Introduction to Magical Realism

1. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
MAGICALREALISM

2. MAGICALREALISM
DEFINITIONS & CHARACTERISTICS
• An artistic genre that combines realism with elements of fantasy.
• Combines realism and the fantastic in such a way that magical
elements grow organically out of the reality portrayed.
• Term originates with Latin American novel, which often blends
history, myth, and fantasy (e.g., Gabriel García Márquez’s 1967 novel
One Hundred Years of Solitude)
• Alejo Carpentier, a Cuban novelist, makes reference to “lo real-
maravilloso” (the marvelous-real); he argues that the marvelous is a
feature of everyday life in Latin American and Caribbean.
• Combines physical reality and psychological reality

3. WHYWOULDLATINAMERICANWRITERSGRAVITATETOWARDAGENREOF
FICTIONTHATBREAKSWITHWESTERNANDEUROPEANIDEASABOUT
SCIENCE,FACTS,REASON,ANDOBJECTIVITY?
WHODECIDESWHATISREALORIMAGINARY?

4. Franz Radziwill, "The Object and Morning," 1929

5. Franz Radziwill "Strike," 1931

6. MAGICAL
REALISM

12. Magical Realism in Daytripper