Magical Realism in the Continuity of Parks

He magical realism It is a narrative strategy used mainly by Latin American writers. It is characterized by the inclusion of fantastic or mythical elements in an apparently realistic fiction. Some scholars define it as the logical outcome of postcolonial writing.

They affirm that, through magical realism, the facts are presented in at least two separate realities: that of the conquerors and the conquered. For its part, or Other scholars explain that it differs from pure fantasy, mainly because it is set in a normal and modern world.

Julio Cortázar, representative of magical realism

His descriptions of humans and society in general are authentic. Its objective is to take advantage of the paradox of the union of opposites; then, it challenges binary oppositions such as life and death, or the precolonial past against the post-industrial present. Thus, this narrative strategy implies the fusion of the real and the fantastic.

The presence of the supernatural in magical realism is opposed to European rationality, amalgamating realism and fantasy. On the other hand, some critics maintain that it offers a vision of the world that is not based on natural or physical laws, nor on objective reality. However, the fictional world is not separate from reality either.

Now, there is a coincidence that magical realism is an expression of the reality of the New World. It is a combination of rational elements of a European civilization and irrational elements of a primitive America.

Some terms that have been used to describe the magical realistic writing in different parts of the world are: crazy realism, fabulism, interstitial writing, unrealism, the marvelous real, magicorealism, the wonderful reality, McOndo, mystic realism, mythical realism, new wave, postmodern writing, realistic magicism, slipstream and social realism.

Index

• 1 Origin
  • 1.1 Genesis of the term
  • 1.2 Expansion in Latin America
  • 1.3 Magical realism in the rest of the world
• 2 characteristics
  • 2.1 Narrative of the facts
  • 2.2 Hybrid character of the stories
  • 2.3 Incorporation of the myth
  • 2.4 The novel and short stories as preferred categories
  • 2.5 Non-linear character of time
  • 2.6 Political criticism as background material
• 3 Magical realism in Colombia
• 4 Magical realism in Mexico
• 5 Authors and featured books
  • 5.1 Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • 5.2 Laura Esquivel
  • 5.3 Carlos Fuentes
  • 5.4 Isabel Allende
  • 5.5 Julio Cortazar
  • 5.6 Representatives in other latitudes
• 6 References

Origin

Genesis of the term

The term magical realism was coined for the first time in 1925 by Franz Roh, a German art critic. He used it to describe a style of painting of his time that represented pictorially the enigmas of reality.

A few years later, in the 1940s, the concept crossed the ocean to South America. There he adapted to the field of literature and was popularized by Latin American authors.

In itself, Latin American magical-realistic literature originated with two novels: Corn men , by the Guatemalan writer Miguel Ángel Asturias, and The kingdom of this world , of the Cuban Alejo Carpentier.

These writers combined Roh's original theories of magical realism with French surrealist concepts of the marvelous and their own indigenous mythologies.

Like its counterpart in painting, the frame of reference for this style of writing was the exotic natural environment, the native cultures and the tumultuous political histories.

In 1949 Alejo Carpentier wrote an essay on this subject. Influenced by this, in the 1950s several Latin American authors adopted the style, and combined it with French surrealist concepts and with folklore.

Expansion in Latin America

Subsequently, other writers from Latin America, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Carlos Fuentes and Julio Cortázar, also used elements of magic and fantasy in their works.

Then, in 1970, the English version of the One hundred years of loneliness by Gabriel García Márquez. Then, the movement became an international phenomenon.

Later, writers such as Isabel Allende (Chile) and Laura Esquivel (Mexico) became part of the later developments of this narrative style. With their contribution, they helped to give a new focus to women's problems and to the perceptions of their reality.

Magical realism in the rest of the world

While the Hispanic writers were, and continue to be, a great influence in the modern realistic magical literature, the style is not limited to a specific time or place.

In fact, writers from all over the world have adopted and adapted magical realism, adapting it to their own cultures and within their own frame of reference.

For example, in American and British literature magical realism has been a popular genre since the 1960s. It has also been an important branch of postmodernism; Franz Kafka (author of Metamorphosis ) is considered a precursor of the genre, although for its time the term magical realism was not yet used.

characteristics

Narrative of the facts

In magical realism literature the most fantastic and reckless things are told in a very practical way.

Everything is described as if it were ordinary situations in real life. This makes the fantastic elements of the story seem more realistic: the facts are narrated as if they could really happen.

Hybrid character of the stories

In magical realism the intention is to combine opposites. The fantastic is mixed with the mundane, the ordinary with the extraordinary, life in dreams with waking life, reality and unreality.

Often unrelated elements are mixed together, and there is no anticipatory thinking about the result.

Incorporation of the myth

Often, writers of magical realism are inspired and take material belonging to all kinds of myths. These can be ancient myths, modern, religious or of any kind.

The novel and short stories as preferred categories

Magical realism has its preferential domain in novels and short stories. This is because this type of prose narrative has flexibility as a fundamental characteristic.

In this way, writings can be enriched with a good dose of magic, without necessarily losing that sense of reality.

Non-linear character of time

In magical realism, time is not something predictable and reliable that progresses from one second to the next (it is not linear). Sometimes it repeats itself instead of moving forward, or it zigzags everywhere, leaping forward or staying still.

Political criticism as background material

Magical realism offers a way to critically criticize power structures. Despite all the fantastic and extraordinary elements present in the narrative, you can always read the political criticism between the lines.

Magical realism in Colombia

According to the critic, the realistic magical narrative of Colombia dates back to the 1850s with the work of Rodríguez Freyle, The RAM (1859).

In addition, another of the Colombian writers who used this style was Hector Rojas Herazo. The works Breathing summer (1962), In November the archbishop arrives (1967) and Celia rots (1985) are part of their production.

However, the highest representative of New Granada is Gabriel García Márquez. His masterpiece, One hundred years of loneliness (1967), deals with war, suffering and death.

In general, García Márquez's purpose in portraying the politics of the region was to comment on how the nature of Latin American politics always tends towards absurdity; abound in this denial and endless repetitions of the tragedy.

Thus, the magical style of his work fuses fantastically with reality, presenting the reader with his version of Colombia.

In this version myths, portents and legends coexist with technology and modernity. These myths, along with other elements and events in the novel, narrate a large part of Colombian history.

Magical realism in Mexico

The rich Mexican magical realistic narrative of the twentieth century has been nourished mainly by the components of Mexican national identity and mestizo culture.

This narrative was created from the mixture of European and indigenous cultures and races, but has also been fed by the prehispanic tradition of its inhabitants.

After the war between EE. UU and Mexico (1846-1848), Chicanos occupying the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and California joined the movement.

Since the mid-1970s there has been a conscious and consistent relationship between Chicano and Mexican literature. However, the influence on his narrative is older: in the 1950s Mexican novels became increasingly experimental, entering the realms of surrealism and magical realism.

For example, Pedro Paramo (1955) by Juan Rulfo and Memories of the future (1963) by Elena Garro exerted an immense influence on contemporary Mexican and Chicano writers.

Authors and featured books

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

In One hundred years of loneliness García Márquez tells the story of Macondo, an isolated town whose history is similar to the history of Latin America on a reduced scale. This combines realistic scenarios with fantastic episodes.

Like many other Latin American authors, this practice of mixing historical facts and stories with examples of the fantastic derived from the Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier, considered one of the founders of magical realism.

In history, the inhabitants of Macondo are driven by elemental passions-lust, greed, thirst for power-that are frustrated by social, political or natural forces.

Among other creations of this laureate author are: The autumn of the patriarch (1975), A Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981), Love in the times of cholera (1985) and The general in his labyrinth (1989).

Laura Esquivel

Your main production, Like water for Chocolate (1989), represents one of his most outstanding works. The book was successful and served as an argument for a movie with the same name. In 1992 the Mexican Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences awarded this film in 10 different lines.

Among other works of his authorship can be mentioned The law of love (nineteen ninety five), As fast as desire (2004) and Lupita likes to iron (2014).

Carlos Fuentes

One of the most important works of Carlos Fuentes is The death of Artemio Cruz (1962). This novel narrates, between the past and the present, the life of a former soldier of the Mexican Revolution who has become rich and powerful through corruption.

Other of his productions inscribed within this genre include The most transparent region (1958) and Aura (1962).

Isabel Allende

Chilean writer Isabel Allende has captivated her readers, not only for her distinctive combination of expert magical realism techniques, but also for her political and social vision, and the emphasis on gender, patriarchy and machismo.

One of his most recognized works is The House of Spirits (1982). It is a sinuous and often mystical story. Through the example of a high-class Latin American family, the author explores the fissures of gender, class and political loyalty that tore a large part of the continent during the 20th century.

The island under the sea , Agnes of my soul , Eva Luna Y My country invented They are among the creations of this Chilean author.

Julio Cortazar

Julio Cortázar, writer and Argentine storyteller, combined the existential questioning with other techniques of experimental writing in his works. Magical realism was one of these.

Two works by Cortázar written in the 1950s, Bestiary Y Continuity of Parks , testify the use of this narrative strategy.

Bestiary is a collection of stories in which humor, absurdity and fantasy are combined. On the other hand, Continuity of Parks is one of the 18 stories that appear in his book End of game .

Especially in the book End of game fiction and reality are intertwined in a perfectly circular history. This story has become one of the most discussed in world literature.

Representatives in other latitudes

While it is true that Latin American writers have popularized magical realism, in other parts of the world they also have important representatives. Between the authors cultores of this sort in the world they can be mentioned:

- Günter Grass (Germany): The tin drum (1959)

- Kobo Abe (Japan): The alien face (1967)

- Italo Calvino (Italy): Invisible cities (1972)

- Jack Hodgins (Canada): The invention of the world (1977)

- Milan Kundera (Czechoslovakia): The inmortality (1988)

- Arundhati Roy (India): The God of Small Things (1996)

- Peter Høeg (Denmark): The century of dreams (2002)

- Gina Nahai (Iran): Midnight on the Avenue of Faith (2008)

References

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2014, April 22). Magic realism Taken from britannica.com.
2. Mathews, R. (2016, November 21). What Is Magical Realism in Literature? Taken from penandthepad.com
3. Sellman, T. K. and Deefholts, S. (2004, January 20). Magical Realism: What's in a Name? Taken from oprah.com.
4. Encyclopedia. (s / f). Magic Realism Taken from encyclopedia.com.
5. Schwenz, C. L. (2014, June 21). Magical Realism Taken from scholarblogs.emory.edu.
6. Witte, M. (2015, July 15). What Is Magical Realism? Taken from michellewittebooks.com.
7. Suárez E. C. A. al (2002). Colombia: encyclopedic guide, history, geography, art literature, universal and Colombian atlas. Bogotá: Editorial Norma
8. Noriega Sánchez. M. R. (2002). Challenging Realities: Magic Realism in Contemporary American Women's Fiction. València: University of Valencia.
9. González Echevarría, R. (2018, February 27). Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Taken from britannica.com.

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