Magical Realism

1
Magic(al) Realism

• Definition
• Origin
• Functions
• Reading Agreement
• Possibilty vs plausibility

2
Magic(al) Realism - Definition

• The introduction of magical devices or magic in
  general within a believable (realist) story,
  without any disruption of the logic of the story.

3
Magic(al) Realism - Definition

• Magic has to be presented as a normal aspect of
  this somewhat  normal  universe, not a
  phenomenon but an integral part of it.

4
Magic(al) Realism - Definition

• Characters of the story consider magic as some
  usual possibility of their world. Its occurrences
  might be rare or even almost forgotten, but magic
  is nonetheless as serious a topic in these
  fictions as chemistry or quantum physics in our
  world.

5
Magic(al) Realism - Definition

• Characters of the story consider magic as some
  usual possibility of their world. Its occurrences
  might be rare or even almost forgotten, but magic
  is nonetheless as serious a topic in these
  fictions as chemistry or quantum physics in our
  world.

6
Magical Realism vs Fantasy

• In fantastic literature, a new universe is
  introduced to the reader, with its laws (natural
  as well as artificial), its regularities, its
  objects, its people, its forces, etc.This world
  is completely different from ours, or has enough
  differences so that we (readers) need
  explanations to understand it correctly.

7
Magic Realism vs Fantasy

• In magic realist literature, the world depicted
  is ours, with one major new component magic is a
  possibility (and an actuality) within it. There
  shouldnt be any need to explain what is going on
  in this world, its laws, its people, etc. We
  already know that since it is a fictional
  reproduction of our world.

8
Examples of fantastic worlds

• Star Trek Far future, new worlds, new races, new
  laws that have to be explained.
• Spock (Vulcans)
• Data
• Numerous amazones wearing miniature latex skirts
  capable of mind control, ...

9
Examples of fantastic worlds

• Myst
• Lord of the Rings
• Different world
• Different species (elves, etc.)
• Different technologies.
• Etc.

10
Examples of magical realism

• Short stories
•  The Nose , Gogol
•  The Metamorphosis , Kafka
•  The Enormous Radio , Cheever
• Fictions, Borges
• Novels
• One Hundred Years of Solitude, Marquez
• The Alchemist, Coehlo

11
Examples of magical realism

• Films
• Like Water for Chocolate, Alfonso Arau (1992)
• Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson (1999)
• Being John Malkovich, Jonze (1999)
• Pleasantville ?

12
Origin of magical realism

• 1925 Franz Roh, German Art critic. New form of
  painting. New way to look at the paintings, new
  techniques as well, not the content of the
  painting per se.
• 1949 Alejo Carpentier, South American author
  term  marvelous reality  to describe the type
  of fiction produced by new authors (Borges
  (Ficciones, 1935-1944), especially).

13
Origin of magical realism

• 1925 Franz Roh, German Art critic. New form of
  painting. New way to look at the paintings, new
  techniques as well, not the content of the
  painting per se.
• 1949 Alejo Carpentier, South American author
  term  marvelous reality  to describe the type
  of fiction produced by new authors (Borges
  (Ficciones, 1935-1944), especially).

14
Origin of magical realism

• Proliferation of magic realist texts from the 40s
  onward
• Cortazar, Marquez, Fuentes, Llosa, Allende.
• Rushdie, Suskind, etc.

15
Function of magical realism

• Response to colonialism (post-colonialism)In
  reaction to the dominant, European culture, which
  imposed on South America its laws, its rules, its
  ways and customs, its logic and its discourses,
  South American writers began subverting
   scientific  and  logical  literature by
  letting minor voices compete with the major ones.
  

16
Function of magical realism

• Response to colonialism (post-colonialism)These
  minor voices could be
• folklore
• myths
• Indian tales
• urban legends
• etc.

17
Function of magical realism

• South America has always been fractured by wars,
  by conflicts, by changing frontiers, by
  miscegenation, by political uncertainties,
  Magical realism was a way to grasp more
  adequately the complexity of South American
  oppositions while using local discourses.

18
Function of magical realism

• South America has always been fractured by wars,
  by conflicts, by changing frontiers, by
  miscegenation, by political uncertainties, by a
  multitude of spiritual and religious beliefs,
  Magical realism was a way to grasp more
  adequately the complexity of South American
  oppositions while using local discourses.

19
Function of magical realism

• Giving a forum where their pagan gods, cleansed
  by the European conquerors, can  express
  themselves .
• A way to show South Americas unicity, its major
  differences with the  Mother Country , i.e.
  Spain (or Portugal).

20
Function of magical realism

• Primarily, a way to displace the Power of the
  voice (or of the discourse) away from the primary
  authority.
• A way to become a voice of its own.
• Normally done in conjunction with political and
  economical nationalism.

21
Reading Agreement

• For magical realism to function, there needs to
  be some implicit agreement, between the author
  and the reader, stating that the reader has to
  accept some incongruities (reality-wise).
• Reading Agreement Status of the text, how it is
  supposed to be read.

22
Reading Agreement

• Examples
• In Maus, you have to accept the use of animals to
  represent humans. It will determine the way you
  will be looking at the text. If you dont
   sign  the agreement, there will be a space of
  friction between the fiction and yourself as
  reader.
• In Magnolia, a new element arises and you have to
  incorporate it. How do you do so?(Magnolia
  clip).

23
Possibility vs Plausibility

• Possibility
• Everything that can happen according to the laws
  of a universe of reference.
• Plausibility
• within the bounds of credibility and of
  probability.Ex Ex students in class
  (Girlfriend, son, daughter).

24
Possibility vs Plausibility

• Trust you put in the narrator (reasons for lying,
  for playing games, etc.)
• Amount of knowledge you acquired about the world
  of reference.
• Reading agreement.

25
Possibility vs Plausibility

• Examples
• Arlington Road
• Alien
• James Bond movies
•  The Metamorphosis , by Kafka.

26
Workshop question

• Are the books read for the  Magic  section
  magical realist works of fiction ? Would they
  rather be fantastic or science-fiction novels?
  Use examples from the books to support your
  argumentation.
• How is magic (or supernatural) introduced in the
  novel?
• Is there a gap between users and non-users of
  magic ?
• How are users of magic considered by the
  non-users?
• How does someone become a user of magic
  (genealogy, genetics, random, part of a species,
  )
• What can you say about the possibility/plausibilit
  y status of the novel.
• What kind of reading agreement has to be
  established between the author and the reader.