Discussion: Magical Realism

[stinglikeabee]

scififanatic and I were discussing magical realism yesterday at a Denny's. Wait, it's not important that we were at a chain diner. Or is it? What if I said it was a Denny's that served as a portal to an alternate universe where our server was a violet plumed rooster who scratched thin symbols into the trembling ground, and strutted off as a thick green beanstalk shot through the markings, producing jug-sized pitchers for our mimosas?

Actually, I had a Zinfandel.

So. Our discussion could be detailed as such:

a) What is magical realism?

b) What distinguishes magical realism?

c) Who gets to use the term magical realism?

Read my writeup of our attempts to answer these questions under the cut:



Disclaimer: IANALS (I am not a literature scholar). I read pulp fiction, the kind with half-naked, sultry temptresses with guns or seducing poor schmucks on the cover. Also, I enjoy (because I'm a masochist) mainstream superhero comics. This ain't gonna be anything that's fit for reprinting in a journal, let me tell ya upfront.

a) What is magical realism?

Fuck me, I don't know. And you know, I don't think there's any shame in admitting that. In our discussion we were loss for a concrete definition for what is considered magical realism. And scififanatic had said she had an unsatisfying discussion with a writer about the label as neither could agree on what it entailed. PS S is way more scholarly than I am. It seems like 'magical realism' is a trendy label used by publishers and agents to sell books, and really no one ought to be surprised there's such confusion as to what it is.

With much ignorance, I said I felt it was something exclusive to writing, but according to Wikipedia (that bastion of truthiness and factual understanding) it term was first used by an art critic to describe a painting style that is very realistic (something called Neue Sachlichkei, or New Objectivity).

I think parlance hit it closer to the mark. When I explained the trouble we had, she asked whether magical realism was a Latin American tradition, rather than a stylistic form. Wikipedia notes the term was first applied to works from the region. It even throws in a few cutesy quotes such as one from Gene Wolfe, "Magic realism is fantasy written by people who speak Spanish". Aw. However most of what we (in the US anyhow) know of magic realism are the translations of these Spanish-language works. Can we really know the spirit of the tradition when language is a barrier? That answer may be buried in obscure discussions when the term is now being used to describe English literature, such as Toni Morrison's works.

But damnit, I hear you cry, give me a definition! Alright, I'll give it the old college try: magical realism are works that involve realities that are as much influenced by myth and fantasty as confined by the recognisable rules we live by. How was that? I think critic Luis Leal says it best when he says, "if you can explain it, then it's not magical realism". You'll know when you read it if it's magical realism. Not satisfied? Feel free to give me your own definition :)

ETA: i_may_need_meds offers a definition she heard elsewhere that sounds perfect: It's a novel where the unexplained fantasy elements are treated as something normal and not as something extraordinary.

b) What distinguishes magical realism?

See previous paragraph. This was a tough one. Where to draw the line between fantasy and magical realism? Or surrealism? You get the drift. Plus, since the term originally referred to paintings, can there be an equivalent in cinema? Shit, I had thought frantically at this point, where does it end? Make the definition too narrow and you may miss out on spectacular works deserving of more acclaim. Make it too broad and all of a sudden the Harry Potter series is included.

scififanatic and I began throwing around suggestions of what we thought conformed to the magical realism ideals, in hopes of finding a common thread. Here's a partial list, and I thank triestine for her help in giving us Eastern European examples:

Novels
The Enchantress of Florence, Salman Rushdie
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (broke my own rule, I know, grumble grumble)
The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende (btw how disappointing was the movie adaptation?)
Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, Umberto Eco
Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
Fama o biciklistima (The Fuss/Rumours About Cyclists), Svetislav Basara
Journal on the Minotaur, Dragan Orlović
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
The Passion, Jeanette Winterson (thanks, roguecatwoman!)
Tropic of Orange, Karen Tei Yamashita (thanks, smittenly!)

Sorry, S! I've forgotten some of the examples we had. If anyone has a rec, please comment and I'll add them to the list. The goal would be not to judge other books by what we've compiled but to see why they are termed magical realism.

Also: the movie Pan's Labyrinth. Gothic fantasy, or would it fit comfortably in the above list?

c) Who gets to use the term magical realism?

I want to be a snob and say it's all a marketing gimmick. A good story is a good story, full stop. Yeah, but if that were the case I wouldn't get all riled up about people calling Frank Miller's Sin City 'noir'.

Uh oh, I hear you say, her and Frank Miller again. This is not going to end well.

Let's use another example, then. Years ago JK Rowling said in a Time magazine article that she didn't realise after the first Potter book that it was a fantasy novel. Terry Pratchett countered that by saying, "I would have thought that the wizards, witches, trolls, unicorns, hidden worlds... would have given her a clue?" When my friend heard of this, she was fuming and wondered whether Rowling realised that not only had she written a fantasy, the series was part of the sci-fi world too. My reaction to the entire thing: a shrug and a witty remark to change the subject (I believe it was about a beaver and a dam). In retrospect I'm kinda iffy on the Potter series as science fiction, but I'll leave it to those more learned than I.

Obviously we readers grow very attached to the labels, and become very vocal if we think something is miscategorised by publishers. The book Coraline, S and I agreed, was distinctly gothic and straddled the line between fantasy and horror. Amazon.com's review even called it a fairy tale. But my recollection was that it was marketed as a Young Adult novel. I was then quite surprised at last year's Comic-Con to hear that people in their twenties were excited for the movie, thinking it would only attract the attention of teens. When I asked my Neil Gaiman-obsessed friend what she would call the book, her voice did not falter when she said simply 'fantasy'. Many would agree with her.

But what if an author/agent/publisher/Paula from marketing sincerely believes their work belongs in a certain section? Like Twilight in fantasy, when many believe it ought to be in the compost bin har de har har (remember to recycle kids!). Who is right, the source of the text or the readers? scififanatic thinks it's all right for someone to claim her novel is say, light magical realism or whatever, but they had better be prepared to defend their position when a reader brings forth a challenge. Then roses fall from the sky, a choir booms a hymn of the impending apocalypse, and a sword is pulled from within the Rose Bride -- okay, no, it won't be anything like out of Revolutionary Girl Utena. Unless you claim your work is noir and I find out it's because the comic is all in black and white and Wolverine has switchblades instead of razors for claws. Then it's on bitches!

Point is, as a writer you have to be careful about the expectations readers may have with the certain terms. Especially with something like magical realism that's still fresh and new to our North American palates.

That's... pretty much all that comes to mind from our hours-long talk about magical realism. I hope some/any of this blather has inspired anyone to go and pick up a book from the list, or even google the term. Or at the very least, now have some very interesting material to make fun of me with.

Comments

[stinglikeabee.livejournal.com]

Ah, never heard of that one! I'll add that to the list. Now that I think of it, I didn't add Junot Diaz to the list either! Ooh, that was careless of me.

Hee, I'm glad to read people are responding to something even as boring sounding as this discussion of magical realism.