On Fri, 2 May 1997 22:11:05 -0400 Hope Cascio wrote:
> 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
Hope, this is a great definition, there are just one or two snags. As far
as I can tell, this would mean that many of Joan Aiken's short stories
for children (see the collection All and More) would be magic realism,
as would Diana Wynne Jones Chrestomanci series. This might
actually be a good thing. I usuallly describe them to people by
explaining that the magic is taken for granted, maybe magic realism
could be the shorthand?
Farah
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