![]() ![]() ![]() The worlds that they create are a combination of the regular world that we all know (cars, streets, houses, friends, family) and the crazy stuff that we don't come across normally (people growing wings or turning into bugs). Magic Realists write about the mundane alongside the fantastic. So, you know, that's the "Realism" part of "Magic Realism." Like, seriously, totally everyday stuff: cleaning the house, going to your job in an office, arguing with your wife or parents. And here's why: while Magic Realists do write about extraordinary things and events, they also write about regular stuff. So now you may be asking: if Magic Realists are obsessed with the fantastic and writing about the fantastic, doesn't that just make them fantasy writers? Nope. Here's the quote (Quote #2) from Midnight's Children. ![]() He characterizes one of his Midnight's Children, Soumitra, as a clairvoyant, like Cassandra in Greek myth. Salman Rushdie has sure read his Greek mythology. Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude recalls myth: in fact, it takes us back right to the very beginnings of time in this quote (Quote #1). Political structures are temporary, but myths have survived for centuries, and they have helped form collective identities stronger than political categories and affiliations. For Latin American writers, in particular, incorporating myth into their work is one form of political critique. On top of that, though, myths are also ancient, collective stories of a given people. For one thing, myths are a ready source of fantastic happenings pretty much anything can and does happen in myths. Magic Realist writers often draw inspiration and material from all kinds of myths-ancient myths, modern myths, religious myths and all sorts of other myths. Here (Quote #3) is the narrator of One Hundred Years of Solitude describing a priest levitating in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice.Ĭheck out Franz Kafka's deadpan first sentence (Quote #1) describing the transformation of Gregor Samsa into a bug in his story Metamorphosis. I continued eating my Cheerios." Here, the same thing is described as if it's the most normal thing in the world-and that makes the fantastic elements of the story feel more realistic, as if they could actually happen. That could never actually happen."īut how about this?: "My mom was making coffee this morning when she got on her knees, started barking and then turned into a dog. If a writer wrote something like, "OMG! OMG! When I walked into the kitchen, my mom dropped on all fours and turned into a dog! I ran screaming from the room," you'd probably think, "Wow, that is so weird. Little fairies came to dress you for school this morning? We've all been there. Your wallpaper started talking to you? Happens everyday. Your mom turned into a German shepherd? No biggie. In Magic Realist literature, the most fantastic, crazy things are told in a very matter-of-fact way. ![]()
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