Magic Realism: MOST Outstanding Features

One of the most important literary currents of the early twentieth century was magical realism that was adopted by a large number of Latin American authors belonging to the "boom". Gabriel Garcia Marquez He was the father of this movement that mixed reality with fantasy in surprising works full of American regionalisms. In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we want to get you closer to this literary subgenre and, therefore, below we will discover the main characteristics of magic realism that we will find in many of the works of authors such as Borges, Cortázar, Rulfo, and so on.

Before getting fully into knowing the characteristics of magical realism, it is important that we understand this concept better. The expression "magical realism"It was used for the first time by the hand of Franz Roh, a German critic who made reference to a type of painting that showed a reality slightly different from that seen by the human eye. However, when this term was coined by Arturo Uslar Pietri He did it with a different motivation: to be able to describe the literary style that some Latin American authors were beginning to follow, a style that

included magical effects in reality that we all know, thus creating a new space that mixed reality with fiction.

A lots of writers of the Latin American boom professed this literary subgenre as, for example, is the case of Gabriel Garcia Marquez who with "One Hundred Years of Solitude" managed to create a work that is the best literary sample of literary realism. Essentially, this subgenre refers to those works in which in a scene of apparent normality and In reality, fantastic elements appear that, however, do not produce any surprise among the characters of the plays. Therefore, on the literary level, the realism that is presented to us comes hand in hand with fantasy and thus the apt name of magical realism.

Much has been studied about the origin of this narrative subgenre, however, many critics point out that it was the best way that the authors residing in dictatorial and censored countries to be able to express their thoughts and ideas through the use of fantasy. A way to evade censorship and to present a fantasy reality that, in reality, was a metaphor for the reality that they lived.

To better understand how these types of works are, below we will discover the highlights of magical realism and that make this subgenre easily recognizable. Above all, it is important not to confuse these works with those that are fully fantasy since the The key element of these texts is, precisely, that everything narrated takes place in a real environment and plausible. However, it has elements that could not be possible in real life and that, in the texts, are treated with the utmost naturalness.

Fantastic elements in the known reality

As we have already been saying, one of the most essential characteristics of magical realism is that in this type of writing the author places us in an easily identifiable reality since it is real and close. However, it incorporates a large number of fantastic, magical elements that coexist with reality. It is important to note that many of these elements are part of the identity and sensitivity of the Latin American peoples, with footprints of mythical and legendary characters, and so on.

Naturalness versus fantasy

Another characteristic fact of this type of work is that the fantastic or unreal events that take place during the plot are treated as normal between the characters. Therefore, the reader will not find a reaction of strangeness in the character who lives this fantastic situation but, rather, the opposite.

The importance of the storyteller

In magical realism texts we also find that the narrator has a very relevant role. The reason is that, when he presents us with the fantastic fact, his voice also does it with a naturalness typical of the subgenre. It does not emphasize the strangeness of the event but it will explain it with the same normality and neutrality as if it explained that someone is eating. And it is that the fantastic facts of these works are not fantastic in the literary reality and, therefore, not even the narrator can give it that special touch because it would break with the essence. Only the reader will realize how magical is happening but no one else will give importance to the fact.

American Scenarios

As we have indicated in the first point, the Latin American authors saw in magical realism an optimal tool to recover their silenced identity and their most authentic traditions. For this reason, all the stories they explained were included within the American reality with landscapes and spaces typical of this part of the world.

Intimate atmospheres

It is also common for the authors who followed this trend to create an intimate atmosphere that allowed the character to expand and investigate within. Let's not forget that these works can be read as authentic metaphors of what the writers wanted express and, therefore, with the mixture of fantasy and reality they created very powerful and powerful.

Native myths and legends

Another of the most determining characteristics of magical realism is that the authors used many elements of their popular tradition in order to create that framework of fantasy and unreality. With this, they not only created the ideal environment for their works but also recovered stories and characters that had been abandoned or forgotten over the years. A way to go back to your cultural origins and delve into your roots.

Social complaint

The vast majority of the texts that are part of magical realism were written with a critical will. As we have already commented, many of the authors faithful to the genre lived in countries with dictatorships and censorship, therefore, the way they found to be able to report what they were living it was through this subgenre that it passed through the censorship filter and was loaded with hidden messages.

And to finish this lesson with the characteristics of magical realism, let's talk about the most prominent authorsof this movement. As you can imagine, the vast majority of them are Latin American, however, this subgenre also reached Europe and today we have very interesting titles.

Special mention we have to make to Gabriel Garcia Marquez since, for the great majority of critics, he is the father of magical realism. With "One Hundred Years of Solitude" he manages to take this genre to its maximum expression and write one of the most important works in the Spanish language.

Here we leave you a list with the most important writers of the movement:

• Horacio Quiroga
• Miguel Angel Asturias
• Jorde Luis Borges
• Manuel Mujica
• Julio Cortazar
• Elena Garro
• Juan Rulfo
• Carlos Fuentes
• Mario Vargas Llosa

Within European literature, authors such as Milan Kundera, Manuel Vicent or Álvaro Cunqueiro also followed in the wake of this literary movement and created very interesting works.