Magic realism

From: Bajram Karabolli

Latin American literature is a continent of its own. Of course, in the relief of this continent there are mountains, ranges, hills and valleys, as well as desert spaces. I believe that's how all literary continents are. But it is precisely the Latin American writers of the second half of the century. XX, such as Luis Borges (Jorge Luis Borges – Argentina), Aleho Carpentier (Alejo Carpentier – Cuba), Miguel Ángel Asturias (Miguel Ángel Asturias – Guatemala), Juan Rulfo (Juan Rulfo – Mexico), Carlos Fuentes (Carlos Fuentes – Mexico) , Julio Cortásar (Julio Cortázar – Argentina), Gabriel Garsia Márkes (Gabriel García Márquez – Colombia), Mario Vargas Josa (Mario Vargas Llosa – Peru), Jose Donoso (José Donoso – Chile), Álvaro Mutis (Colombia), etc., who make up that wonderful constellation that created this unique literary trend, a trend that made an era and entered the history of world literature under the name "Magical Realism".

It is precisely these Latin American writers, magical realists, who exploded - I think this word is appropriate in this case - what is called the "boom" of those years. So, it is an art trend that developed in the middle of the century. XX and which was expressed, mainly, through literature, but, sometimes, also through painting or cinematography.

Magical Realism is an artistic movement that presents magical elements or magical situations, compared to other literary works considered more realistic or normal. It is a literary strategy, where the concern and stylistic interest is to present the ordinary and the everyday as something surreal and surprising. It is a type of fiction cultivated mainly by Ibero-American writers.

Magical realism was the ideal answer for authors who, living in countries where dictatorship and censorship corrupted all areas of society, could express themselves by allowing, through fantasy, to explain elements of reality, without being exposed to censorship, or by been in exile.
The term "magical realism" was first used in 1925 by the German critic Franz Roh, who, with this term, referred to a special style in painting, or more precisely to the expressionist current of this art where, according to him, the background the realistic aspect of a painting also contained fantastical and unrealistic elements. Later, the term was used to characterize the style of some North American painters such as Paul Cadmus, Ivan Albright, and Georg Tooker, among other artists of the 1940s and 1950s. Unless, in the visual arts, the term refers to a work with realistic elements extreme, in literature, on the contrary, refers to a work with magical and illogical elements.

The first to use the term "magical realism" in literary criticism, thus naming a rich Latin American literary style, was the Puerto Rican researcher and critic Angel Flores. Later, there was also a researcher who, apart from Ibero-American writers, also included in this literary current some writers from other continents such as Günter Grass, Milan Kundera, or Salman Rushdie.

"Magical realism" is a literary current that has precedent, starting from the century. XVI with the baroque literary style, then with the Gothic novel of the c. XVIII, but even later in the century. XX, with the surrealist movement. However, little by little, magical realism took its place in the world literary consciousness as an avant-garde current of the 50s-70s. XX, with the motherland Latin America. The reason why it developed and flourished precisely on this continent and in this period, according to many researchers, was the disagreement between the culture of technology and the culture of superstition, as well as, as said above, the period of flourishing of political dictatorships in these countries that , with the exercise of censorship, turned the word into an extremely precious and manipulable tool.

Literary critics have used the word "magical" to name a certain tendency in the novelistics of the century. XX, which is characterized by respect for myths and their use within a realistic context. Not a few researchers include the supernatural, mythical and popular beliefs. It's not about "presenting magic as if it were real", but about "presenting reality as if it were magic". We are dealing with a focus on the supernatural. So, it is a type of fiction cultivated, mainly, by Ibero-American novelists, during the second half of the century. XX. Magical Realism, like much of the literature of this period, is undoubtedly, fundamentally, a moderate literary current. In the works of magical-realist writers, a world is created where fantasy and magic coexist with reality, as if they were born from the same core of things. But this literary stream presents the narrative reality mixed with fantastic and fairy-tale elements, not so much to embellish it as to magnify its inner contradiction.

Latin American writers of magical realism, in their narrative creations, within nature itself, create a supernatural climate. By distorting reality, they make characters and events more distinct. In these powerful fictions, the characters are not confused before the supernatural, they accept it as another view, one more view, of reality, thus provoking in the reader a sense of wonder. Thus, for example, in the story "Axolotl" by Julio Cortasari, the narrator fatally agrees to turn into an amphibian (fish); or in the story Chak Mol by Carlos Fuentes, the author metaphorically uses the Mayan rain god as a symbol of the past to contrast the lifestyle of modern Mexico. The death of Filiberto, the explosion of red water or the makeup of Chuck Mol are some of these metaphors and symbols that speak strongly against modern Mexicans. It is a story that aims to raise awareness of the "lost" past, an issue that belongs to Mexico.

As for the characteristics of magical realism, different scholars have defined them in different numbers and forms. But although they may have been drafted in different forms, the contents of these characteristics coincide, pointing out the same things. Some texts of the history of literature or some university lecturers, because they deal with a large mass of readers, have formulated them more precisely and clearly. According to them, the main characteristics of magical realism are the following:

1. Merging the real with the fantastic: It can be a fantasy context with real characters, or a real context with fantastic characters.

2. Dreaming: The protagonists of the plot usually often elaborate and operate in the field of dreaming. Narratives, many times, start in dreams that the characters see or even the stories themselves take place in the terrain of dreams, as a scenario to make the story more attractive.

3. Realism: A characteristic of magical realism is also taking from realism a transparent and concrete expression of language, in order to make fine descriptions where, among others, there are common and familiar elements, family feelings, or historical data .

4. Fantasy valued as something real: The magical elements in a work of magical realism are valued as normal by the characters. The characters momentarily accept the fantastic as real.

5. The use of three persons: In Latin American magical realism stories can be narrated simultaneously in the first, second and third person.

6. The presence of multiple narrators: It happens that this thing alternates during the narration.

7. Usually the scenarios are Latin American: This happens because the authors of magical realism are inspired by this reality.

8. Mythology and the weird factor: Narratives often make use of myths, which imbue this genre with an exotic hue.

9. Environment of extreme poverty and misery: The events in the works of magical realism usually take place in extremely poor environments where the characters suffer from extreme misery. This is the way to know different realities, almost unknown to some, and the author's attitude towards them.

10. Sensory perception of reality: Authors of magical realism usually give a lot of importance to the sensory side when knowing reality.

11. Narrative Time: Time is jumbled and events usually do not occur in sequence. Perhaps this is the most distinctive characteristic of magical realism, which makes the narrative more attractive to the reader.