what is magic realism essay

Introduction to Magical Realism

Daily life turns magical in these books and stories

Sean Gallup/Staff/Getty Images

• Best Sellers
• Classic Literature
• Plays & Drama
• Shakespeare
• Short Stories
• Children's Books

• Doctor of Arts, University of Albany, SUNY
• M.S., Literacy Education, University of Albany, SUNY
• B.A., English, Virginia Commonwealth University

Magical realism, or magic realism, is an approach to literature that weaves fantasy and myth into everyday life. What’s real? What’s imaginary? In the world of magical realism, the ordinary becomes extraordinary and the magical becomes commonplace.

Also known as “marvelous realism,” or “fantastic realism,” magical realism is not a style or a genre so much as a way of questioning the nature of reality. In books, stories, poetry, plays, and film, factual narrative and far-flung fantasies combine to reveal insights about society and human nature. The term "magic realism" is also associated with realistic and figurative artworks—paintings, drawings, and sculpture—that suggest hidden meanings. Lifelike images, such as the Frida Kahlo portrait shown above, take on an air of mystery and enchantment.

Strangeness Infused Into Stories

There’s nothing new about infusing strangeness into stories about otherwise ordinary people. Scholars have identified elements of magical realism in Emily Brontë's passionate, haunted Heathcliff (" Wuthering Heights ") and Franz Kafka’s unfortunate Gregor, who turns into a giant insect (" The Metamorphosis "). However, the expression “magical realism” grew out of specific artistic and literary movements that emerged during the mid-20th century.

Art From a Variety of Traditions

In 1925, critic Franz Roh (1890–1965) coined the term Magischer Realismus (Magic Realism) to describe the work of German artists who depicted routine subjects with eerie detachment. By the 1940s and 1950s, critics and scholars were applying the label to art from a variety of traditions. The enormous floral paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986), the psychological self-portraits of Frida Kahlo (1907–1954), and the brooding urban scenes by Edward Hopper (1882–1967) all fall within the realm of magic realism.

A Separate Movement in Literature

In literature, magical realism evolved as a separate movement, apart from the quietly mysterious magic realism of visual artists. Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980) introduced the concept of “ lo real maravilloso " ("the marvelous real") when he published his 1949 essay “On the Marvelous Real in Spanish America.” Carpentier believed that Latin America, with its dramatic history and geography, took on an aura of the fantastic in the eyes of the world. In 1955, literary critic Angel Flores (1900–1992) adopted the term magical realism (as opposed to magic realism) to describe the writings of Latin American authors who transformed “the common and the every day into the awesome and the unreal." 

Latin American Magic Realism

According to Flores, magical realism began with a 1935 story by Argentine writer Jorge Luís Borges (1899–1986). Other critics have credited different writers for launching the movement. However, Borges certainly helped lay the groundwork for Latin American magical realism, which was seen as unique and distinct from the work of European writers like Kafka. Other Hispanic authors from this tradition include Isabel Allende, Miguel Ángel Asturias, Laura Esquivel, Elena Garro, Rómulo Gallegos, Gabriel García Márquez, and Juan Rulfo.

Extraordinary Circumstances Were Expected

"Surrealism runs through the streets," Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014) said in an interview with "The Atlantic . " García Márquez shunned the term “magical realism” because he believed that extraordinary circumstances were an expected part of South American life in his native Columbia. To sample his magical-but-real writing, begin with “ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings " and “ The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World .”

An International Trend

Today, magical realism is viewed as an international trend, finding expression in many countries and cultures. Book reviewers, booksellers, literary agents, publicists, and authors themselves have embraced the label as a way to describe works that infuse realistic scenes with fantasy and legend. Elements of magical realism can be found in writings by Kate Atkinson, Italo Calvino, Angela Carter, Neil Gaiman, Günter Grass, Mark Helprin, Alice Hoffman, Abe Kobo, Haruki Murakami, Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, Derek Walcott, and countless other authors around the world.

6 Key Characteristics of Magical Realism

It’s easy to confuse magical realism with similar forms of imaginative writing. However, fairy tales are not magical realism. Neither are horror stories, ghost stories, science fiction, dystopian fiction, paranormal fiction, absurdist literature, and sword and sorcery fantasy. To fall within the tradition of magical realism, the writing must have most, if not all, of these six characteristics:

1. Situations and Events That Defy Logic: In Laura Esquivel’s lighthearted novel "Like Water for Chocolate," a woman forbidden to marry pours magic into food. In "Beloved," American author Toni Morrison spins a darker tale: An escaped enslaved woman moves into a house haunted by the ghost of an infant who died long ago. These stories are very different, yet both are set in a world where truly anything can happen.

2. Myths and Legends: Much of the strangeness in magic realism derives from folklore, religious parables, allegories, and superstitions. An abiku—a West African spirit child—narrates "The Famished Road" by Ben Okri. Often, legends from divergent places and times are juxtaposed to create startling anachronisms and dense, complex stories. In "A Man Was Going Down The Road," Georgian author Otar Chiladze merges an ancient Greek myth with the devastating events and tumultuous history of his Eurasian homeland near the Black Sea.

3. Historic Context and Societal Concerns: Real-world political events and social movements entwine with fantasy to explore issues such as racism , sexism, intolerance, and other human failings. "Midnight’s Children" by Salman Rushdie is the saga of a man born at the moment of India’s independence. Rushdie’s character is telepathically linked with a thousand magical children born at the same hour and his life mirrors key events of his country.

4. Distorted Time and Sequence: In magical realism, characters may move backward, leap forward, or zigzag between the past and the future. Notice how Gabriel García Márquez treats time in his 1967 novel, "Cien Años de Soledad" ("One Hundred Years of Solitude"). Sudden shifts in narrative and the omnipresence of ghosts and premonitions leave the reader with the sense that events cycle through an endless loop.

5. Real-World Settings: Magic realism is not about space explorers or wizards; "Star Wars" and " Harry Potter " are not examples of the approach. Writing for "The Telegraph," Salman Rushdie noted that “the magic in magic realism has deep roots in the real.” Despite the extraordinary events in their lives, the characters are ordinary people who live in recognizable places.

6. Matter-of-Fact Tone: The most characteristic feature of magical realism is the dispassionate narrative voice. Bizarre events are described in an offhand manner. Characters do not question the surreal situations they find themselves in. For example, in the short book "Our Lives Became Unmanageable," a narrator plays down the drama of her husband's vanishing: “…the Gifford who stood before me, palms outstretched, was no more than a ripple in the atmosphere, a mirage in a gray suit and striped silk tie, and when I reached again, the suit evaporated, leaving only the purple sheen of his lungs and the pink, pulsing thing I'd mistaken for a rose. It was, of course, only his heart.”

Don't Put It in a Box

Literature , like visual art, doesn’t always fit into a tidy box. When Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro published "The Buried Giant ," book reviewers scrambled to identify the genre. The story appears to be a fantasy because it unfolds in a world of dragons and ogres. However, the narration is dispassionate and the fairy tale elements are understated: “But such monsters were not cause for astonishment…there was so much else to worry about.”

Is "The Buried Giant" pure fantasy, or has Ishiguro entered the realm of magical realism? Perhaps books like this belong in genres all their own.

• Arana, Marie. "Review: Kazuo Ishiguro's 'The Buried Giant' defies easy categorization." The Washington Post, February 24, 2015. 
• Craven, Jackie. "Our Lives Became Unmanageable." The Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Prize, Paperback, Omnidawn, October 4, 2016.
• Fetters. Ashley. "The Origins of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Magic Realism." The Atlantic, April 17, 2014.
• Flores, Angel. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction." Hispania, Vol. 38, No. 2, American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, JSTOR, May 1955.
• Ishiguro, Kazuo. "The Buried Giant." Vintage International, Paperback, Reprint edition, Vintage, January 5, 2016.
• Leal, Luis. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Literature." Lois Parkinson Zamora (Editor), Wendy B. Faris, Duke University Press, January 1995.
• McKinlay, Amanda Ellen. "Block magic: categorization, creation, and influence of Francesca Lia Block’s Enchanted America." UBC Theses and Dissertations, The University of British Columbia, 2004.
• Morrison, Rusty. "Paraspheres: Extending Beyond the Spheres of Literary and Genre Fiction: Fabulist and New Wave Fabulist Stories." Paperback, Omnidawn Publishing, June 1, 1967.
• Ríos, Alberto. "Magical Realism: Definitions." Arizona State University, May 23, 2002, Tempe, AZ.
• Rushdie, Salman. "Salman Rushdie on Gabriel García Márquez: 'His world was mine.'" The Telegraph, April 25, 2014.
• Wechsler, Jeffrey. "Magic Realism: Defining the Indefinite." Art Journal. Vol. 45, No. 4, The Visionary Impulse: An American Tendency, CAA, JSTOR, 1985.
• "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings": Study Guide
• Biography of Isabel Allende, Writer of Modern Magical Realism
• 10 Important Contemporary and Late-20th-Century Authors
• Escape Literature
• Biography of Salman Rushdie, Master of the Modern Allegorical Novel
• 'The Great Gatsby' Vocabulary
• Characters' Thoughts and Motivations in Psychological Realism
• Gabriel García Márquez: Writer of Magical Realism
• Biography of Miguel Angel Asturias, Guatemalan Poet and Nobel Laureate
• What Is a Modern Classic in Literature?
• Biography of Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian Playwright
• Magic in 'The Tempest'
• Complete List of Henrik Ibsen Works
• Overview of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'
• A List of Every Nobel Prize Winner in English Literature
• Biography of Louise Erdrich, Native American Author

Kindlepreneur

Book Marketing for Self-Publishing Authors

Home / Book Writing / How to Write Magical Realism: Definition, Examples, and Instructions

How to Write Magical Realism: Definition, Examples, and Instructions

Recently, I've been getting into magical realism, and in this article, I’ll share what I've learned about how to write it, for those who are curious. 

We’ll delve into the history of the style, what constitutes it, developing interesting characters and settings, and how to go about layering magical elements onto a realistic story. 

By the end, you should have everything you need to create your own epic (or, I guess, not so epic) tale within the genre. 

• What magical realism is, and isn’t
• The history and evolution of the style
• How to write magical realism

Table of contents

• What is Magical Realism?
• The History of Magical Realism
• Is Magical Realism the Same as Fantasy?
• Realistic Setting
• Mythological/Folklore Influence
• Subtle Magic
• Societal Critique
• Focus on the Ordinary
• Imagery and Symbolism
• Open-ended Ending
• Understand the Genre
• Draw Inspiration From the Illogical
• Use Quirky News Items
• Craft Complex Characters
• Blend Genres
• Craft Your Prose
• Limit Explanation
• Use Symbolism
• Examples of Magical Realism Books
• Examples of Magical Realism in Film

Magical realism is a genre that incorporates fantastical or mythical elements into an otherwise realistic setting. The magical elements are treated as though they are perfectly normal by both the narrator and the characters. 

Everything in the world seems to be perfectly ordinary, but with magical undercurrent to it. The key difference is that this magic is not explained, and it is subtle. It is simply a part of the world that the narrator and characters are dealing with.

Some key characteristics of magical realism include:

• Realistic setting grounded in the real world
• Matter-of-fact inclusion of magical or impossible elements
• Magic is accepted as normal by characters
• Blending of different genres like fantasy, folklore, and mythology
• Focus on ordinary characters and everyday life
• Symbolism and imagery convey a sense of magic
• Understated and subtle approach to magic
• Often explores political or social issues

Magic is just a part of everyday life within a magical realist story. The magic flows from the source, not as something strange, much less dangerous. And that is one of the primary purposes of magical realism, to merge the magical with the realistic in a way that makes readers sit back and go, “I hadn’t thought of it like that before.”

The term “magical realism” was first used in 1925 by German art critic Franz Roh to describe a style of painting that depicted the magical within the ordinary. Writers in Latin America expanded on this idea in the 1940s and 50s to describe a type of fiction that incorporated mythical elements into realistic narratives.

Magical realism has its roots in Latin American literature, where key authors pioneered the style starting in the mid-20th century. Some forerunners who helped develop the genre include:

• Alejo Carpentier (Cuba): Coined the term “lo real maravilloso” (the marvelous real) to describe the uniqueness of Latin American culture and used magical elements to explore subjects like slavery and political repression.
• Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina): Blended fantasy, dreams, and philosophy in short stories like “The Aleph” and examined themes of time, labyrinths, and imagination.
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia): His novel One Hundred Years of Solitude brought magical realism widespread acclaim. Marquez used magical elements to portray the paradoxes of Latin American history and life.
• Isabel Allende (Chile): Novels like The House of the Spirits incorporated historical events with magical elements and explored themes of feminism.

The early Latin American authors influenced later authors of all types across the world. Although the genre bloomed in Latin America, it quickly spread worldwide in the latter half of the 20th century and continues to develop today.

Magical realism is often confused with fantasy fiction, but they are distinct genres. 

In fantasy stories, magic is something extraordinary. It operates outside the bounds of normal physics, and the characters are amazed when they encounter it. 

In magical realism, magic is normal. Characters simply accept it as a part of reality.

Some other key differences between the genres include:

• Usually set in an entirely fictional world
• Magic is the norm and central to the story
• Magic has obvious effects on characters/world
• Characters are often archetypes like heroes, wizards, elves
• Plot driven by conflict between good vs evil

Magical Realism

• Set in the real, contemporary world
• Magic is subtle and downplayed
• Focus is on ordinary people and everyday life
• Characters are complex and realistic
• Explores social issues and human experiences

While both incorporate magic, fantasy creates an alternate world detached from reality. Magical realism weaves magic into the fabric of reality through a poetic, metaphorical lens. It gently asks the reader to open their minds to the extraordinary possibilities hidden within ordinary life.

Format Beautiful Professional Books

Easy to use, and and full of amazing features, you can quickly turn your book into a professional book.

What Makes a Good Magical Realism Story

Magical realism looks effortless, but crafting a seamless interweaving of realism and fantasy requires thoughtful attention and skill. I've identified several elements that make for compelling magical realist fiction:

The setting needs to feel like the real world, whether it's a specific time and place like Latin America in the 1960s or a more vague modern city. Rich sensory details are important to ground the story in reality. The setting should reflect cultural influences and real social conditions.

Myths, legends, and folklore specific to the setting's culture add an authentic magical touch, like Mexican folk healing rituals in a story set in Mexico. This gives the magic layers of symbolic meaning.

The magic needs to be downplayed so it blends seamlessly into the realism. Don't try to explain it or have characters react with shock. Understatement makes it more believable.

Magical realism often uses the subtle magic as a metaphor to criticize social conditions. The magic highlights injustice or provides hope.

The story revolves around realistic characters living everyday lives. The emphasis should be on their relationships and inner growth, with magic an atmospheric background.

Objects, dreams, colors, and sensory details take on symbolic meaning and create a sense of wonder in the ordinary.

Endings should maintain the blend of realism and magic, leaving some mystery about the role of the magical elements. Tie up personal plots but leave a touch of possibility.

With the right balance of magic and realism, your story can take readers into a world that feels comfortably familiar yet tantalizingly enchanted. The magic should enhance, not overwhelm, the gritty reality of your setting.

How to Write Magical Realism

The magical realism writers I most admire have distinctive voices while retaining the core spirit of the genre. Here are some techniques I would use if writing my own magical realism:

Read widely within magical realism to immerse yourself in the style. Note how authors incorporate subtle magic into realistic settings. Observe how they use magic as social commentary and symbolic imagery.

Reflect on strange coincidences, unpredictable events, and imaginative dreams in your own life. Everyday mysteries can spark ideas for subtle magical touches.

Bizarre stories from the news often read like magical realism. Adapt real unexplained happenings into events in your fictional world.

Well-developed characters with rich inner lives anchor the magic in reality. Focus on characterization and emotional arcs.

Mix in elements from mythology, folklore, fairy tales or other genres to add deeper meaning to your magical details.

Write with lush, descriptive language to add atmospheric depth. Use figurative language and sensory detail to convey magical moods.

Leave the magical events unexplained and have characters accept them as normal. Maintain mystery and possibility.

Infuse objects, dreams, colors, weather, animals, etc. with symbolic significance to create magical undertones.

Remember, the point of all this is not to force your magic on the reader, but to present it in such a way that they are filled with wonder and discovery.

Here are some quintessential magical realist works I find myself returning to again and again for inspiration in my own writing:

• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez – This epic depicts seven generations of the Buendía family and the fictional town Macondo with hallucinatory events like a plague of insomnia, ghost sightings, and a woman ascending to heaven. Márquez's prose feels both fantastical yet real.
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel – A young woman expresses her emotions through magical food she cooks, leading to supernatural effects on those who eat it. The mystical cooking allegorically explores women's repression.
• Beloved by Toni Morrison – This haunting novel tackles trauma through a mother visited by the ghost of her young daughter she murdered to save her from slavery. The spectral haunting feels viscerally real.
• The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami – Surreal dream sequences, psychic projections, and talking cats appear matter-of-factly as a man searches Tokyo for his missing wife. The magical elements access a deeper reality.
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – A middle-aged man revisits his childhood memories of befriending a girl named Lettie who promises to protect him from supernatural menaces. The fantastical childhood perspectives feel believably childlike.

The easiest way to understand how magic realism works and what I’m talking about is to read. Just like learning any form of writing, you get a feel for it by seeing excellent authors do it well.

Magical realist cinema also provides valuable lessons on integrating magical elements into familiar real-world settings and stories:

• Pan's Labyrinth (2006) – A young girl escapes into a dark fairy tale world paralleling her harsh reality living under fascist rule in 1944 Spain. The historical context gives the fantasy deeper meaning.
• Like Water for Chocolate (1992) – Based on the Esquivel novel, this film brings the magical realism vividly to life with the protagonist's emotions materializing through magical food she cooks.
• The Green Mile (1999) – A condemned prisoner possesses miraculous magical healing powers that affect everyone around him at a 1930s Louisiana prison. The supernatural gift contrasts with the brutal reality.

Increase Your Book Marketing

See the Publisher Rocket effect, when you use the right keywords and categories to help get your book seen more on Amazon.

Now that you know the basic goals behind magic and reality, we’ll look at your next steps to creating a magical realism book. Here are some pointers:

• Immerse yourself in examples from masters of the genre to internalize the style. Make a list of your favorite magical realism novels and stories and re-read them with a critical eye.
• Observe the world around you closely to find moments of underlying magic in everyday life. Keep a journal recording coincidences, dreams, curiosities and unexplained happenings that spark ideas.
• Outline some initial story ideas with magical realist potential and experiment writing a few short scenes. Get feedback from other magical realism fans on whether your magic blends well with the realism.
• Pick one idea that resonates and start developing the full story. Flesh out convincing characters and settings, keeping the magic subtle. Hone your descriptive prose to create a vivid mood.
• Join a writers group or online community focused on magical realism. Share excerpts and get feedback on maintaining the delicate balance of your story.

But, like anything artistic, it will take practice. That said, let the story grow on its own until it becomes something you can be proud of.

Jason Hamilton

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

Related Posts

How to write a book using google docs, how to write dark fantasy: a guide for new authors, how to write a book using microsoft word, sell more books on amazon, amazon kindle rankings e-book.

Learn how to rank your Kindle book #1 on Amazon with our collection of time-tested tips and tricks.

Join the community

Join 111,585 other authors who receive weekly emails from us to help them make more money selling books.

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center

magic realism

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

• Academia - Magical Realism in Literature
• Dallas Baptist University - An Introduction to Magical Realism
• LiveAbout - What is Magic Realism?
• International Journal Of Creative Research Thoughts - Magical Realism: Fascinating world of evolving imagery
• TheArtStory - Magic Realism
• magical realism - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

magic realism , chiefly Latin-American narrative strategy that is characterized by the matter-of-fact inclusion of fantastic or mythical elements into seemingly realistic fiction. Although this strategy is known in the literature of many cultures in many ages, the term magic realism is a relatively recent designation , first applied in the 1940s by Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier , who recognized this characteristic in much Latin-American literature. Some scholars have posited that magic realism is a natural outcome of postcolonial writing, which must make sense of at least two separate realities—the reality of the conquerors as well as that of the conquered. Prominent among the Latin-American magic realists are the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez , the Brazilian Jorge Amado , the Argentines Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar , and the Chilean Isabel Allende .

What is magical realism? Imagine a woman discovers she can cry fabric (instead of water), so she starts a clothing business where she knots her tears into dresses.

This odd blending of the magical and the mundane constitutes the elements of magical realism, a wonderful genre for writers of all paths. Magical realism authors populate many of today’s fiction journals , and magical realism books have recently won Pulitzer, Nobel, and Booker Prizes.

Yet, because the genre is growing in popularity, many writers have a sense of what magical realism means but apply it incorrectly. (For example, the Harry Potter series would not be considered a set of magical realism books. I’ll explain why later!)

But if those books don’t count, then what is magical realism in literature? Let’s unpack this genre step-by-step, starting with the basic components of magical realism stories and ending with tips for writing the genre yourself.

What is Magical Realism in Literature?

In short, “magical realism” describes a work of fiction where fantasy slips into everyday life. However, the focus isn’t on the fantastical elements of the story, so much as on what those elements mean for the characters. Fantasy often acts as an extended metaphor , externalizing some sort of internal conflict or moral quandary in the protagonist’s life.

Magical realism definition: a genre in which fantasy slips into everyday life.

Some great magical realism examples show up in Carmen Maria Machados’ collection Her Body and Other Parties . Stories include: a detective connects a string of assaults in New York City to a wave of spiritual turbulence; two women have a baby without a father; and, a man wonders about the ribbon connecting his wife’s head to her body. In all of these examples, the plot starts with a dash of fantasy, but the story isn’t concerned with the logic of magic, just its aftermath.

Other magical realism authors include Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison, and Aimee Bender. While their plots and writing styles differ, these pioneers of the genre included the following elements in their magical realism stories:

• Brief exposition based on the occurrence of something magical or supernatural.
• A focus on the real world implications of that brief magical phenomenon; in other words, a “literary fiction” style of writing, without any traditional plot structure.
• The use of fantasy as an extended metaphor, often representing something internal to the protagonist.

What is magical realism? It’s literary fiction with just a dash of fantasy.

Another way to put it: magical realism is literary fiction with just a dash of fantasy. This is why works of fiction like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, or Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus wouldn’t be considered magical realism: though these novels often occupy real world settings , their plots require fantastical creatures and places to keep the story going. This is also why Harry Potter doesn’t count: though the castles and Department of Magic are both vaguely “muggle-esque,” the books require too much world building for the series to be anything other than fantasy.

A Brief History of Magical Realism

Charting the history of any genre is tricky. While historians can track when a term was first used, deciding when a genre began is a wholly different matter. For example, some writers argue that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the first science fiction novel. If that were the case, then Voltaire’s Micromegas would just be a fever dream, not an advanced work about interplanetary travel.

Magical realism shares much the same conundrum. The genre certainly began in Latin America: much of the folklore and storytelling in South and Central America relies on the elements that today’s magical realism stories use.

Much of the folklore and storytelling in South and Central America relies on elements that today’s magical realism stories use.

It makes sense, then, for the genre’s pioneers to hail from Latin America, and many historians credit Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende for popularizing magical realism. Allende’s stories blend elements of Chilean folklore with modern twists, while Marquez’s stories dwell on utopia and the freedom of love. Importantly, many magical realism authors used the genre with subtle political intent, criticizing or subverting the political unrest that many South American nations endured in the 20th century.

Although magical realism is a distinctly Latin American invention, works of fiction that far predate the genre still uphold its basic requirements. For instance, many Greek and Roman myths could be considered magical realism examples. The story of Icarus uses magical wings as a metaphor for hubris—the same metaphor which later inspired Micromegas. Likewise, the tragedy of Medusa also relies on just a sprinkle of fantasy: once Athena turns Medusa into a snake-haired monster, there is no further need for magical intervention, we must merely observe Medusa’s estrangement from society and eventual slaughter at the hands of Perseus.

All of this to say: modern writers can find inspiration throughout history. The use of fantasy to tell stories is as old as storytelling itself—perhaps fantasy is even innate to the human experience.

How to Write Magical Realism

Where does one begin writing magical realism stories? First, you want to be sure that your story adheres to the elements of magical realism. Those three elements, as we’ve discussed, are 1) Magical exposition, 2) Storytelling through the conventions of literary fiction, and 3) The use of fantasy as an extended metaphor.

Let’s use a short story for comparison. Carmen Maria Machado’s “ Especially Heinous ” is a longer read, but I’ll summarize how the story works as magical realism without any spoilers, as I highly encourage you to read it if you’re interested in how to write magical realism.

“Especially Heinous” does the following:

• Exposition: “Especially Heinous” pushes boundaries by having two fantasy plots interweave through the story. One element involves the dark drum of Manhattan’s spirits; the other involves unexplained doppelgangers whose job performance exceeds that of the protagonists.
• Storytelling: Despite these impossible plot lines, the story largely explores how Stabler and Benson investigate their surreal experiences, with many “episodes” devoted entirely to a character’s internal life. Contemporary fiction often seeks to expand the boundaries of form, and this story’s narrative construction certainly expands those boundaries, using episode summaries in lieu of paragraphs.
• Extended metaphor: In brief, the irate spirits of Manhattan’s voiceless women represent a kind of rejection of sexism and rape culture. Many of the girls with bells for eyes were underage victims of murder and male violence, and though the story was written before the #MeToo movement, it captures much of the western feminist zeitgeist. As for the doppelgangers, perhaps they represent an idealized version of the protagonists—versions of themselves without the weight of past trauma.

Take this reading like a writer approach yourself and try to map how the following stories adhere to these three qualities.

Magical Realism Examples

You might find inspiration for your own work in these magical realism examples, which all come from published works of literature. Pay attention to how magical elements are interwoven into everyday life, and how those elements act as metaphors or symbols .

• “ The Autumn of the Patriarch ” by Gabriel García Márquez
• “ Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey ” by Haruki Murakami
• “ The Daughters of the Moon ” by Italo Calvino
• “ The Library of Babel ” by Jorge Luis Borges
• “ The Rememberer ” by Aimee Bender
• “ The Faery Handbag ” by Kelly Link
• “ St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves ” by Karen Russell
• “ The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World ” by Gabriel García Márquez
• “ The Paper Menagerie ” by Ken Liu
• “ Headlights ” by Samanta Schweblin
• “ If A Book Is Locked There’s Probably A Good Reason For That Don’t You Think ” by Helen Oyeyemi
• “ The Journey of the Eyeball ” by Katherine Vaz

Finding Inspiration for Magical Realism Stories

Where can you turn to find inspiration for your next magical realism stories? Because this genre is both exciting and contemporary, the digital literary world has come to love it. For example, this magical realism bot on twitter posts the kind of zany, out-of-the-box plots that the genre is known for. Starting with the plots on this twitter account could jumpstart something new and magical in your own writing life.

Of course, the inspiration for a book can come from other novels, too. Any of the titles on this list of 100 magical realism books should satisfy your curiosity—while fueling the urge to write fiction.

However, the best stories are inspired by everyday life. Speaking on Especially Heinous , Carmen Maria Machado admits that the inspiration came from a days-long binge of Law & Order while suffering through a fever. If an author can find magic in NBC reruns, where else might there be magic?

Try combining two things: a facet of mundane life and a certain interest or hyperfixation.

Try it yourself. To start your next magical realism story, try combining two things: a facet of mundane life and a certain interest or hyperfixation. The two should meld together with ease, like how, in “ Samsa in Love ,” Haruki Murakami blends everyday romance with a keen fixation on Kafka’s The Metamorphosis .

Then, flesh out the idea by outlining the story’s exposition, storytelling , and extended metaphor. With any luck, this outlining will catapult you directly into the story’s first line.

Finally, as you write your story, you’ll encounter many opportunities to expand the meaning of your extended metaphor and push the limits of fantasy. Lean into these moments; allow your story its zaniness.

Write Dazzling Stories with Writers.com

When you need an extra set of eyes on your magical realism books and stories, you’ll find expert readership in writers.com . Join our Facebook group for prompts and community feedback, and take a look at our upcoming fiction courses , with instructors who have excelled in the genre and are ready to help you, too.

What will your next magical realism stories be about? Whether an American woman starts sweating Euros or a stockbroker embodies the concept of zero, take the plunge on your writing—we look forward to reading it!

Sean Glatch

Thank you for the article on magic realism. Something I’ve been working on and short stories and novels and a novella. But it’s good to have an expository piece on it.

this gives me a perspective i’ve never seen before, in-depth and really getting to it in a way i never even realized i’ve always been looking for. as a person trying to write this exact sort of thing, this is priceless. thank you.

this gives me a perspective i’ve never seen before, in-depth and really getting to it in a way i never even realized i’ve always been looking for. as a person trying to write this exact sort of thing, this is priceless. thank you.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Magical Realism – A Definition in Art and Literature

Magical realism is an interesting and somewhat difficult-to-define genre. There are even those who do not wish to define it as a genre at all. This article will attempt to examine magical realism in literature to help you understand it, and we will do this by examining the general ideas and characteristics behind the magical realism genre, a few figures who are notable within the genre, a number of famous instances of magical realism stories, and a brief look at some of the difficulties in defining it. Hopefully, this should give a good overview of the concept, so let us examine magical realism below!

Table of Contents

• 1 A Look at Magical Realism
• 2 Summary of Magical Realism
• 3 The Origins of Magical Realism
• 4 The Primary Elements of Magical Realism
• 5.1 Jorge Luis Borges (1899 – 1986) from Buenos Aires
• 5.2 Gabriel García Márquez (1927 – 2014) from Aracataca
• 5.3 Isabel Allende (1942 – Present) from Lima
• 6.1 The Aleph (1945) by Jorge Luis Borges
• 6.2 The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975) by Gabriel García Márquez
• 6.3 The House of the Spirits (1982) by Isabel Allende
• 7 Issues in the Definition of Magical Realism
• 8.1 What Is Magical Realism?
• 8.2 What Are the Common Elements of Magical Realism?
• 8.3 What Are the Most Famous Examples of Magical Realism?
• 8.4 Who Are the Most Famous Magical Realism Writers?
• 8.5 Is Magical Realism Still a Popular Genre?

A Look at Magical Realism

Magical realism is a literary and artistic genre that has a rather simple premise. However, there are some issues in definition that will be explored later in this article, but for now, let’s stick to the basic idea. In simple terms, magical realism is a genre that presents a world that is generally realistic in its structure and presentation. The thing that sets it apart is the inclusion of magical elements. These magical elements are typically somewhat beneath the surface or not entirely obvious. For instance, there will be no massive magical battles with people throwing fireballs at each other in an example of magical realism in literature.

So, that is the basic answer to the question: “What is magical realism?” However, how we define the genre can be a bit of a sticking point as different people can often view it in rather different ways. Some of these issues will be explored later, but before we can get to any of them, we should probably have a look at the history of the concept in some level of detail. So, let’s get to that after a brief summary for those who might not want to read this whole thing.

Summary of Magical Realism

If you are just looking for a quick summary of some of the major points that will be explored in the article below, then these few points should help you understand the basic premise behind the magical realism genre. However, these are simple points and do not go into all that much detail.

There is much more that can be explored when it comes to magical realism.

• Magical realism is a genre that combines realism and fantasy. The basic premise behind this genre of literature is that it generally makes use of realistic portrayals of the world and mixes fantastical elements in, and these magical aspects are often, but not necessarily, subtle.
• The magical realism genre has its origins in South America. While there are elements of magical realism that can be found around the world, the genre truly took root in South America. It has since become an international genre that can be seen around the world.
• Many of the most prominent magical realism writers are South American. There are a number of important writers in this genre, and they came from various South American countries, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, and Isabel Allende. The genre is often noted for being directly related to the South American experience and cannot be divorced from this reality.

This has been a brief array of points related to magical realism in literature, but it is a summary of many of the ideas that will be further explored below. If you are interested in learning more than simply the bullet points with regard to magical realism, then keep reading and discover far more about this literary genre.

The Origins of Magical Realism

The concept of magical realism first arose in the visual arts. The general idea behind it was to make use of realistic portrayals of the painted world with photographic style detail while also incorporating magical elements into the image. However, this is not the area that we are going to discuss today as the beginnings of magical realism in literature can be seen as originating in the 19 th century but truly kicking it into high gear in the 20 th century.

The early writers included several Romantic authors who made use of fairy tales, but these figures only served as inspiration for the magical realism writers who would emerge out of that in the 20 th century. These figures inspired those who would go on to write some of what could arguably be called the earliest instances of true magical realism, such as the works of Massimo Bontempelli. The work of figures like this would eventually be translated into Spanish and would enter the Hispanic population in South America.

This is where we see the rise of what we customarily call traditional instances of magical realism in literature as we understand it in the present day. Until this point, the term that was primarily used was “magic realism”, and the use of “ magical realism” emerged in 1955 in an essay by Angel Flores. This writer identified Jorge Luis Borges as the first “true” magical realist, but there was no acknowledgment of who had come before.

This means that, in many ways, the term came long after the magical realism already existed, and this is not uncommon. We generally understand things in retrospect, and seeing trends in real-time can be a difficult thing to accomplish. In one of the sections below, we will briefly discuss some of the central writers in the magical realism genre, but what is best to understand is that this genre is seen as a decidedly South American one. There may have been inspiration from other places, but as we currently see it, it is perceived as a Latin American creation. There are also many examples of magical realism in literature that are explicitly South American in their narratives and presentation.

The genre has since become far more international, and there are influences that range all across the world. It does also make it somewhat more complicated because the definitions of what is and is not an example of the magical realism genre can be a difficult thing to determine.

We will explore that in some detail later in the article, but for now, let’s move to some of the elements of magical realism that set it apart from other genres.

The Primary Elements of Magical Realism

The basic premise behind the magical realism genre is that it makes use of a more realistic world or presentation and combines that with fantastical elements. Most instances of magical realism in literature are not extremely overt in how they make use of the more fantastical aspects, but there are no definitive rules at play. This does also lead to some difficulties in deciding on the parameters of the genre, but that is a discussion point for later.

Some of the common elements of magical realism include the use of real-world settings, and these settings are often based on true historical and cultural sites. For instance, there are many examples of magical realism in literature that take place in South American countries. The use of this kind of a real setting can often be used as a means of calling attention to certain political issues prevalent in said country.

The use of metatextual elements is also a common feature in the magical realism genre. For instance, the authors of the texts often have an actual voice in their stories, such as being fictional versions of themselves within narratives. In addition, narration can often be highly indifferent, as if seeing the magical elements of the world as purely mundane things that do not require much in the way of explanation.

The use of mystery is also a common element in magical realist stories. The mysteries are also not always necessarily resolved. They are at play and may become central elements in the narrative, but the more realistic portrayal of the world can lead these kinds of mysteries to remain unresolved or left to the reader to interpret for themselves.

These are some of the primary elements of magical realism, but there are other instances and, as the genre is subject to change and adaptation, it can often make use of other elements and ideas. The magical realism genre is one that is difficult to pin down but ultimately fascinating in its presentation.

What is and what is not an instance of magical realism can often come down to the reader in question, but let’s leave that idea for a while and instead look at some of the most notable magical realists.

Important Figures in Magical Realism in Literature

There have been a number of important figures in the development of magical realism in literature, but we are only going to examine three of those figures in this article today. However, these three figures are some of the most famous writers in the magical realism genre and, as such, they have produced some of the most influential texts in magical realism. So, without waiting any longer, let’s check out some of these influential figures in this fantastical genre.

Jorge Luis Borges (1899 – 1986) from Buenos Aires

Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine writer who is generally seen as one of the most important figures in the development of magical realism as a literary genre. His work explored a number of themes and ideas that would become commonly found in the genre, such as dreams, labyrinths, libraries, mirrors, mythology, and infinity.

His work became influential in far more areas than solely magical realism though, and many fantasy and philosophical pieces of literature have also taken considerable influence from his work.

One of the most widely known facts about Borges is that at the age of 55, he became completely blind yet continued to write. It has even been suggested that this led to some of the innovative literary practices that he would develop later in his life. In his life, he won numerous awards and was translated into many different languages, and figures like J.M. Coetzee have even noted him as one of the most innovative writers of all time and an important figure in 20th-century literature.

Gabriel García Márquez (1927 – 2014) from Aracataca

Gabriel García Márquez was a Colombian writer who was seen as one of the greatest writers of the 20 th century. He wrote in more genres than only magical realism, and he spent time as a journalist who was highly critical of his country’s politics. He wrote a good deal of non-fiction but is best remembered in the present day because of his prose, and most considerably thanks to his novels.

He was widely read during his life and won coveted awards like the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and even the Nobel Prize for Literature.

His critical acclaim came with his works which served as popular successes. He often explored themes in his works to do with magic in otherwise realistic worlds, and so became one of the central figures in the development of magical realism throughout the 20 th century. In addition to all of this, he is also noted as being the most-translated writer in the Spanish language.

Isabel Allende (1942 – Present) from Lima

Isabel Allende is a Chilean writer who, unlike the others who have been discussed above, is still alive and is still producing works. She has produced works both inside and outside of the magical realism genre, and many of her most famous works are set firmly within this genre. However, she has also notably produced many other types of books.

For instance, many of her novels are focused on the lives of women and draw heavily from her personal experiences.

She has become widely recognized as one of the most-read Spanish language writers, and her work has been translated into many languages. This has also contributed to her impressive array of awards, such as receiving Chile’s National Literature Prize as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the United States. Other than writing, she has toured and lectured across the United States and has since become an American citizen too.

Examples of the Magical Realism Genre

We have already had a look at some of the most important and influential figures in the development of the magical realism genre, but it is also worth looking at some of what those very same writers actually wrote. Some of the primary elements of magical realism were developed in the work of these writers, and so, it is worth exploring some of what they have written.

Let’s do so below. 

The Aleph (1945) by Jorge Luis Borges

The Aleph is a short story written by Jorge Luis Borges. This particular story is a great example of magical realism in literature. It involves a strange object that can be found in a poet’s basement, the titular “aleph”. This item is a special point in space in which all other points can be seen. If one looks into it, one can see everything in the universe. The story takes this fantastical premise but treats it in a realistic sense, and as such, it incorporates the elements of magical realism into it.

This story makes use of detailed realistic portrayals of a world in which the lives of people are presented in a very ordinary capacity. And the fantastical elements slowly creep their way in. Furthermore, the text is loaded with various allusions that relate to the outside world. For instance, it makes reference to various literary, religious, and philosophical areas.

This allows a blurring of the lines between the magical and the realistic.

The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975) by Gabriel García Márquez

The Autumn of the Patriarch is a novel by Gabriel García Márquez. The book makes use of a segmented structure in which six different sections all recount the same story about a tyrannical figure. The book is set in an unnamed Latin American country, and this allows it to be about anywhere rather than needing to be definitive to any single country. The focus on highly realistic elements, like corruption, becomes a nesting ground for the more fantastical elements of magical realism to enter the scene.

The tyrant is found dead with animals picking at his body, and each story tells the tale of his life, and it has become a notable example of magical realism in literature because of the way in which it weaves various elements together, such as realistic narration with highly symbolic depictions of numerous aspects of the story, such as the use of the supernatural.

The story has become a key text in magical realism, and a fascinating piece about the solitude that comes with absolute power.

The House of the Spirits (1982) by Isabel Allende

The House of the Spirits is a novel by Isabel Allende. The story, like many examples of magical realism, takes place in a Latin American country that is not named but is a stand-in for Chile, and it follows the course of the Trueba family over the course of a number of generations. This makes the story a family saga, but events are not presented in a necessarily chronological sense and are instead weaved together with one another.

The elements of magical realism that come into play revolve around some characters, such as the figure of Clara, who is a clairvoyant. These fantastical elements come into play alongside the historical and cultural aspects of Chile that become part of the narrative, such as various military coups and the unrest that comes with political instability.

The text is a decidedly South American text and needs to be understood within that context, but this can often be said of many examples of magical realism in literature.

Issues in the Definition of Magical Realism

Every now and then a literary term comes along that is just a little bit difficult to truly define. The reasons for this are often multifaceted. So, what is magical realism then? We have already explored the concept in some detail, but there are issues with whether or not it is “magic realism” or “magical realism”, and the different terms often refer to either visual or literary arts respectively.

There are also debates over whether or not magical realism, as a literary genre, should even be considered its own genre or if it is merely an offshoot of realism in general. The term has also come to be associated with Latin American writers while there have been many international writers who have written in what could, ostensibly, be called instances of the magical realism genre.

There are also no clear-cut characteristics that are found in every single instance of magical realism in literature. Different texts approach both the realistic and magical elements of the genre in different ways. We usually see examples of magical realism as being mostly realistic while magical elements are weaved in, but this is not always necessarily the case.

All of these elements together, the differences in the name, whether it is a regional genre, and the lack of definitive characteristics across all instances of what has been termed magical realism make the term somewhat vague. However, this is also what can be seen as lending the genre an air of interest. It is a fascinating thing to explore, and working without extremely clear definitions can mean that interesting pieces are created on the margins that one could argue as magical realism even if others do not. It can often be up to you whether or not you define something as a definite example of magical realism or not.

Magical realism is a truly fascinating genre or mode within literature. The basic idea is also one that is vague and subject to opinion, and so many things can be argued to be magical realism, while others may not be. Hopefully, this article has given a good run-down of the general concept of magical realism in literature, but there are still many examples of the magical realism genre out there that are worth a read. So, if you get the chance, have a look at what you can find!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is magical realism.

Magical realism is a literary and artistic genre that, in very basic terms, presents the reader with a realistic world that has a number of magical elements added to it. The magic is often something that forms part of the background and is not particularly clear-cut. For instance, an example of the magical realism genre will generally not include people shooting spells at one another. The genre is most commonly associated with a number of South American writers, but instances of the genre can be found around the world.

What Are the Common Elements of Magical Realism?

There are a number of common elements of the magical realism genre, such as the use of fantastical elements, realistic settings, a general lack of explanation of what is happening, and the use of narrators who do not appear to find anything unusual in the magical elements on display. However, determining how much of a fantastical side should be found in instances of the magical realism genre is subject to debate, and it can lead to difficulties in defining what does and does not count as examples of magical realism in literature.

What Are the Most Famous Examples of Magical Realism?

There are a great many examples of magical realism in literature, but some of the most famous of them all include texts like The Aleph (1945) by Jorge Luis Borges, The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975) by Gabriel García Márquez and The House of the Spirits (1982) by Isabel Allende. However, there are many other texts out there that are considered to be part of the magical realism genre, and many writers have also made use of this general style and genre of literature in their work.

Who Are the Most Famous Magical Realism Writers?

Some of the most famous writers in the magical realism genre include Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, and Isabel Allende. However, there have been many others who have written examples of magical realism, such as Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, and Nicola Barker. The genre has been quite influential on a number of different writers over the decades, and many who are not overwhelmingly associated with the genre have written their own examples of magical realism.

Is Magical Realism Still a Popular Genre?

Magical realism continues to be a popular genre. While the genre, in its original form, is now several decades old, those who were inspired by those early examples of magical realism in literature have continued to produce works into the modern day. However, there are those who would argue that some of the contemporary incarnations of the genre are not pure forms of magical realism, but that is often up to the reader to decide.

Justin van Huyssteen is a freelance writer, novelist, and academic originally from Cape Town, South Africa. At present, he has a bachelor’s degree in English and literary theory and an honor’s degree in literary theory. He is currently working towards his master’s degree in literary theory with a focus on animal studies, critical theory, and semiotics within literature. As a novelist and freelancer, he often writes under the pen name L.C. Lupus.

Justin’s preferred literary movements include modern and postmodern literature with literary fiction and genre fiction like sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, and horror being of particular interest. His academia extends to his interest in prose and narratology. He enjoys analyzing a variety of mediums through a literary lens, such as graphic novels, film, and video games.

Justin is working for artincontext.org as an author and content writer since 2022. He is responsible for all blog posts about architecture, literature and poetry.

Learn more about Justin van Huyssteen and the Art in Context Team .

Cite this Article

Justin, van Huyssteen, “Magical Realism – A Definition in Art and Literature.” Art in Context. November 21, 2023. URL: https://artincontext.org/magical-realism/

van Huyssteen, J. (2023, 21 November). Magical Realism – A Definition in Art and Literature. Art in Context. https://artincontext.org/magical-realism/

van Huyssteen, Justin. “Magical Realism – A Definition in Art and Literature.” Art in Context , November 21, 2023. https://artincontext.org/magical-realism/ .

Similar Posts

Ekphrastic Poetry – Where Prose Meets Visual Art

“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley Analysis – A Deep Dive

Famous Haikus – Explore Traditional and Modern Poems

Foot in Poetry – A Broad Overview of Poetic Rhythm

“To Be, or Not to Be” by William Shakespeare – An Analysis

How to Publish a Poem – An Easy Guide for New Poets

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

What Is Magical Realism?

What is Magical Realism? It can be hard to pin down. Ultimately we have the authors of Latin America to thank for this, quite literally, fantastic genre. Magical Realism has come to encompass surealism and fabulism and helps us to reconsider the realities we've become too embroiled in to think about questioning.

Emma Allmann

In addition to learning how to write creatively at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Emma Allmann spends her time lugging books along with her on outdoor adventures. She uses hiking, running, cross-country skiing, and climbing as time to discover new and interesting things to write about. She has had a play produced at the Marcia Légère Student Play Festival and writes about the books she reads on her blog, I'm Right Here Because I'm Not All There . When she's not reading, writing, or adventuring she can be found making a list of good names for ice-cream. Twitter: @Emryal

View All posts by Emma Allmann

Magical realism can feel more nebulous than your average genre. The very name sounds pretty darn contradictory. If there’s magic involved isn’t it fantasy? How can it be realism if there are magical elements? What is magical realism? The definition has come to encompass a few different functions of fantastic elements in stories that are unwilling to confirm or deny for the reader that these elements exist in its world. It can sometimes feel unsettling or give the story a dream like quality.

What is magical realism?

Magical realism can be found in most art forms throughout the world, however the literary movement of magical realism was spearheaded by Latin American authors. Particularly from these Latin American authors it is often read as a genre of political subversion. Just as the fantastic and magical elements are presented as normal, the standard structure of reality is put into question. Essentially, magical realism is a chance for authors to show an alternative to an accepted reality, which can be an incredibly powerful tool against political regimes.

As more and more authors around the world took their cue from the authors of Latin America, the genre has become blended and conflated with other genres. Surrealism, which is more concerned with upending the accepted realities of the mind and inner self, and fabulism, which is known for putting fables and myths into a contemporary setting, are two of the more easily recognized genres that have become part and parcel of the magical realism mode.

Ultimately magical realism uses magical elements to make a point about reality. This is as opposed to stories that are solidly in the fantasy or sci-fi genres which are often separate from our own reality. There is a distortion effect in the very fiber of the prose that forces the reader to question what is real and often opens up avenues of reality we may not have thought possible before reading the story. The realities being questioned can be societal, familial, mental, and emotional, just to name a few.

To get a taste for the options available, below are a sampling of some of the variety of books that have been labeled as magical realism. If you are completely unfamiliar with magical realism there are some additional excellent books that will introduce you to the genre and many books that push the boundaries of the genre .

Classic Magical Realism Books

One hundred years of solitude by gabriel garcía márquez.

This book will be on every list about magical realism that is ever written. Not only is it a beautiful piece of literature but it has influenced many authors, particularly in the realm of magical realism. It’s an multigenerational epic that tells the story of the rise and fall, life and death, riches and poverty, triumph and tragedy of the town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family.

Love in the time of cholera by Gabriel García márquez

Yes, Gabriel García Márquez is influential and excellent enough that he deserves to be on the list twice. Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fell in love when they were young but Fermina married someone else and Florentino focused on business and 622 affairs. After 50 years, 9 months, and 4 days, Florentino attends Fermina’s husband’s funeral with the intention of winning her back.

Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Like Water For Chocolate is a great example of magical realism being used to manifest inner, normally repressed emotions in physical world. It acts as a coup against the social expectations placed upon the characters. Tita, the youngest daughter of the La Garza family, has been forbidden to marry. She is condemned by a Mexican tradition to look after her mother until she dies. When Tita fall in love with Pedro and he is seduced by her magical food, Pedro marries her sister in a desperate attempt to stay close to Tita.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

When dealing with trauma in storytelling, authors often turn to magical realism, and nobody does it better than Toni Morrison in Beloved . Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Her new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.

Heavy on Real, Easy on the Magic

The brief and wondrous life of oscar wao by junot díaz.

This story is a classic example of a narrator not willing to tell the reader what is fact and what is fable. Oscar is a lovesick Dominican nerd who is the latest in his family to be cursed in all love related matters by Fukœ. The curse has followed his family for generations, leading to the most disastrous consequences, and yet throughout generations of heartbreak and loss there always remains hope.

life of pi by yann martel

Like of Pi is a fantastic magical realism starter book because one of its main points is that it doesn’t matter what is “real;” it matters more, sometimes, what is “true.” 16-year-old Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel, his family, and their zoo animals are emigrating from India to North America when their ship sinks. He is left on a lifeboat with a bengal tiger who he’s named Richard Parker. Life of Pi  is a tale about truth, hope, and what it takes to survive.

Let’s Get Phantasmagorical with our Magical Realism

Still life with tornado by a.s. king.

A.S. King is known for utilizing magical realism to depict teenage emotions and confusion. What better genre to use for the age when everybody is asking, “Is this real, even?” 16-year-old Sarah is surrounded by 10-year-old Sarah, 23-year-old Sarah, and 40-year-old Sarah, and they’re all worried about her future. But the present is where she might be having an existential crisis. Or maybe all those other Sarahs are trying to wake her up before she’s lost forever in the tornado of violence and denial that is her parents’ marriage.

Kafka by the Shore by haruki murakami

In this wonderfully weird book, Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder. The story follows teenage runaway Kafka Tamura and aging simpleton Nakata. In terms of magical realism, this book goes full tilt and keeps you constantly wondering what in the story is your solid ground.

Contentious Magical Realism

Their eyes were watching god by zora neal hurston.

The magical realism in this book can also be seen as fabulism as Zora Neal Hurston flexes her exemplary skills as a folklorist. When Janie, at sixteen, is caught kissing shiftless Johnny Taylor, her grandmother swiftly marries her off to an old man with sixty acres. Janie endures two stifling marriages before meeting the man of her dreams, who offers her a packet of flowering seeds.

Never Let Me go by Kazuo Ishigur

This is a book that has caused some discussion about genre. Many people believe it should be firmly in the fantasy or science fiction genre. I would argue that those elements are simply the backdrop to the discussion about what it means to be alive and human, and in that there is a preconceived reality that is upended by fantastic elements. Regardless, it’s an excellent story. Kathy looks back at her years at Hailsham, a private school in the English countryside where she and her friends were taught that they were isolated because they were so special. As she digs into a seemingly idyllic past, dark cords begin to emerge, and Kathy has to confront the secrets that have always hung just behind the curtains.

Have you read a Magical Realism book and not realized it? Found an exciting new book in the genre? Let us know!

Like learning about genres? Have you heard of Hard Science Fiction or New Weird ?

You Might Also Like

Magical Realism as a Literary Genre Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

What Is A Magical Realism?

Development of magical realism, authors who have used magical realism and their works, works cited.

Magical realism is a style of literature that was used in the 1920s to refer to the school of painters, which was an extraordinary thing that people in their day-to-day life experienced. It is a myth, fantasy, reality, and magic all combined. The term magical realism is often confused with expressionism and surrealism. Expressionism is an art’s style meant to show or reveal some human feelings, for example, expressing sadness, poverty, happiness, and depression (García 45).

In 1903, Picasso came up with the work, The Blind’s Man Meal, which showed the meaning of expressionism and magical realism. He expressed how poor the blind man is. Surrealism is an art and literature movement; contrary to the dream where one shows the at he or she thinks by presenting images. Magical realism, therefore, is expressionism where an individual expresses his or her feelings freely. In magical realism, for example, the feeling one expresses in dancing is happiness while in certain music the feeling expressed is sorrowfulness (Eugenia 16-20).

Several people who are authors in the world have created the term magical realism, which has received global acceptance. For many years, the term has been used in America, Africa, Australia, and Europe. The term was seen as regional literature limited to the Latin American writers but it has been widened to be seen as a worldwide phenomenon.

Also, it is the latest development of the latest centuries and is seen as a modern fiction internationally (Eugenia 16-20). The concept of loreal Maravillas was introduced in 1949 to the Americans where the foundations of magical realism were traced from the art world. In this essay, the concept was criticized analytically based on its theoretical movement, cultures and text citations from Latin America, Australia, Africa and Asia (Franz 2).

In this essay, the development of magical realism focuses on Latin America, which is traced back from the discovery of America. Most of the authors of this subject are Latin Americans. Tzvetan Todorov wrote about Columbus in 1492 arguing that America is a miraculous world with a lot of magic. The different narratives he had seen while traveling had influenced Columbus, and due to this, he had imaginary views of America. He said that he saw men and women with animal heads and were masculine respectively (Eugenia 22).

The German Franz Roh was the first man to use the term magical realism in an official way in 1925. He applied magical realism to the paintings he was studying. In addition, during the time, there arose many artists in Germany such as Otto Dix. Roh gave different criteria of the term magical realism and compared to the expressionism and the post-expressionism. In fact, the present-day definition of the term came from the categories that Roh gave (Eugenia 24).

Henri Rousseu in his paintings went deeper to explore magical realism. 1886-1910 was the period this French artist, explored the term. Other artists who explored this concept are Guenther from Austria in 1909, and Joan Miro in 1918, 1922s and 1930s in Paris whose paintings were criticized as naive (Eugenia 25).

Giorgio De Chirico from Italy was seen as the most important magical realists by Roh in his attempt to prove the real things to be unreal in 1888 to 1978. He pioneered the 20th-century movement of magical realism. Forty years from 1920, other artists in Italy came up with their paintings and other arts, which expressed magical reality (Eugenia 26).

The decades between 1910 and 1940, saw the French artists express magical realism in their paintings, for instance, Pierre Roy. However, the aspect of magical realism went down when surrealism came to the board and focused by most artists (Eugenia 27).

George Grosz is another painter who used magical realism to express day-to-day life. The subjects of his paintings were drawn from daily life. Through his works, he wanted to show people the miracles and magic in the real world. In the year 1930, so many Latin American had explored magic realism (Addison 31). The painter Amaral from Brazil in 1886 to 1973 produced the works, which showed the magic realism. His works had features such as enormous arms and the use of strong colors (Eugenia 29).

Lino Spilimbergo is another painter from Argentina who drew arts of the physical nature of Argentina from 1896 to 1964. He used the magical realism style in his works. His works were there to show life in a real situation (Eugenia 29). In addition to the artists by men, other artworks by women were done in the magical realism style.

In the 1940s, many women became painters because by then, they had learned to be professional in different fields of study and art was among them. Georgia O’ Keeffe is one of the women artists from America who painted flowers that portrayed the body of a woman. This happened in the last century where the bones of animals she painted in the 1920s in Mexico had both the elements of magic and reality (Eugenia 30).

Apart from women painters, another group is the exiled professional artists from Mexico who made paints reflecting bible stories, for example, Leonora Carrington in 1940. To date, many artists, writers, and painters explore their subjects of study by use of magical realism. It has been a style of literature to make the theme more understandable and interesting (Eugenia 16-20).

Most of the well-known authors who used the style of magical realism in their works come from Latin America. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the many Latin American writers who used this style in his works. In his books, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Leaf Storm, In Evil Hour, and the pages of Macondo, Marquez used this style of literature extensively. Although he said that he was trying to avoid overuse arguing that it is too limiting, it was unavoidable because the works were fictions. Gabriel who is a journalist was born in Colombia and won the Nobel Prize in 1982 for Literature. He is a pioneer of the Latin America Boom.

Other well-known authors who used magical realism as a style of realism to express fiction in their books are Sarah Addison who wrote about an apple tree, which produces magical fruits. The book is entitled Garden Spells, Haruki Murakami’s book entitled Kafka on The Shore, which was about two teenage boys who went away from home and a Mexican Laura Esquivel’s book entitled Like Water for Chocolate. The book’s theme is romance (García 1).

Addison, Spells. The Garden Spells. Java: Bantam Publishers, 2007. Print.

Eugenia, Michell. Magical Realism and Latin America: A Masters Project. Maine: University of Maine, 2003. Print.

Franz, Roh. Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995. Print.

García, Gabriel. Good Reads: The Popular Magic Realism Books. Bones: Good reads Inc, 2012. Print.

• Jackson Pollock, the Art Genius
• Modern Art Works: Painting, Sculpture and Vintage Illustration
• Surrealism in Photography
• Expressionism as an Art Form
• Magical Realism in “Tropic of Orange” by K. T. Yamashita
• Art and Nursing in Different Periods
• Artist’s Role in Society: Cultures, Traditions, Ideas, and Moral Responsibilities
• Ancient Greek Art and Sculpture
• Comparison of Color Themes
• “Futurist Manifesto” by Filippo Marinetti - Art
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, May 7). Magical Realism as a Literary Genre. https://ivypanda.com/essays/art-magical-realism/

"Magical Realism as a Literary Genre." IvyPanda , 7 May 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/art-magical-realism/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Magical Realism as a Literary Genre'. 7 May.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Magical Realism as a Literary Genre." May 7, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/art-magical-realism/.

1. IvyPanda . "Magical Realism as a Literary Genre." May 7, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/art-magical-realism/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Magical Realism as a Literary Genre." May 7, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/art-magical-realism/.

• Subject List
• Take a Tour
• For Authors
• Subscriber Services
• Publications
• African American Studies
• African Studies
• American Literature
• Anthropology
• Architecture Planning and Preservation
• Art History
• Atlantic History
• Biblical Studies
• British and Irish Literature
• Childhood Studies
• Chinese Studies
• Cinema and Media Studies
• Communication
• Criminology
• Environmental Science
• Evolutionary Biology
• International Law
• International Relations
• Islamic Studies
• Jewish Studies

Latin American Studies

• Latino Studies
• Linguistics
• Literary and Critical Theory
• Medieval Studies
• Military History
• Political Science
• Public Health
• Renaissance and Reformation
• Social Work
• Urban Studies
• Victorian Literature
• Browse All Subjects

How to Subscribe

• Free Trials

In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Magical Realism

Introduction, basic texts.

• Basic Hispanic Formulations
• Magical Realism: Critical Extensions
• Extensions to Other Literatures
• Negative Assessments
• Allende, Isabel
• Asturias, Miguel Ángel
• Borges, Jorge Luis
• Carpentier, Alejo
• Fuentes, Carlos
• García Márquez, Gabriel
• Roa Bastos, Augusto
• Rulfo, Juan

Related Articles Expand or collapse the "related articles" section about

About related articles close popup.

Lorem Ipsum Sit Dolor Amet

Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Aliquam ligula odio, euismod ut aliquam et, vestibulum nec risus. Nulla viverra, arcu et iaculis consequat, justo diam ornare tellus, semper ultrices tellus nunc eu tellus.

• Argentine Literature
• Asian-Peruvian Literature
• Roberto Bolaño
• The Colombian Novel
• Transculturation and Literature

Other Subject Areas

Forthcoming articles expand or collapse the "forthcoming articles" section.

• Afro-Andeans
• Economies in the Era of Nationalism and Revolution
• Violence and Memory in Modern Latin America
• Find more forthcoming articles...
• Export Citations
• Share This Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Magical Realism by David William Foster , Rosita Scerbo LAST REVIEWED: 24 April 2019 LAST MODIFIED: 24 April 2019 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199766581-0212

“Magical realism” (or “magic realism”) has given extensive service to the attempt to provide an overarching characterization of Latin American writing, or to identify a mode of Latin American writing that draws a line between what is touted as paradigmatically Latin American and poor imitations of privileged models. This implies how Latin American writing might influence international writing in ways previously thought to be impossible for a literary tradition considered unquestionably and even irremediably secondary. The result has been, perhaps, the sometimes contradictory application of the term and its alacritous utilization to justify lionizing certain Latin American authors (Jorge Luis Borges or Gabriel García Márquez) and to provide a note of exoticization to First World writing. As a qualifier, “magical realism” has been used to explain any plot configuration of human behavior that seems an exception or contradiction or refutation of West European bourgeois rationalism as the dominant mode for explaining how the world and social relations function. The specific use of the word magical implies that such ruptures in the codes of the supposed usual represent a powerful access to phenomena that have hitherto either been ignored or repressed because they do not fit within prevailing explanatory models of the universe. Key here is Borges’s repeated aggressive assertion that metaphysics is a branch of fantastic literature, thereby relativizing its scientific rigor and liberating vast realms of counterproposals. Central to the debate over magical realism (called other things by other writers, such as Alejo Carpentier’s “marvelous real”) is the extent to which it is one vehicle for representing the conflicted relationship between Latin America and hegemonic Western values (e.g., only through acts of real and symbolic violence is Latin America seen as sociohistorically Western). Or, alternatively, magical realism is seen as a way of inflecting the material and imaginary ways in which Latin America—and, individually, the various Latin American republics— makes a sociohistoric difference. This sort of position is often seen as “exoticising” Latin America for international consumption. Concomitantly, magical realism may be the basis for a particular poetic use of the Spanish language for demonstrating with vivid complexity how Spanish in the Americas cannot be controlled by the paradigms of the Spanish Royal Academy that reduce it to merely questions of dialect variation. The substratum of indigenous languages vies with the superstratum of immigrant languages to provide unique linguistic configurations consonant with unique sociohistoric ones. Finally, the use of “magical realism” to describe a certain manner of non–Latin American writing raises the question of whether such matters are transferable between cultures on deep structural levels, or whether they constitute questionable expropriations. Yet there is no question that the term has been routinely incorporated into Anglo-American literary studies, as witnessed by Maggie Ann Bowles’s Magic Realism (Routledge, 2004) or by the entry on the subject in the Chris Baldick’s Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2015).

The concept of magical realism enters the parlance of Hispanic literary criticism with a 1955 essay by Ángel Flores (incorporated in Flores 1985 ). Probably one of the most cited critical essays in Hispanic scholarship, “Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction” constituted a veritable paradigm shift. The term was subsequently picked up and expanded by major Latin American critics of the day, as in Anderson Imbert 1976 and Menton 1983 , both extremely influential in midcentury studies on Latin American narrative. The term has been widely used subsequently, and numerous scholars have sought to synthesize its meanings and influence, with one extremely useful work being Aldama 2013 . Planells 1988 investigates the origins of various critical uses of the term, while Ubidia 1997 attempts to systematize the boundaries of the established uses of the term.

Aldama, Frederick Luis. “Magical Realism.” In The Routledge Companion to Latino/a Literature . Edited by Suzanne Bost and Frances R. Aparicio, 334–341. London and New York: Routledge, 2013.

Aldama provides the transcultural genealogy of the critical concept and aesthetic form of magical realism. He explains when this literary movement came of age, and reviews the way in which several Latin American writers reformulated the concept to propose it as an aesthetic form derived directly and organically from the hybrid nature of Latin American culture and society.

Anderson Imbert, Enrique. El realismo mágico y otros ensayos . Caracas, Venezuela: Monte Avila Editores, 1976.

The author identifies Latin American literature in the second quarter of the 20th century as the forerunner of magical realism. He emphasizes the importance of the antirealist schemes produced by the authors of the 1930s–1960s and the importance of Jorge Luis Borges, who transformed Buenos Aires’s experiences into improbable fictions. The author compares the writing of Borges with that of García Márquez, who places his improbable fictions in Macondo, the heart of America.

Flores, Angel. El realismo mágico en el cuento hispanoamericano . Tlahuapan, Mexico: Premià, 1985.

This historical work offers an overview of the main concepts articulated around the term “magical realism.” The author dialogues with the concept proposed by Flores based on the notions theorized by Kafka and Borges, and the one offered by Alejo Carpentier in El reino de este mundo .

Menton, Seymour. Magic Realism Rediscovered, 1918–1981 . Philadelphia: Art Alliance Press, 1983.

Menton outlines how magical realism is a valid and generally applicable notion in both literature and art. The author provides a specific definition of this Latin American literary genre, explaining that this international phenomenon was a clear reaction to the general political and cultural chaos of its time. He focuses his attention on different countries and points out the most noticeable features of magical realism in artistic expressions.

Planells, Antonio. “El realismo mágico ante la crítica.” Chasqui: Revista de literatura latinoamericana 17.1 (1988): 9–23.

DOI: 10.2307/29740037

This study examines the first definitions from Europe and Latin America, discussing the perspectives developed by the major exponents of this literary genre, as well as the different dates associated with the beginning of this movement. At the same time, Planells attempts to focus on the elements and similarities that are shared by all the writers and artists belonging to this genre of narrative fiction.

Ubidia, Abdón. “Cinco tesis acerca del realismo mágico.” Hispamérica 26.78 (1997): 101–107.

Ubidia points out that Latin American oral traditions and beliefs are the raw material of this literary genre. Magical realism is born where social realism ends and denies the symbolic order of Latin American creolism (i.e., of European roots). The author claims that this cultural and literary movement is not a fantastic literature and is part of a set of related trends with which it maintains differences of perspective.

back to top

Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login .

Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here .

• About Latin American Studies »
• Meet the Editorial Board »
• Abortion and Infanticide
• African-Descent Women in Colonial Latin America
• Agricultural Technologies
• Alcohol Use
• Ancient Andean Textiles
• Andean Contributions to Rethinking the State and the Natio...
• Andean Music
• Andean Social Movements (Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru)
• Anti-Asian Racism
• Antislavery Narratives
• Arab Diaspora in Brazil, The
• Arab Diaspora in Latin America, The
• Argentina in the Era of Mass Immigration
• Argentina, Slavery in
• Army of Chile in the 19th Century
• Asian Art and Its Impact in the Americas, 1565–1840
• Atlantic Creoles
• Baroque and Neo-baroque Literary Tradition
• Beauty in Latin America
• Bello, Andrés
• Black Experience in Colonial Latin America, The
• Black Experience in Modern Latin America, The
• Bolaño, Roberto
• Borderlands in Latin America, Conquest of
• Bourbon Reforms, The
• Brazilian Northeast, History of the
• Brazilian Popular Music, Performance, and Culture
• Buenos Aires
• California Missions, The
• Caribbean Philosophical Association, The
• Caribbean, The Archaeology of the
• Cartagena de Indias
• Caste War of Yucatán, The
• Caudillos, 19th Century
• Cádiz Constitution and Liberalism, The
• Central America, The Archaeology of
• Children, History of
• Chile's Struggle for Independence
• Chronicle, The
• Church in Colonial Latin America, The
• Chávez, Hugo, and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela
• Cinema, Contemporary Brazilian
• Cinema, Latin American
• Colonial Central America
• Colonial Latin America, Crime and Punishment in
• Colonial Latin America, Pilgrimage in
• Colonial Legal History of Peru
• Colonial Lima
• Colonial New Granada
• Colonial Portuguese Amazon Region, from the 17th to 18th C...
• Comics, Cartoons, Graphic Novels
• Contemporary Indigenous Film and Video Production
• Contemporary Indigenous Social and Political Thought
• Contemporary Maya, The
• Cortés, Hernán
• Cárdenas and Cardenismo
• Cuban Revolution, The
• de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando
• Dependency Theory in Latin American History
• Development of Architecture in New Spain, 1500–1810, The
• Development of Painting in Peru, 1520–1820, The
• Drug Trades in Latin America
• Dutch in South America and the Caribbean, The
• Early Colonial Forms of Native Expression in Mexico and Pe...
• Economies from Independence to Industrialization
• Ecuador, La Generación del 30 in
• Education in New Spain
• El Salvador
• Enlightenment and its Visual Manifestations in Spanish Ame...
• Environmental History
• Era of Porfirio Díaz, 1876–1911, The
• Family History
• Film, Science Fiction
• Football (Soccer) in Latin America
• Franciscans in Colonial Latin America
• From "National Culture" to the "National Popular" and the ...
• Gaucho Literature
• Gender and History in the Andes
• Gender during the Period of Latin American Independence
• Gender in Colonial Brazil
• Gender in Postcolonial Latin America
• Gentrification in Latin America
• Guaman Poma de Ayala, Felipe
• Guaraní and Their Legacy, The
• Guatemala and Yucatan, Conquest of
• Guatemala City
• Guatemala (Colonial Period)
• Guatemala (Modern & National Period)
• Haitian Revolution, The
• Health and Disease in Modern Latin America, History of
• History, Cultural
• History, Food
• History of Health and Disease in Latin America and the Car...
• Honor in Latin America to 1900
• Honor in Mexican Public Life
• Horror in Literature and Film in Latin America
• Human Rights in Latin America
• Immigration in Latin America
• Independence in Argentina
• Indigenous Borderlands in Colonial and 19th-Century Latin ...
• Indigenous Elites in the Colonial Andes
• Indigenous Population and Justice System in Central Mexico...
• Indigenous Voices in Literature
• Japanese Presence in Latin America
• Jesuits in Colonial Latin America
• Jewish Presence in Latin America, The
• José María Arguedas and Early 21st Century Cultural and Po...
• Las Casas, Bartolomé de
• Latin American Independence
• Latin American Multispecies Studies
• Latin American Theater and Performance
• Latin American Urbanism, 1850-1950
• Law and Society in Latin America since 1800
• Legal History of New Spain, 16th-17th Centuries
• Legal History of the State and Church in 18th Century New ...
• LGBT Literature
• Literature, Argentinian
• Machado de Assis
• Magical Realism
• Maroon Societies in Latin America
• Marriage in Colonial Latin America
• Martí, José, and Cuba
• Menchú, Rigoberta
• Mesoamerica, The Archaeology of
• Mestizaje and the Legacy of José María Arguedas
• Mexican Nationalism
• Mexican Revolution, 1910–1940, The
• Mexican-US Relations
• Mexico, Conquest of
• Mexico, Education in
• Mexico, Health Care in 20th-Century
• Migration to the United States
• Military and Modern Latin America, The
• Military Government in Latin America, 1959–1990
• Military Institution in Colonial Latin America, The
• Mining Extraction in Latin America
• Modern Decorative Arts and Design, 1900–2000
• Modern Populism in Latin America
• Modernity and Decoloniality
• Music in Colonial Latin America
• Musical Tradition in Latin America, The
• Mystics and Mysticism
• Native Presence in Postconquest Central Peru
• Natural Disasters in Early Modern Latin America
• Neoliberalism
• Neruda, Pablo
• New Conquest History and the New Philology in Colonial Mes...
• New Left in Latin America, The
• Novel, Chronology of the Venezuelan
• Novel of the Mexican Revolution, The
• Novel, 19th Century Haitian
• Novel, The Colombian
• Nuns and Convents in Colonial Latin America
• Oaxaca, Conquest and Colonial
• Ortega, José y Gasset
• Painting in New Spain, 1521–1820
• Paraguayan War (War of the Triple Alliance)
• Pastoralism in the Andes
• Paz, Octavio
• Perón and Peronism
• Peru, Colonial
• Peru, Conquest of
• Peru, Slavery in
• Philippines Under Spanish Rule, 1571-1898
• Photography in the History of Race and Nation
• Political Exile in Latin America
• Ponce de León
• Popular Culture and Globalization
• Popular Movements in 19th-Century Latin America
• Portuguese-Spanish Interactions in Colonial South America
• Post Conquest Aztecs
• Post-Conquest Demographic Collapse
• Poverty in Latin America
• Preconquest Incas
• Pre-conquest Mesoamerican States, The
• Pre-Revolutionary Mexico, State and Nation Formation in
• Printing and the Book
• Prints and the Circulation of Colonial Images
• Protestantism in Latin America
• Puerto Rican Literature
• Religions in Latin America
• Revolution and Reaction in Central America
• Rosas, Juan Manuel de
• Sandinista Revolution and the FSLN, The
• Santo Domingo
• Science and Empire in the Iberian Atlantic
• Science and Technology in Modern Latin America
• Sephardic Culture
• Sexualities in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Slavery in Brazil
• South American Dirty Wars
• South American Missions
• Spanish American Arab Literature
• Spanish and Portuguese Trade, 1500–1750
• Spanish Caribbean In The Colonial Period, The
• Spanish Colonial Decorative Arts, 1500-1825
• Spanish Florida
• Spanish Pacific, The
• Spiritual Conquest of Latin America, The
• Sports in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Studies on Academic Literacies in Spanish-Speaking Latin A...
• Telenovelas and Melodrama in Latin America
• Textile Traditions of the Andes
• 19th Century and Modernismo Poetry in Spanish America
• 20th-Century Mexico, Mass Media and Consumer Culture in
• 16th-Century New Spain
• Tourism in Modern Latin America
• Trujillo, Rafael
• Tupac Amaru Rebellion, The
• United States and Castro's Cuba in the Cold War, The
• United States and the Guatemalan Revolution, The
• United States Invasion of the Dominican Republic, 1961–196...
• Urban History
• Urbanization in the 20th Century, Latin America’s
• US–Latin American Relations during the Cold War
• Vargas, Getúlio
• Venezuelan Literature
• Women and Labor in 20th-Century Latin America
• Women in Colonial Latin American History
• Women in Modern Latin American History
• Women's Property Rights, Asset Ownership, and Wealth in La...
• World War I in Latin America
• Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Legal Notice
• Accessibility

Powered by:

• [81.177.182.154]
• 81.177.182.154

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.

• Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community

In this Book

• Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris, eds.
• Published by: Duke University Press
• View Citation

Table of Contents

• Title, Copyright
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Daiquiri Birds and Flaubertian Parrot(ie)s
• Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris
• I. Foundations
• Magic Realism: Post-Expressionism (1925)
• Magic Realism, New Objectivity, and the Arts during the Weimar Republic
• Irene Guenther
• On the Marvelous Real in America (1949)
• Alejo Carpentier
• The Baroque and the Marvelous Real (1975)
• Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction (1955)
• Angel Flores
• pp. 109-118
• Magical Realism in Spanish American Literature (1967)
• pp. 119-124
• The Territorialization of the Imaginary in Latin America: Self-Affirmation and Resistance to Metropolitan Paradigms
• Amaryll Chanady
• pp. 125-144
• Sources of Magic Realism/Supplements to Realism in Contemporary Latin American Literature
• Scott Simpkins
• pp. 145-160
• Scheherazade's Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction
• Wendy B. Faris
• pp. 163-190
• Magic Realism and Postmodernism: Decentering Privileged Centers
• Theo L. D'haen
• pp. 191-208
• The Metamorphoses of Fictional Space: Magical Realism
• Rawdon Wilson
• pp. 209-234
• The Textualization of the Reader in Magical Realist Fiction
• pp. 235-248
• Psychic Realism, Mythic Realism, Grotesque Realism: Variations on Magic Realism in Contemporary Literature in English
• Jeanne Delbaere-Garant
• pp. 249-264
• III. History
• Magical Realism, Compensatory Vision, and Felt History: Classical Realism Transformed in The White Hotel
• John Burt Foster Jr.
• pp. 267-284
• Past-On Stories: History and the Magically Real, Morrison and Allende on Call
• P. Gabrielle Foreman
• pp. 285-304
• Narrative Trickery and Performative Historiography: Fictional Representation of National Identity in Graham Swift, Peter Carey, and Mordecai Richler
• Richard Todd
• pp. 305-328
• Saleem Fathered by Oskar: Midnight's Children, Magic Realism, and The Tin Drum
• Patricia Merivale
• pp. 329-346
• Magical Archetypes: Midlife Miracles in The Satanic Verses
• Steven F. Walker
• pp. 347-370
• Derek Walcott and Alejo Carpentier: Nature, History, and the Caribbean Writer
• David Mikics
• pp. 371-404
• IV. Community
• Magic Realism as Postcolonial Discourse
• Stephen Slemon
• pp. 407-426
• Metoikoi and Magical Realism in the Maghrebian Narratives of Tahar ben Jelloun and Abdelkebir Khatibi
• John Erickson
• pp. 427-450
• The Magic of Identity: Magic Realism in Modern Japanese Fiction
• Susan J. Napier
• pp. 451-476
• Roads of "Exquisite Mysterious Muck": The Magical Journey through the City in William Kennedy's Ironweed, John Cheever's "The Enormous Radio," and Donald Barthelme's "City Life"
• Melissa Stewart
• pp. 477-496
• Magical Romance/Magical Realism: Ghosts in U.S. and Latin American Fiction
• Lois Parkinson Zamora
• pp. 497-550
• Selected Bibliography
• pp. 551-558
• Contributors
• pp. 559-562
• pp. 563-581

Additional Information

Project muse mission.

Project MUSE promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. Forged from a partnership between a university press and a library, Project MUSE is a trusted part of the academic and scholarly community it serves.

2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland, USA 21218

+1 (410) 516-6989 [email protected]

©2024 Project MUSE. Produced by Johns Hopkins University Press in collaboration with The Sheridan Libraries.

Now and Always, The Trusted Content Your Research Requires

Built on the Johns Hopkins University Campus