MAGICAL REALISM
What is
magical realism
Magic realism or magical realism is
an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in
which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these
magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that
places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of
thought.
Magic realism is a literary
form in which odd, eerie, and dreamlike tales are related as if the events were
commonplace. Its literary and artistic applications are aimed to re-imagine the
world and its reality. There are multiple stylistic traits of magic realism.
The key, however, is rejection of subjectivity and emotionalism, simultaneity
of past, present and future and defamiliarisation. Magic realism however, is
not subject to natural or physical laws.
Primary Characteristics of magical realism:
•
An
"irreducible" magic which cannot be explained by typical notions of
natural law.
•
A
realist description that stresses normal, common, every-day phenomena, which is
then revised or "refelt" by the marvelous. Extreme or amplified
states of mind or setting are often used to accomplish this. (This
distinguishes the genre from pure myth or fantasy.)
•
It
causes the reader to be drawn between the two views of reality.
•
These
two visions or realms nearly merge or intersect.
•
The text
may employ a "verbal magic" where metaphors are treated as reality.
•
Repetitions,
as well as mirror reversals, are employed.
•
Metamorphoses
take place.
•
Magic
often is used against the established order.
•
Collective
symbols and myths rather than individual ones haunt the work.
Magical realism calls on certain reading strategies:
•
Magical
realism has a tendency to defamiliarize the scene for readers.
Readers learn that they have not come entirely ready to understand the situation,
that what we thought we knew is found to be strange, for it has something
entirely unexpected to teach us.
•
Magical
realism’s readers learn "border skipping" because
they must move between fabulism and realism.
•
Magical
realism in some forms can be understood as a post-colonial move that
seeks to resist European notions of naturalism or realism.
Magical
realism in art
Magic Realism
developed as an art movement in the years after World War I . For many decades
thereafter numerous artists throughout Europe and subsequently in the Americas
crafted a representational art, mixed with elements of fantasy. This art was
often typified by remarkable detail and sharp focus. Yet more importantly Magic
Realism taps into emotional reservoirs within all of us. It tricks us by hiding
unexpected or suggestive content in what at first might seem to be a common or
ordinary scene.
Magical
realism by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Gabriel García
Márquez uses the technique of magical realism in his novels as well as his
short stories. Marquez uses magical realism to blend reality and fantasy so
that the distinction between the two erases. An example of this technique comes
from the story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" where an angel
falls to the Earth because of a violent rainstorm. When the angel is found by
Pelayo and Elisenda, they are shocked to see an angel, and yet they never
question its existence. The reality of the situation is never mistrusted;
however, the angel itself is an astounding manifestation. This story demonstrates Marquez's ability to
tell a fairy tale or folk tale in a realistic manner while incorporating the
magic of the angel. The angel is the catalyst for the family's recovery from
destitution. Before the arrival of the angel, they are a simple, poor family
with a dying son. Once the angel is captured, the son recovers and the family
uses the angel for financial gain.
Marquez shows us
true human nature. An incredible being falls to the Earth and the humans use it
to make a fast buck. Eventually, the family grows to resent the angel and they
wish it would vanish. Instead of the simplistic, happy ending of the ordinary
fairy tale, the characters are allowed to exploit Nature until it flies off
without a word. Consequently, the angel is never allowed to fulfil his destiny
which was to take the soul of the dying child.
Magical
realism in one hundred years of solitude
One Hundred Years
of Solitude is an exemplary
piece of magical realism, in which the supernatural is presented as mundane,
and the mundane as supernatural or extraordinary. The novel presents a
fictional story in a fictional setting. He carefully balances realistic
elements of life, like poverty and housecleaning, with outrageous instances,
like a levitating priest.
There are many
purposes of this. One is to introduce the reader to Marquez's Colombia, where
myths, portents, and legends exist side by side with technology and modernity.
Another reason for this leads the reader to question what is real and what is
fantastic, especially in the realm of politics. The use of real events and
Colombian history by Garcia Marquez makes One Hundred Years of
Solitude an excellent example of magical realism.In this novel myth and history inadvertently overlap. The myth
acts as a vehicle to transmit history to the reader. It can furthermore be
referred to as anthropology, where truth is found in language and myth.
There are three main mythical elements of the
novel: classical stories alluding to foundations and origins, characters
resembling mythical heroes, and supernatural elements.
There is something
clearly magical about the world of Macondo. It is a state of mind as much as,
or more than, a geographical place. For example, one learns very little about
its actual physical layout. Furthermore, once in it, the reader must be
prepared to meet whatever the imagination of the author presents to him or her.
Garcia Marquez blends real with the magical through the masterful use of tone
and narration. He reinforces this effect through the unastonishing tone in
which the book is written. This tone restricts the ability of the reader to
question the events of the novel; however, it also causes the reader to call
into question the limits of reality. Garcia Marquez also illustrates magic
realism with the description of his characters. In describing Melquedes, he
says, "He is a fugitive from all plagues
and catastrophes that had ever lashed mankind". This a very difficult
statement to believe. But he is able to make unbelievable ideas seem possible.
Sources
•
Magic
Realism in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude by B.J Geetha
Periyar University, India
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