In a message dated 97-04-29 17:52:12 EDT, you write:
<<
this isn't a comment so much as a request.
I have been turned right off the *concept* of magic realism (not the
literature itself), not because of the quality of the literature but
because of the appalling standard of the three academic papers I
have listened to on the topic. I would really appreciate it if any body
could either explain to me what it is, or point me in the direction of a
lucid article on the topic. >>
Farah,
I haven't read *any* academic papers on magical realism, which might be why
I'm still enchanted by it. I didn't read Like Water for Chocolate, I saw the
movie (go ahead and groan, I swear I'm getting around to it) but the short
fiction and the one novel I can think of offhand (Allende's The House of the
Spirits) that are magical realism *are* enchanting.
Magical realism is just like a realistic novel, except that certain
miraculous or magical things happen and are taken as no more than just
slightly weird. It's a little like my personal view of really good sf: the
idea is to find out how humans behave, how they're still human, even in
unusual circumstances, like working in a lunar colony, or as a vr hacker. The
emphasis is not on the magic/science, it's on the people. If Allende's novel
were about the clairvoyance of the women, it would be boring. It's really
about the family, and Allende uses the magic as a literary device.
I hope that helped!
Hope Cascio
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