There's no such thing as magical realism...(whisper) it's not real!

I disagree with Anne Rice being on the list. She's not magical realism because there is no realism in her novels. I'm not putting her down; I like the Mayfair Witch series alot, I'm just saying, techinically, I disagree that she uses magical realism.
Also, Matt, I hope you're kidding....

The new novel by Joshua Mohr is not exactly magical realism but something similar. The narrator has post traumatic stress disorder and imagines himself going through a trapdoor in the bottom of a dumpster to visit his past. He also meets his inner-child.

I added Midlesex.. and prepared to be challenged as im no expert. To me this was magic realism - narrated as the story of a gene through generations by someone who couldnt possibly have known the details, also exemplified by narrating the story from within the womb

Alice Hoffman and Isabel Allende are my favorite magic realists and I'm glad they are on this list. The way I feel about magic realism, is that its just a hint or a small touch of magic or something mystical in a realistic setting. Its not overwhelming the story. So I agree that Anne Rice isn't magic realism, because its about the supernatural. The same for Elsewhere: great teen novel, but its about the afterlife. Although my favorite of Alice Hoffman's that's not on this list is Illumination Night.

I'm not too sure if I agree with Middlesex being on this list. I understand what you're trying to say, but to me it was more of a complicated coming of age story. Great novel, but not magic realism (but that's just my opinion). I'm also a little on the fence about The Time Traveler's Wife, but I voted for that one.

I wish the witch of Portobello was mentioned. A live display and rendering of its protagonist - was much more entertaining and enlightening than reading something in print and voting for it. Then I would vote for Haroon & the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. However, I have not read most names mentioned here and so The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho bcomes choice!

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle A Novel

I am not sure if this qualifies but it was certainly a magical book to me...and an amazingly well-written story.

Kathleen

Jon wrote: "I added Midlesex.. and prepared to be challenged as im no expert. To me this was magic realism - narrated as the story of a gene through generations by someone who couldnt possibly have known the ..."

I don't think that's magical realism.... it's a storytelling term but in general, its the story of a real life girl that nothing magical happens to. to me, not so much magical realism...

To me, the magic in magical realism isn't so much literal as it is linguistic (or artistic). I define it as the expression of the metaphorical as literal. It's not about supernatural and fantasy as much as those elements naturally come into play when you play with language (or whatever your art form) so that the beauty of expression becomes real and you see magic in the world.

The Trial is magical realism?

Naomi Lindstrom, Twentieth-Century Spanish American Fiction (1994):

"(Magical Realism is a) narrative technique that blurs the distinction between fantasy and reality. It is characterized by an equal acceptance of the ordinary and the extraordinary. Magic realism fuses
(1) lyrical and, at times, fantastic writing with
(2) an examination of the character of human existence and
(3) an implicit criticism of society, particularly the elite.

The Venezuelan essayist and fiction writer Arturo Uslar-Pietri was especially eager to promote this literary mixture as an exceptional feature of Latin American literature. It was Arturo Uslar-Pietri who applied to Latin American writing a term taken from German art criticism, magical realism. By the 1960s this phrase was being taken up not only by critics but by ordinary readers for whom it summarized a quality they had been noticing in recent fiction. In the broadest terms, the phenomenon that seemed to be spreading through a sector of Spanish American writing was the co-occurrence of realism with fantastic, mythic, and magical. A secondary trait was the characteristic attitude of narrators toward the subject matter: they frequently appeared to accept events contrary to the usual operating laws of the universe as natural, even unremarkable. Though the tellers of astonishing tales, they themselves expressed little or no surprise. It is worth noting that Arturo Uslar-Pietri, in presenting his term for this literary tendency, always kept its definition open by means of a language more lyrical and evocative than strictly critical, as in this 1948 statement: "What came to dominate the story and to leave a lasting impression was the view of man as a mystery surrounded by realistic data. A poetic divination or denial of reality. Something that for lack of a better word could be called magical realism." When academic critics attempted to define magical realism with scholarly exactitude, they discovered that it was more powerful than precise. Critics frustrated by their inability to pin down the term's meaning have, in disgust, urged its complete abandonment. Yet Arturo Uslar-Pietri's vague, ample usage magical realism was wildly successful in summarizing for many readers their perception of much Spanish American fiction; this fact suggests that the term has its uses, so long as it is not expected to function with the precision expected of technical, scholarly terminology."

Definition of Magical Realism provided on the website of Emory University (http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Ma...

"A literary mode rather than a distinguishable genre, magical realism aims to seize the paradox of the union of opposites. For instance, it challenges polar opposites like life and death and the pre-colonial past versus the post-industrial present. Magical realism is characterized by two conflicting perspectives, one based on a rational view of reality and the other on the acceptance of the supernatural as prosaic reality. Magical realism differs from pure fantasy primarily because it is set in a normal, modern world with authentic descriptions of humans and society. According to Angel Flores, magical realism involves the fusion of the real and the fantastic, or as he claims, "an amalgamation of realism and fantasy". The presence of the supernatural in magical realism is often connected to the primeval or "magical’ Indian mentality, which exists in conjunction with European rationality. According to Ray Verzasconi, as well as other critics, magical realism is "an expression of the New World reality which at once combines the rational elements of the European super-civilization, and the irrational elements of a primitive America." Gonzalez Echchevarria believes that magical realism offers a world view that is not based on natural or physical laws nor objective reality. However, the fictional world is not separated from reality either.

Background

The term "magical realism" was first introduced by Franz Roh, a German art critic, who considered magical realism an art category. To him, it was a way of representing and responding to reality and pictorially depicting the enigmas of reality. In Latin America in the 1940s, magical realism was a way to express the realistic American mentality and create an autonomous style of literature.

Characteristics of Magical Realism

Hybridity — Magical realists incorporate many techniques that have been linked to post-colonialism, with hybridity being a primary feature. Specifically, magical realism is illustrated in the inharmonious arenas of such opposites as urban and rural, and Western and indigenous. The plots of magical realist works involve issues of borders, mixing, and change. Authors establish these plots to reveal a crucial purpose of magical realism: a more deep and true reality than conventional realist techniques would illustrate.

Irony Regarding Author’s Perspective — The writer must have ironic distance from the magical world view for the realism not to be compromised. Simultaneously, the writer must strongly respect the magic, or else the magic dissolves into simple folk belief or complete fantasy, split from the real instead of synchronized with it. The term "magic" relates to the fact that the point of view that the text depicts explicitly is not adopted according to the implied world view of the author. As Gonzales Echevarria expresses, the act of distancing oneself from the beliefs held by a certain social group makes it impossible to be thought of as a representative of that society.

Authorial Reticence — Authorial reticence refers to the lack of clear opinions about the accuracy of events and the credibility of the world views expressed by the characters in the text. This technique promotes acceptance in magical realism. In magical realism, the simple act of explaining the supernatural would eradicate its position of equality regarding a person’s conventional view of reality. Because it would then be less valid, the supernatural world would be discarded as false testimony.

The Supernatural and Natural — In magical realism, the supernatural is not displayed as questionable. While the reader realizes that the rational and irrational are opposite and conflicting polarities, they are not disconcerted because the supernatural is integrated within the norms of perception of the narrator and characters in the fictional world.

Themes

The idea of terror overwhelms the possibility of rejuvenation in magical realism. Several prominent authoritarian figures, such as soldiers, police, and sadists all have the power to torture and kill. Time is another conspicuous theme, which is frequently displayed as cyclical instead of linear. What happens once is destined to happen again. Characters rarely, if ever, realize the promise of a better life. As a result, irony and paradox stay rooted in recurring social and political aspirations. Another particularly complex theme in magical realism is the carnivalesque. The carnivalesque is carnival’s reflection in literature. The concept of carnival celebrates the body, the senses, and the relations between humans. "Carnival" refers to cultural manifestations that take place in different related forms in North and South America, Europe, and the Caribbean, often including particular language and dress, as well as the presence of a madman, fool, or clown. In addition, people organize and participate in dance, music, or theater. Latin American magical realists, for instance, explore the bright life-affirming side of the carnivalesque. The reality of revolution, and continual political upheaval in certain parts of the world, also relates to magical realism. Specifically, South America is characterized by the endless struggle for a political ideal.

Magical Realist Authors

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ben Okri
Isabel Allende
Syl Cheney-Coker
Kojo Laing
Allejo Carpentier
Toni Morrison
Kwsme Anthony Appiah
Mario Vargas Llosa"

Mario T. García, Luis Leal An Auto/Biography (2000), quotes Mexican critic Leal as defining Magical Realism as follows:

"Without thinking of the concept of magical realism, each writer gives expression to a reality he observes in the people. To me, magical realism is an attitude on the part of the characters in the novel toward the world, or toward nature. (...) If you can explain it, then it's not magical realism."

And:

"In fantastic literature — in Borges, for example — the writer creates new worlds, perhaps new planets. By contrast, writers like García Márquez, who use magical realism, don't create new worlds, but suggest the magical in our world."

On the inclusion of books by Orhan Pamuk in this list: Pamuk himself does NOT consider his writing to be magic(al) ralism. Indeed, in an interview with the "Independent" (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent...) he is quoted as saying that "Although he also admires Garcia Marquez, Pamuk finds 'the impact of magic realism damaging, even damning'."

Where is Mia Coutos' Terra Sonambula??

Would you consider Aimee Bender to be Magical Realism?

I was wondering if someone could explain why Alice Sebold's Lucky is on the list? I read this one and it was a memoir, and I don't recall any magic even mentioned in it actually, but it was a while back!

Same thought on Lucky--simple memoir. In a way, Sebold's other book The Lovely Bones belongs here, but certainly not Lucky.

I think the term magical realism is racist