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Split off from the Definitions thread. Copied for context:
More definitions
Magical Realism
... is not so easy to define, actually. (I don't recommend Wikipedia for this one, at least not with the article in its current state.)
Kitty Pryde has pointed to an awesome collection of links on the subject.
Bruce Holland Rogers has an excellent essay on magical realism and how it differs from genre fantasy here:
More definitions
Magical Realism
... is not so easy to define, actually. (I don't recommend Wikipedia for this one, at least not with the article in its current state.)
Kitty Pryde has pointed to an awesome collection of links on the subject.
Bruce Holland Rogers has an excellent essay on magical realism and how it differs from genre fantasy here:
Another essay, from a more academic/literary perspective, is here:Science fiction and fantasy are always speculative. They are always positing that some aspect of objective reality were different. [...]
Magical realism is not speculative and does not conduct thought experiments. Instead, it tells its stories from the perspective of people who live in our world and experience a different reality from the one we call objective. If there is a ghost in a story of magical realism, the ghost is not a fantasy element but a manifestation of the reality of people who believe in and have "real" experiences of ghosts. Magical realist fiction depicts the real world of people whose reality is different from ours. [...] Magical realism endeavors to show us the world through other eyes. [...]
It's possible to read magical realism as fantasy, just as it's possible to dismiss people who believe in witches as primitives or fools. But the literature at its best invites the reader to compassionately experience the world as many of our fellow human beings see it.
Magical realism is strongly associated with South American literature, but not, most people agree, confined to it.Magical realism is characterized by two conflicting perspectives, one based on a rational view of reality and the other on the acceptance of the supernatural as prosaic reality. Magical realism differs from pure fantasy primarily because it is set in a normal, modern world with authentic descriptions of humans and society [ed. note: I don't actually think this is a useful diagnostic criterion]. According to Angel Flores, magical realism involves the fusion of the real and the fantastic, or as he claims, "an amalgamation of realism and fantasy".
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