MAGIC REALISM

MAGIC REALISM
   A term originally used to describe a form of literature most commonly associated with 20th-century Latin America, most notably in the works of Isabel Allende (1942-), Miguel Angel Asturias (1899-1974), Jorge LuisBORGES, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1928-) and Juan Rulfo (1918-1986). US and UK practitioners include Donald BARTHELME, Angela CARTER and John Hawkes (1925-).Contrary to the antirealistic assumptions of high Modernism (Henry James (1843-1916), Ezra Pound (1885-1972) and T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)) or the fable-producing, self-referential texts of metafiction (John BARTH and Italo CALVINO), Magic Realism does not necessarily doubt either the actuality of a real world or the ability of literary language to describe that world. Instead it assumes that the mundane world and its familiar objects are often filled with fabulous secrets. Magic realism explores the real world's unrealities, and does not simply - like FANTASY, Surrealism or fairy tales - invent the dreamlike unrealities of ALTERNATEWORLDS. Magic Realism suggests that the real world can be represented, even when it cannot be believed.For further discussion of the broad tendencies of 20th-century literature from which Magic Realism partially dissents, FABULATION.
   SB
   See also: POSTMODERNISM AND SF.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Encyclopedia. . 2011.

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  • magic realism — noun a literary or artistic genre in which realistic narrative or meticulously realistic painting are combined with surreal elements of fantasy or dreams • Hypernyms: ↑genre * * * ˌmagic ˈrealism f19 [magic realism] (also ˌmagical ˈrealism …   Useful english dictionary

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  • Magic Realism — Magic Real|is|m n [U] a style of imaginative novel writing connected especially with 20th century writers from Latin America, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, and Isabel Allende, in which impossible events are described as if… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • magic realism — noun Date: 1933 1. painting in a meticulously realistic style of imaginary or fantastic scenes or images 2. a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • magic realism — (also magical realism) noun a literary or artistic genre in which realistic narrative and naturalistic technique are combined with surreal elements of dream or fantasy. Derivatives magic realist noun & adjective …   English new terms dictionary

  • magic realism — noun a literary style or genre that combines naturalistic details and narrative with surreal or dreamlike elements Syn: magical realism …   Wiktionary

  • magic realism — UK / US noun [uncountable] cinema, literature a type of literature or cinema in which very strange things happen in ordinary situations, as they do in dreams …   English dictionary

  • magic realism — mag′ic (or mag′ical) re′alism n. fia lit. an artistic style in which often fantastic images or events are depicted in a sharply realistic manner …   From formal English to slang

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