Magical Realism

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Magical Realism

• Class Notes

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Palm Tree Horse

• Reality is more than the thing itself.  I look
  always for the super-reality.  Reality lies in
  how you see things.  A green parrot is also a
  green salad and a green parrot.  He who makes it
  only a parrot diminishes reality.  A painter who
  copies a tree blinds himself to the real tree.  I
  see things otherwise.  A palm tree can become a
  horse.  (Pablo Picasso, A Palm Tree Becomes a
  Horse, 1950.)

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Definition

• Modern Fiction where
• Fantastical events are included in a narrative
  that establishes an otherwise reliable tone.
• Characters have fantastical attributes
• Levitation
• Flight
• Telekinesis
• Telepathy

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Definition (contd)

• Modern fiction where
• There is a juxtaposition of realistic and
  fantastic events.
• Time Shifts
• Convoluted Plot Lines
• Dreams
• Arcane Erudition
• Myths and Fairy Tales

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Characteristics

• Hybridity MR takes place in inharmonious
  settings that mix urban and rural, Western and
  indigenous, etc. Issues involve borders, mixing,
  and change.
• Irony The author must distance himself/herself
  from the magical world, yet still have a strong
  respect for the magic.

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Characteristics (contd)

• Authorial Reticence Author lacks opinions
  concerning the accuracy of the events.
• Supernatural and Natural The supernatural is
  not displayed as questionable.

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Final Slide

• "My most important problem was destroying the
  line of demarcation that separates what seems
  real from what seems fantastic. Gabriel Garcia
  Marquez.