It’s recently come to my attention that the genre I’d been referring to as magical realism is not, in fact, actually magical realism. So I did some more digging and the results aren’t as clear-cut as I supposed. I mean, no one argues about what constitutes a murder mystery, but apparently what makes it “real” magical realism is a hot button issue within the literary community.
Magical realism, according to Writing-World.com and Wikipedia (as well as the Encyclopedia Britannica and Princeton University, among others), is a much narrower genre that one might suppose, mostly referring to the South American writers who incorporate magical or fantastical elements into otherwise realistic fiction. (Think Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alejo Carpentier, and Jorge Luis Borges.) There’s many theories on why this style is characterized by Latin American writers, including postulations about post-colonial theory and reconciling alternate histories, but that is really beyond the scope of this post.
A recent article in Writer’s Digest delves into magical realism a little further, coining the origins of magical realism in Latin America, but saying “while magical realism may (or may not) have been birthed in Latin America, is has evolved and migrated.” And that really seems to be the crux of this debate: not what constitutes magical realism, but who is allowed to write it.
The purists, on one end, say that the Latin American authors write this genre in the pure form, while others say it’s about the characteristicsof the story and instead of about geography. (Side note: Amazon apparently sides with the purists, since several books I selected as my favorite books in the magical realism genre are classified as sci-fi/ fantasy.)
The key item that identifies magical realism is that things just are; they are not explained, they simply exist. (Think The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.) Another key feature is that the story takes place in the real world but that has magical things happen that aren’t explained. (e.g. Of course the cat is talking, why wouldn’t the cat being talking? Kind of scenarios.) So I would still like to know, are these novels that I love considered magical realism or are they sci-fi/ fantasy?
My impulse is to say yes. Because although the art of play writing originated with the Greeks, we don’t go around saying that only Greek people can write plays. Although Thomas Mallory wrote what is considered the first novel in English with The Morte d’ Arthur, we don’t say only English people can write novels. The same with various poetic forms—the sestina, the ghazal, the haiku. So, at least in my mind, as long as you follow the proscriptions of the genre, it doesn’t matter where you hail from. Besides, magical realism is a kickass name for a genre and everybody should have access to that.
It seems that I’ve gone on long enough with this that rather than launch into a book review, I’d like to leave you with a list of my recommendations for further reading in the genre. Apologies right now to the Latin American authors: I’ve never been able to make it through any of those novels.
Recommended Books:
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaimon
- Lexicon by Max Barry
- The Magicians Series by Lev Grossman
- The Time-Traveler’s Wife by Audry Niffenegger
- Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (this one is debatable, but thought I’d include it anyway)
- Eleanor by Jason Gurley
Resources for Further Reading:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism
- http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Magic_realism.html
- http://www.writing-world.com/sf/realism.shtml
- http://postcolonialstudies.emory.edu/magical-realism/
And in a side note, check out this latest release from Kristina Wright! http://www.amazon.com/Best-Erotic-Romance-Kristina-Wright/dp/1627781137 So excited to be included in the lineup with some superstar writers in the genre. Keep writing, ladies!
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