles and reviews! Also, you can find a very long list of magic realism authors and their novels.

As for me, I really love magical realism! It's my fav :D

As for fav novel or author then I will have to say Marquez and 100 Years Of Solitude
 
I like Marquez. I would have to say my favorite is Chronicle of a Death Foretold, though I'm not entirely sure that fits into the category of Magical Realism. I'm planning on reading Love In the Time Of Cholera soon, I'm glad the general opinion seems to be that it's a good read.
 
Yeah, I really like that. I think, peronally, this is his most poetic work that I have read of him. Very good story and beautiful prose :)

I have not read Death Fortold but I will at some point. At some point I will read everything the man has written. Genius :)

Have you read 100 Years of Solitude?
 
I'm also quite a fan of Magic Realism. 100 Years of Solitude was my introduction to the genre, so it will always be special to me. However, there are plenty of others to be read. I am particularly astounded by Chuck Rosenthal's Loop Trilogy (all now sadly out of print). Calvino's Invisible Cities, while stretching the definition, was quite good. And, of course, Jorge Luis Borges.
 
Personally, I think that 'The Master and Margarita' just about edges out '100 Years of Solitude as my favourite 'magic realism' novel. 'The Master and Margarita' is an utterly brilliant, page-turning, funny and moving book-it is brilliance epitomised. '100 Years of Solitude' is great too-though 'The Master and Margarita' is a lot less complicated and, in my opinion is an easier read. Salman Rushdie's novels are also brilliant and funny, and Grass's The Tin Drum is great.

What about the political messages in magical realism novels?

Anti-communism, anti-Nazism and criticisms of the political situations in Columbia and India. (Marquez and Rushdie.) Magical realism seems to be a good vehicle for authors to vent their frustrations with the political situation in their countries.

Why do authors use magic realism to attack despotism? Is it an inconspicuous way of attacking the negative political situation in their country? Why so? Is it similar to allegory in that respect?
 
I'd sooner think that Magic Realism is the natural reaction of any author to particularly desperate or miserable conditions. In the final analysis, their naarative, their thoughts as it were, are the only things they can completely control, the only things which are potentially immune to their sorroundings.

I'm sure, too, that in the case of repressive political regimes, Magic Realism does make it safer to express certain opinions.
 
That is to say, that rather than authors choosing to attack despotism through Magic Realism, that despotism is more likely to produce the mental attitudes which naturally find expression in fantasy, or Magic Realism.
 
Inderjit S said:
Personally, I think that 'The Master and Margarita' just about edges out '100 Years of Solitude as my favourite 'magic realism' novel. 'The Master and Margarita' is an utterly brilliant, page-turning, funny and moving book-it is brilliance epitomised. '100 Years of Solitude' is great too-though 'The Master and Margarita' is a lot less complicated and, in my opinion is an easier read. Salman Rushdie's novels are also brilliant and funny, and Grass's The Tin Drum is great.

What about the political messages in magical realism novels?

Anti-communism, anti-Nazism and criticisms of the political situations in Columbia and India. (Marquez and Rushdie.) Magical realism seems to be a good vehicle for authors to vent their frustrations with the political situation in their countries.

Why do authors use magic realism to attack despotism? Is it an inconspicuous way of attacking the negative political situation in their country? Why so? Is it similar to allegory in that respect?
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I don't think it is used for that.

There are a lot of authors writing in the magical realism style. Some write to be funny. Some write to simply tell a story. Some write about politics. Some write about art. Some write about war. And so on and so on. I don't think any particular genre is used to write about a certain subject and magic realism is no different. It's simply a way genre, nothing more.
 
I have no doubt that there are a lot of authors who write magical realism simply for the sake of it, not to further their own political agenda, but of all the magical realism books that I have read, all of them seem to have something to do with politics. Also check out this link-though the person does point out that magical realism has spread beyond the confines of politics. So it started out as a political critique but soon evolved into a literary technique.
 
What the article actually says is
Note that magic realism often arises in societies with repressive, authoritarian, or totalitarian governments, and may represent an accommodation to a severely dangerous form of political reality. On the other hand, magic realism has spread beyond these confines.
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It does not say it's about politics only that it often comes from countries that have repressive governments.

I really don't see how magical realism can be about politics. It's simply a style of writing. And if I am very much mistaken, 100 years of solitude isnt about politics, although it touches on it at some points.
 
Note that magic realism often arises in societies with repressive, authoritarian, or totalitarian governments, and may represent an accommodation to a severely dangerous form of political reality
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If it involves governments then it involves politics. I also never said it was wholly about politics, "all of them seem to have something to do with politics."
 
Inderjit S said:
If it involves governments then it involves politics. I also never said it was wholly about politics, "all of them seem to have something to do with politics."
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It is very popular in writers from South American countries, which often have political problems that are addressed in the literature. So I would not say that all have something to do with politics as much as many of them, being South American, also touch on politics.
 
Ummm, you said what I was trying to say :eek: Thanks :D

For example: Big novels in the genre such as 100 years and House of Spirits might have touch on them but, centrally and mainly, they are not about politics.

Also there are many authors writing in the genre that are south american and not from a repressive country. Unless you count Mexico as a repressive country. Also, there are many writers now, all over the world, writing in that same style.

There are also many books that don't even touch on politics at all such as "for water like chocolate" by Laura Esquivel.
 
Ashlea said:
It is very popular in writers from South American countries, which often have political problems that are addressed in the literature. So I would not say that all have something to do with politics as much as many of them, being South American, also touch on politics.
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I agree with Ashlea. Since I first experienced magic realism I've associated it with the culture, folklore, traditional hallucinogenic experience, religious practices, and exoticism of those cultures from which it springs.

There is, no doubt, a political facet as well, but the "magic" often reiterates some aspect of indigenous culture--people taking animal shapes, weird shifts in time, the action of the dead upon the living, life-changing visions. While these may be used sometimes to point to a political reality, they more basically circumscribe a lost (Europeanized) culture that still lurks beneath the "real" surface. And, yeah, that is political, but I think that's a secondary description.
 
hmm i going to get away from south america and jump to japan and H.Murakami... In particular; A wild sheep chase, Dance Dance Dance, and Hard Boiled wonderland and the end of the world.
 
if you like magical realism Francesca lia block is the author for you. alice hoffman is also very good, as is neil gaiman.
 
Wabbit said:
For example, in a tradational novel where a cat speaks those viewing the speaking cat might show shock or comment on a talking cat! Within magical realism it would just be another event.
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Like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. Alice gets annoyed with the cat, not because it is talking but because she finds its fadeaway technique disconcerting.

Magic realism has been around for along time in children's literature.
 
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