Magical Realism

Magical Realism Characteristics

FANTASTICAL ELEMENTS:

Fantastical elements and events are included in an otherwise “normal” narrative. The narrative maintains a strong contemporary cultural relevance while reaching beyond the confines of realism and drawing upon the elements of fable, folktale, and myth.

AUTHORIAL RETICENCE:

The deliberate withholding of information and explanations about the disconcerting fictitious world. The narrator does not provide explanations about the accuracy or credibility of events described or views expressed by characters in the text. The narrator is indifferent, a characteristic enhanced by this absence of explanation of fantastic events; the story proceeds with "logical precision" as if nothing extraordinary took place. Magical events are presented as ordinary occurrences; therefore, the reader accepts the marvelous as normal and common.

SENSE OF MYSTERY:

The reader must let go of preexisting ties to conventional exposition, plot advancement, linear time structure, scientific reason, etc., to strive for a state of heightened awareness of life's connectedness or hidden meanings.

METAFICTION:

The narrative explores the impact fiction has on reality, reality on fiction and the reader’s role in between; as such, it is well suited for drawing attention to social or political criticism. Furthermore, it is the tool paramount in the execution of a related and major magic realist phenomenon: textualization. This term defines two conditions—first, where a fictitious reader enters the story within a story while reading it, making us self-conscious of our status as readers—and secondly, where the textual world enters into the reader's (our) world.

REAL WORLD SETTING

The existence of fantasy elements in the real world provides the basis for magical realism. Writers don't invent new worlds but reveal the magical in this world. In the binary world of magical realism, the supernatural realm blends with the natural, familiar world.